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

Anyone have experience with the AHB2s and Harbeth speakers? (I have the SHL5+, which I enjoy very much)

How would you describe the combo as compared to other amps that you’ve used with he Harbeth?

my hifi pal in los angeles loves his ahb2 driving compact 7 es3’s... can attest it is a terrific combination, superior to using a tube amp, and also a nad m33

i have commented on numerous occasions that most if not all harbeths benefit from a clean, pure sounding solid state amp that provides bass control and some additional sparkle and life to the treble response, and the benchmark delivers both attributes... i typically run hegel or pass x (not xa) series into my own harbeths for the same reason... that is where the synergy lies, in my experience - harbeths have a natural warmth and richness of tone, they benefit from an amp that imparts a sense of speed, control and sparkle

There was a guy over on WhatsBestForum driving his 40.2's with a bridged pair of AHB2's.  He thought this was the best combination.

The AHB2 amp sounds pretty good in my bedroom with Harbeth 7ES3XD speakers but I would not say it is the best product that they make. 

I also have in same room the dac3 and benchmark hpa4 linestage and headphone amp.  The headphone amplifier and dac using balanced cabling are an excellent combination with my slightly warmish headphone ZMF closed ended Verite.

As for the same dac and linestage with the amp I found it was very good overall but did not draw me into the music as does the same combo with an EAR 890 tube amp.  

Ultimately its a subjective exercise depending on your room, associated equipment, and cabling.  Its certainly worth an audition imho but for most unlikely to be an amp you passionately love (but for value hard to beat).

When I heard Harbeth with a top end Luxman stack (m900u/c900u) I enjoyed it, but I was thinking this would sound great with my AHB2's.

@radioheadokplayer The HPA4 + DAC3B + Meze Empy is also a great combo. I had that for a while and really enjoyed it.

I've had an AHB2 amp for around 6 months. It's a perfect fit with my ancient AR-LST speakers.

Owners of this amp may need to experiment with the sensitivity switch to get the best results.

The sound from my system with the ABH2 is very much dependent on the source material being played. Records which are not well engineered have nowhere to hide with this amp.

For me, the AHB2 is a good combination of relatively low cost and really good performance. No regrets whatsoever.