Benchmark Media Systems. Right or wrong

Or could it be that the LA4 revealed a “sheen” inherent in either your source or amplifier? I suggest this possibility because I had that very experience with the LA4 until I upgraded my source (to the Electrocompaniet ECD-2).

I was telling the person who bought my LA4 today this same thing. If you hear a "sheen" or some other nastiness first assume it is another component. I replaced the LA4 with the Benchmark HPA4 preamp.  

I did this when I was trying to figure out how to drive the Yamaha NS5000 speakers. I like to use the LA4 preamp to figure things out because I feel it is not going to mess up anything.

After figuring out what amp and DAC to use with the speakers. I was getting a bit of that sheen and fatigue in the sound. I tried 2 different WyWire speaker cable, Benchmark speaker cable, and Audience AU24 SX speaker cable. All were giving that sheen or gremlins but at different frequencies.

I bit the bullet and bought Audience FrontRow and that eliminated that bit of nastiness. The LA4 did what I needed it to do. Let me hear my other gear.

The LA4 also plays nicely with about a dozen amps I have used it with. Just love this preamp. If I did not want headphone support in my big system preamp, I would have kept the LA4 and sold the Holo Audio Serene preamp. I would have been very happy with the LA4 and HPA4 in my 2 systems.

@deep_333  Sterile? In relationship to most tube amps that would be better described as accurate. I suspect you would not like Boulder amps either. 

@jl35 Really? Do you have a measurement microphone? Do you have the experience of listening to systems with various target curves? Do you know what a flat response curve sounds like? Most audiophiles have never heard a system that images correctly. Many audiophiles are operating on mythology. 

IMHE, accurate equipment in summation leads to better performance in all respects. Many systems are the end product of compounding errors and will never perform at the state of the art. These systems may suite the taste of some listeners, but taste is a moving target. If a person's system is on the bright side when he or she hears an accurate system it will sound dull. If you listen carefully to the bright system the cymbals will be in your face like an ECM recording, not accurate. Not only this, but a system's characteristics change with volume. A system that sounds fine at 85 dB will sound harsh at 95dB. Then there are recordings that are mixed to various volumes. The Funkadelic recordings were mixed for high volume and sound awful at 85 dB, but turn the volume up to 95 dB and they sound great. ( for early 70's recordings)

@deep_333 Sterile? In relationship to most tube amps that would be better described as accurate. I suspect you would not like Boulder amps either.

@mijostyn

Sterile in comparison to my current SOLID STATE amps.

Luxman c900u+m900u

Yamaha c5000+m5000

Yamaha A-S2100

Technics SU R1000

Schiit TYR monoblocks

Jungson/Zhongshen Class A

or even my multichannel amp (supposed to be more sonically compromised than uppity 2 channel amps), Yamaha MX-A5200

There are no tubes in any of the above mentioned.

I have several tube amps, old sugden, old Pass, a load of chifi amp kits, etc in storage that are not counted/considered here.

Listeners often like components that impart artificial warmth or bloom. I get it completely—been there, done that. Benchmark gear doesn’t offer this (although it does result in excellent decay if the speakers and source allow). As with any system, the amplification has to produce synergy with the speakers and room. Benchmark is no different in that regard. It’s for this reason I still own their LA4 preamp but no longer use an AHB2, and instead use an OG Parasound A21. The A21 is not as resolving as the AHB2, but produces similar output to mono AHB2s for less than half the money, and imparts just enough second harmonic to add a bit of “glow” to the chain.

If my speakers didn’t have high-quality, high-resolution drivers, or if my DAC was an R2R that truncates the top octave, I would likely be better off with an AHB2. Because otherwise, the Parasound would be too “warm” in such a scenario. Again, this is all about synergy and careful component matching.

The LA4 will remain in my system for the foreseeable future because nearly every other preamp I’ve tried cannot match it in terms of transient speed and decay. In a way that’s disappointing, because I am not a big fan of the LA4’s aesthetic or its remote control. But somehow, even passive preamps are less resolving IME.

At one point I did have a system chain that would be an ASR member’s wet dream:

Revel F206 speakers with the Benchmark LA4 and AHB2, and a great measuring Topping DAC upstream. That system was actually one of the most enjoyable and fatigue-free I’ve ever assembled. Perhaps that’s mostly because the F206 speakers are practically distortion-free above 200Hz. Conversely, had I still owned MA Silver 8s at that time, I have zero doubt the Benchmark amps would have been far too sterile, because they would’ve fully revealed the true mediocrity of that speaker’s tweeters. It’s basically the same reason for why I would never pair a Benchmark stack with most Klipsch speakers, nor B&W’s 700 series. Essentially, any speaker with moderate or greater distortion would be immediately disqualified from the list of synergistic candidates.

Lastly, it’s my opinion and experience that the best Benchmark products are the LA4/HPA4 preamps. Their DAC3 is rather antiquated these days (and ugly AF) and the AHB2, while a good clean performer, doesn’t offer the dynamic grunt that many speakers (especially high end speakers) thrive on.
I’ve compared the LA4 back-to-back with preamps such as the McIntosh C49 and Coda CP (with aforementioned Electro ECD2 DAC and BMR Tower speakers). All else being equal, the LA4 is quite audibly a wholly superior preamp. The others are “warmer,” sure, but their overall performance suffers as a result. The LA4 yields a much more true-to-life sound. If you want to hear audience hand claps and cheers that sound as though they’re in your physical presence, the LA4 paired with low distortion speakers can get many systems closer to that goal.

Why is it that such opinions are most often delivered with a large helping of condescension? It's as much about the writer's "wisdom"(ego) vs. "audiophools" as it is about the gear-- perhaps more.