Dust Settled Consensus- is the Benchmark AHB2 an Audiophile Amplifier?

There is no such a thing as an "audiophile" amp. It is no less "hi fidelity", than Belles, Krell, McCormack, or Parasound amplifiers.

@pmm If we define fidelity as, “the output being faithful to the input” then it is a true hiFi amp.

How it performs depends on the speakers, and upstream components you have teamed up with it.

“Performs” may be appropriate the appropriate word with respect to the speakers complex load.

But “Performs” may be better stated as “Sounds” with respect to the preamp and source components…

In my opinion, it is easier to have a low distortion amp, and speakers, and do any tuning of the sound with a single component like, for instance, solely with a tube preamp.

That is providing that a low distortion system may be too clinical for what people want, and that those people want some harmonic distortion signature to be rolled in.

Once we get two or three things adding together, then it gets a bit more difficult to understand what is happening… and where.

I think the amp is flat and without color

Generally I find when the distortion goes lower, then things sounds quieter at the same measured SPL… Some people find those situations to be not to their liking.

…Irrespective of whether it is caused by the amp, speakers, or preamp… many people just really prefer some distortion.

Amps are supposed to be flat and without color…

For HighFidelity yes, but for many people… they like colour.

I own a pair of AHB2 and use them as monoblocks with my Magico A3s and REL T/9i subs. They perform well and as advertised. But this is in the context of my system and room. So others experience may be different.

Do you think so @kingbarbuda ?

I find low distortion gear quiet, and others have statements like, “it lacks punch”, “lacks weight”, sounds anemic or thin.

I know my tube seems better for TV and rock in Ultra Linear, and in Triode seem thinner/leaner/quieter, with more space between things.

This is probably mostly BS, but how I think of our the hearing work as in that we get direction from the delay between our ears and other queues. So that gives and azimuth direction.The if the drummer is off to the right and close to the back of the stage, we get a quick echo off the back wall, with the side wall echo maybe be a little further delayed.
If the singer is in the middle and in front, then the back wall echo will be more delayed.
The a guitar player may be on the left and has a different back and side wall delay.

Then in our mind we have a model of where the instrument must be at to make the delays all comport with the reality of what we hear.

Assuming that is not total BS, then what happens when we have IMD?
Is the product of the singer and the guitar player happening at the singers location, the guitar players location, or some other place or places which are products of the two?

I am assuming that it is more locations and that this fills the sound stage with the IMD products filling some of the blank space in a spatial sense.

Maybe it is not happening that way, but higher distortion does seem fuller. And I cannot conjure up a hypothesis of why the lower distortion gear seems to be more lean in a spatial sense… But it seems that the lower distortion is less exciting, less full, more austere and quieter. So it is great on some stuff and maybe not so good for say, rock and big band music.

it would be interesting to know with the Krell person, and others, whether they find the ABH2 better for some genres of music than others… or of there is no correlation??

 

The Benchmark amp has been proven over time. It is certainly a reference at its price point......BUT.....a big butt.....he he.....we like big butts....well, I do. What if the Peachtree GaN 1 amp ($2000 with 30 day money back) driven from an IFI Zen Stream (with upgraded linear power supply) is better?....... Wouldn’t it be cool if it sounds much better? Or do you have to have a DAC, Preamp, amp and analog cables? Do you want the best sound? What if this thing is it?!? It has already beat a Holo DAC May KTE with Holo Serene preamp with mono block Kinki B7 amps (see thread here on audiogon). If this GaN 1 amp is the real deal (and so far all reviews are raves)....then there will be a lot of happy people spending way less money to get better sound.......and it weighs 11 lbs!!!!!! 200 watts a channel. Of course, there will be even better digital amps available down the line.

Volume control is in the digital domain.....so the better the digital volume control and the better the streamer....the better the sound. The Bluesound does not sound as good as the $400 IFI Zen Stream (according to many). The $2400 Lumin U1 has LEEDH digital volume control (totally lossless).

I know, I am repeating myself here......but usually we have to hear something several times before it sinks in. This technology to me seems like its revolutionary......better sound for

What is a digital amp @ricevs ?

Which digit is that amp using?
(I am imagining a Bob’s National one.)

@ricevs I always thought the class-D was a switching amp and not a digital amp.

… Because it converts the digits directly to PWM (analog) then there is no need for a "normal" dac......and, if you use excellent digital attenuation......no need for preamp or other kinds of analog volume controls. You might call it a "power dac"…

^This^ makes it sound like I should not consider using one of these amp if I have a TT and phono stage.

Where does the digital come into this ‘digital amp’, which in the Benchmark literature is referred to as “Class-H”?

Class H is not digital......class D is not digital. I already explained that the digital info is turned into PWM inside the "digital" amp....and then into the swtiching class D output stage.

Yes, if you have analog then you need to convert it through a great ADC to make it PCM so the amp will decode it. There are GREAT ADCs out there that do less damage to the sound then a normal preamp and normal amp do. However, most who have a serious record collection will look elsewhere. Most people who own Benchmark amps, etc....do not do analog. I stopped doing analog 32 years ago. Analog is GREAT.....no doubt. Love it.

I thought that this thread was about the Benchmark amp?
Which I think is an amp for people that are driving it with an analogue input.
So it is not a digital amp, and not solely for digital based music.

I think that we took a right turn somewhere.