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

Thanks to all replies, very interesting.  It does seem that this amplifier has staying power.  

I heard it again at AXPONA this year driving some Aretai stand mount speakers.  Very punchy and clear.  

I am probably going to try one. While I love the sound of my Pass XA25 it is not as transparent as it was billed and at times sounds unnaturally warm and polished.

It took over a year for the XA25 to sound like this as it burned in.

Just trying to decide on two or one. Most likely one for starters.

Seems that the OP is hung up on the “audiophile” label rather than the components performance in its price range.  It’s the sonics, the price, and possibly the feature set that matters.

"consensus" and "audiophile" in the same sentence/paragraph always makes me lol

As a wannabe audiophile, my path is iFi Zen Stream, Benchmark Dac3L, AH2B, Klipsch Cornwalls. My plan is to get the blackest background, the best speed, most uncolored amplification, sort out how to get the Cornwalls to play their best with positioning and room treatments, and then find the preamp, if necessary, that puts it all together for my ear. I do not have the time or energy to go through numerous permutations of equipment to find my sound. Wish me luck. 

bfb1963,

Try a tubed preamp for good synergy with your AHB2.