Preamp or DAC?

BTW - use balanced XLR's for your Benchmark gear. Their StarQuad cables are very good. I also use Audience AU24e XLR's with them.

The HPA4 is something you should consider over the LA4. I was going to get the LA4 because I was not into headphones. However, people were saying that the HPA4 has one of the best headphone amps so I thought I may one day get headphones and be bummed out if I got the LA4. The HPA4 is amazing as a preamp and also amazing as a headphone amp. It has the same THX circuit as your AHB2 but for headphones so you know how nice that is. I use the Meze Empyrean with the HPA4. Yesterday, I had a marathon 9 hour (till 5AM) listening session while I worked and the HPA4 + Meze made that task so much more enjoyable.

I used to own the DAC3 HGC (what you own) with the AHB2 and KEF LS50. I did not like the volume control on the HGC. It was not great at low volume and the tuning granularity of the volume was not fine enough to find the perfect level. THE HPA4 is amazing and fixes all the issues I had with the HGC, I have nothing bad to say about it.

In comparison I found the NEW SYSTEM much better than the OLD SYSTEM. The only reason was because of the HPA4 added to the mix. Even with a lesser amp than the AHB2 I still liked the NEW SYSTEM more.

NEW SYSTEM :
KEF LS50 + DAC3B (no volume) + HPA4 + CLASS D amp from PeachTree NOVA 150 (now sold). I have a AHB2 coming to replace the Peachtree

OLD SYSTEM:
KEF LS50 + DAC3 HGC + AHB2

I am not sure how much power your speakers need but I do know that the AHB2 in stereo is not that powerful. When I get new speakers I will add a second AHB2 to run in mono. For example a Magico A3 was not good with a single AHB2 but I imagine 2 would be much better.

@kellen Congrats I have a feeling you will be very happy. Post your thoughts when you have it setup.

BTW - someone asked me a PM question on some things I said on this thread. I am going to post my reply since someone else may find it useful.

1) I had the DAC3 HGC + AHB2 combp 3 years ago and sold it when my son was born because I lost my music room. I used the default pad setting since that is the best one for the all Benchmark stack.

2) Since my auditory memory is from 3 years ago. I cannot get into specifics of sound but I can say that listening late at night for example I was always adjusting the volume to find a good level. I was usually unhappy at the low volume settings since the sound seemed to collapse a bit. I also felt like I was listening to audio components. Though I liked them a lot. My mind was getting into thoughts of what I did not like I guess.

Now with the HPA4 + amp section of my now sold Peachtree Nova 150. The volume issue at low volume was not a concern. I could always find a good setting and did not feel like the sound collapsed when turned down. One thing I have noticed is that I do not feel like I am listening to audio components anymore. I am 100% focused on the music. Now the Peachtree class D amp, while quiet, is not great. The sound was very enjoyable. I am excited to hear the AHB2 with the HPA4 at the end of this month when my order is shipped.

Since the HPA4 preamp is quieter than the DAC3B I have, I think what is happening is that the better circuitry on the preamp, compared to the DAC3 HGC, is sending a better signal to the amps. It does not matter if it is my analog tuner or my digital streams, both sound great.

Some reviewers were starting that the LA4 makes DACs sound better and you may find a lower cost DAC to be improved with the LA4. I can see that given the quieter specs of the preamp to every DAC out there. I was thinking of using the DAC3B as a second system DAC but after listening with the HPA4 I am wondering why I need to spend more money on the digital side. I bought the DAC3B after I sold the HGC and was not very excited about buying it, but I wanted to try an all Benchmark system again with the HPA4. I am glad I did.

@kellen I also went with the professional XLR StarQuad from Benchmark because the folks at Benchmark were very confident that these cables, which can carry a signal at 24 dBu+ (no idea what that means) will bring the best out of the system. Consumer XLR cables are at half this value.

I am waiting on Benchmark to get stock back on their speaker cables since they talk about the Neurlink (sp?) connector being better than standard HiFi connections. Purifi seems to feel the same. 

This Benchmark gear is for my system #2.  System #3 is a headphone only bedroom system that I made with a Bryson BHA-1 headphone amp.

I will be also building out a much sweeter sounding System #1 (maybe sooner than expected now). Different DAC, amps, speakers. However, I think I will buy a second HPA4 or LA4 for that system too. It will be interesting to see which I listen to more #1 or #2.