Benchmark AHB2 - To 'mono' or not to 'mono'


I own a single Benchmark AHB2 amp and have been considering another in order to run both in bridged mono mode, which will provide significantly more power to my speakers and presumably, greater dynamics. I've read in other threads where other owners (and perhaps others with opinions) had implied both positive and negative impressions concerning this approach. Assuming I'm not considering purchasing other amps at this time, does anyone have experience with both approaches and will you please share your impressions?
wwoodrum

Showing 4 responses by mijostyn

I love this amp! Absolutely, definitely, without any doubt what so ever get another one!
Not sure what planet we are living on but when you mono strap this amp you drop the impedance of the output stage and increase the damping factor! Not only that but power is everything in an amp. The ability to handle dynamic peaks without clipping just makes a system sound so much more alive and this amp does the mono strap routine as well or better than any other amp I have tried it with. I do not think you could make a bigger, better improvement for $3k in any otherwise well set up system. And, these amps do a very creditable job of driving my speakers (with the addition of a 3/4 ohm series resistor in the primary) which means they will drive anything. The build quality is absolutely top notch. You will never have a reason to buy another amplifier. 
Whoops, my error. Got my bridged and parallel modes mixed up. Right voltage doubles, damping halves. 
Troll, as in trolling for business? I hope not. The audio business sucks.
Better off selling automobiles. 
Whatever AHB2s bridged acquitted themselves beautifully comparing them to Pass XA 200.8s driving single transformer electrostatic panels from 130 Hz up. I just had to use resistors in series with the primaries to prevent ultrasonic ringing. 
An unbelievable savings in cost, space, heat and efficiency.   
tobes, at my age you have to piss all the time. woodrum, that definition of troll adequately fits audiophiles in general as it seems there is as much mythology as there is reality in the practice. Trolls are most dangerous when they are trying to sell you stuff.
georgehifi in order to make that work right you need a rather expensive digtal crossover to do it right. Then you bypass the in speaker analog network.
ssnk you really should look into Channel D's Pure Music. You do have to buy it but you get a free trial period. It will use your iTunes as a library and does neat things like network stream and up sample. It was designed to work specifically with Apple computers.