I'm currently auditioning a LA4, driving a Don Sach's KT88 amp. My previous experience with the Benchmark DAC2 left me with the expectation that it would be cold, analytical and ultimately un-involving. I was wrong.
It was very bright out of the box without a lot of bottom end. After a few days of burn in, it became extremely balanced and transparent. It gives a blank canvas for the amp to put down its finesse, power, and holographic imaging. I can agree with the Sterephile's review on the open window created by the incredibly wide dynamic range. The music is still very engaging. It's missing the magic harmonics of a good 6SN7 tube preamp, but I'm tempted to say the transparency more than makes up for that. I don't know if it's possible to have both attributes in spades.
It was very bright out of the box without a lot of bottom end. After a few days of burn in, it became extremely balanced and transparent. It gives a blank canvas for the amp to put down its finesse, power, and holographic imaging. I can agree with the Sterephile's review on the open window created by the incredibly wide dynamic range. The music is still very engaging. It's missing the magic harmonics of a good 6SN7 tube preamp, but I'm tempted to say the transparency more than makes up for that. I don't know if it's possible to have both attributes in spades.