Benchmark Preamps and Amp - For real?

aberyclark the AHB2 is better than any class D amp I have ever heard.
It is also beautifully constructed and no doubt will last a lifetime.

@mayordaley

it was too lifeless to me

If you mean not altering the music, then that’s exactly what I want. I don’t want to hear my amp, my DAC, my speakers, my cables, etc., I just wanna hear the music (with DSP to combat room modes). Some people wanna hear their gear, but I’m a eyeglasses > tinted glasses kind of guy.

I mean more in the sense that it did not feel like there was enough power.  Not that I listen at loud volumes, but the energy just wasn’t there.  The Benchmark was similarly neutral, but had enough juice to make things sound more correct than the Pass.  The Pass was designed to have just enough power, but in some cases, it feels lacking in drive.  It would likely match awesomely with the right phones, just not with what I heard it with. 

@mayordaley

My bad, I thought you meant the Benchmark was lifeless by comparison (the same naming scheme threw me off).

The Benchmark headphone amp outputs more than double the Pass Labs’ one (at least into 300ohm), so your assessment has backing.

I've been using the AHB2 for a couple years.  I wanted an amp that introduced no coloration through noise and that's what this is.  It can be run as monoblocks or stereo.  You can also adjust the input sensitivity (gain).  I've never had a problem powering either my speakers.  More than enough juice and I run my speaker pair with one amp at the lowest sensitivity, or gain.