Sound Impressions - Benchmark HPA4/LA4 in use with a quality vinyl rig?

Send Rory Rail an email at Benchmark and ask him. He may be able to point you to some examples of such use cases.

Thanks, yyzsantabarbara!

Yyzsantabarbara,

I contacted and heard back from Rory. The only issue regarding my using the HPA4 with my single ended components will be giving up some SNR and that makes sense. As, I won’t be giving up my single ended 300B mono blocks, I need more time to evaluate my options.

Another option that I considered was the Spatial Revelation Raven tube preamp that is fully balanced. I asked Don about using my system with his preamp, and he thought that my single ended amps would not be an optimal use of the system.

Both Rory and Don consider that their preamps are so good, that it would be difficult to find a better preamp anyway. Time is on my side, and will use it to think things through. I’ve been using a 1990 Boulder L3A line stage, and the capacitors were upgraded by Boulder 5 years ago. Single ended inputs with single ended and XLR outs. I’ve been extremely happy with the sound, but I still wonder if a newer line stage in my price range would make more sense?

I had an LA4 paired with a tube amp and vinyl. The LA4 has an exciting sound that after a while became fatiguing to me. There is much talk about it's transparency, but there was always a slight "sheen" to the presentation no mater the source.

YMMV.....

Ozzy62

It’s good to hear back from you having experienced the LA4 with tubes and vinyl. It took me a long time to lose the “sheen” and I don’t want that back. Just looking to build upon the relaxed sound that keeps me listening.

Relaxed is not the way I’d describe that preamp. Anxious might be a better descriptor. 

Right, but I was using relaxed to describe the sound that I love, but that does not mean dull or non-involving. So, detailed, transparent, natural, etc., without any sheen. I understood from you that sheen meant anxious, or perhaps a bit too edgy.

I think we’re on the same page and I checked out your current system. Looks like our tastes in sound may be very similar. What gear were you using when you had the LA4 in place?

I had a Music Reference RM 10 II and Klipsch Lascala II speakers.

Do you think that any of that sheen you experienced with the LA4 may have been related to what you were using at the time?

Not if it goes away when the preamp is replaced. Maybe it just wasn’t a match in my system. Hard to say. Just didn’t work for me.

I had some fatigue issues with the system that had the LA4. I tried changing difference speaker cables and that resulted in the issue moving around to different frequency levels. I bit the bullet and bought the Audience Front Row speaker cable that I used in my other system and the fatigue issue I had went away.

My system is as follows:

Yamaha NS5000 speakers | Benchmark HPA4 preamp | Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC | CODA #16 amp | Audience FrontRow speaker cable | Benchmark XLR and Audience AU24 SE XLR.

Changing any of these non-HPA4 components resulted in an easily noticeable change in sound. The HPA4 let me hear everything, without any fatigue or sheen with my current gear.

Thank you ozzy62 and yyzsantabarbara. It’s interesting about the cables resolving your issue.

It may be best for me to try the 30- or 60 (preferred)-day trials offered for the HPA4. I’m at the stage in my life where I have a fine system that I love without the drive to make any major changes to my system. The one exception is with my Boulder line stage. So, my best bet might be to first compare the Boulder against the HPA4, and move on from there.

One issue simply may be that I still prefer vinyl over digital sound. I’ve noticed that the move towards balanced inputs and outputs has increased with amps and preamps. A trend to fully balanced components is becoming the norm, and I find that somewhat disappointing. What’s most interesting, is that the reviews from both users and professionals are mostly done with DACs with these components. And, even more interesting, fully balanced tube designs are on the rise. With the passing of the decades, I have seen this trend come and go. For example, I still own my BAT VK5 line stage from the nineties that is fully balanced and tubed. Later, the swing would return to single-ended and so on.

A  number of years ago, after I purchased my 300B monos, I was ready to purchase a Tron Seven line stage to complement my Tron Seven phono. I would discover that the Seven line was discontinued. While the Seven line was still around Tron released their new Atlantic line stage. In terms of sound, it was Atlantic, Seven, and Syren at the top. Today, there is also the Nemisis. With the Seven out of the picture it created a hole in what I was after. I filled that gap with my Boulder and had it re-capped by Boulder 5 years ago. I was honestly surprised by how good the system now sounded.

If the HPA4 does not improve my sound, sheen or no sheen, I have a couple of other contenders that I’m considering. Right now, these are the SPL Elector and the LTA microZOTL. These are analog line stages that offer single-ended ins and outs with excellent reviews.

I haven't heard the Elector, but I have an SPL Phonos and I think it's a fine phono preamp.

Another preamp I can suggest is the Holo Audio Serene. It is very similar to the HPA4 with a tinge of warmth. It actually measures a bit better than the HPA4. I wanted to get a second HPA4 for my office system, but I thought I would try the Serene to have some variety.

It is not much different than the HPA4, but a few people have posted that they like it over the HPA4. I would not say that both are exactly what I want.

I use the Serene with my slightly brighter system,

Magnepan LRS+ speakers | Holo Serene preamp | Schitt Yggi+ Less Is More DAC | Sanders Magtech amp | Audience Front Row speaker cable | Audience Au24 SE and Benchmark XLR and RCA

I can easily replace the Holo Serene and HPA4 in either system with the other and be happy.

The Elector was reviewed by the Part Time Audiophile in 2022. He loved it and kept it for himself.

I had checked out the Holo Serene, but again this is a fully balanced preamp, so not ideal for a single-ended output. It doesn’t make sense for me to pay for a design feature marketed for better sound (low noise), and then not be able to take advantage of it. This is what I discovered years ago with my BAT VK5 feeding into my Conrad Johnson Premier 11a. I wasn’t getting everything.

I’m ideally looking for a line stage with 2 unbalanced preamp outs. The second out is for my subs. An additional tape out would be nice for a headphone amp.

LA4 owner here; no sheen, just tranparency, one does not even think about it in use. If you have issues then you need to turn over another rock to find the source of the problem! I love listening to my TTs through it, no exceptions.

All said, you may be after something else for some reason. Best of luck.

singingg,

Thank you for sharing your findings with the LA4. I plan on trying out the HPA4 in order to draw my own conclusions as the results are obviously system dependent. Actually, this makes sense for any new component in one’s system. So, providing a trial period is quite a problem solver.