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Benchmark ABH2 Users - A few questions if I may.

N

N3rd

Member
Hello One and All,

I've been reading reviews of the ABH2 and it seems very well regarded and excellent value. However, one reviewer was advised by Benchmark that the amp should be fed via their DAC, even analogue signals should go via it. The reasoning being that only the Benchmark DAC has a SNR comparable to the ABH2.

So, how many of you are running ABH2s with a different preamp and do you feel it's a compromise?
Also, are any of you using a tube preamp to feed the ABH2?

Many thanks for anyone taking the time to post.

N3rd.
 
I use a passive MFA Baby Ref -re amp - but cant compare to a direct feed. sounds great to my ears
 
My "pre" is a Benchmark DAC2, and I really like it. If I wasn't already so in love with Avondale amps, I would definitely be interested in trying the ABH2.
 
think the abh2 will sound magnificent with a decent tube amp . try it with and without and see what you think . i think you will be surprised . tried it many times , your new tannoys will sound great with the abh2 but way better with a good pre amp . as you may know i use class d with a decent pre into legacy .
 
I ran ABH2 with my Boulder Dac and it was very good indeed (although ultimately a little sterile and thin). Tried the Dac3 just out of interest to see if synergy would kick in….nope, a massive step back from the Boulder.
 
Word of warning, regarding the AHB2 with Tannoy speakers. I am not sure it would be a great match. A valve pre could improve it though.
I say this as although I have the benchmark amp and some big tannoys, I have not even bothered to connect them.

Much to my wife’s despair I currently have two pairs of speakers that are definitely quite large, but try as I might I can’t let either go as they are each brilliant and very different from each other.
First pair are 15” tannoy hpd in very solid 250 litre cabinets.
Second are similar sized, albeit different shape, based on an Avalon design with ceramic accuton drivers )I think).
These second speakers have completely defied expectations. Instead of the ultra detailed modern sound that I expected. They are much richer, fuller and more powerful sounding than the tannoys.
The tannoys in comparison are more open, fleeter of foot and (seemingly) more detailed. Also, despite their intimidating appearance, the tannoys are definitely not full range. Whereas the Avalon’s go at least as deep, probably deeper than any other big speaker I have tried here (inc blades, 800 diamond, utopia etc)
Due to these differences I use the AHB2 with the Avalon’s to balance them out.
With the Tannoys I use a Luxman class A amplifier to add a little richness and warmth.
I believe tannoy and benchmark would be, as said previously, too sterile and thin for my tastes.
Or maybe my particular tannoys don’t conform to their normal sound?

I do have a valve pre sitting idle though, might be nice way to idle away a few hours experimenting…..
 
forgive me now , but if you have never connected the ahb2 to the tannoy , how do you know it wont sound good ? one might be surprised .
 
"I believe tannoy and benchmark would be, as said previously, too sterile and thin for my tastes."

i thought that with icepower monoblocks connected to a bc pre 3 with tannoy legacy . how wrong i was , delightfully warm and musical . no one more surprised than me
 
Will be very interested how it sounds with the tannoys, audioscience review raves about them and another mag say they are totally boring !!
 
Been through my ‘accurate’ stage thanks. When I spent a number of years with Grimm LS1s as my main speakers.
They were incredible in many ways, but no longer here as they sounded thin and flat in comparison to what followed. Linkwitz LX521. Which could sound broken in some ways when directly compared to the Grimms, but at the same time far more like real music. Whatever that means.
Apples to oranges that one was.
Anyway I learnt then, that for me at least, more accurate is not necessarily better.
One mans ultimate sound is likely very different from the next.

As for the AHB2 with the Tannoys. Well it’s very good. Very good indeed!
Initial impression is that I prefer it unbalanced with the valve pre inserted. Which is no doubt less accurate than when connected straight to the RME DAC with balanced.
It’s simply a very good amp either way. Seems to have a bit more about it than ultra clean Class D amps that I have tried previously, and expected it to sound like.
I’ll leave it in for a bit and then swap the luxman 590 back in. To see if it really does add anything sonically. Or if it’s appeal is more to do with its beautiful build, feel, look etc.
 
hifinutt said:
Will be very interested how it sounds with the tannoys, audioscience review raves about them and another mag say they are totally boring !!
Click to expand...

I used to have a Yahama AS 2000 that was boring. Also had class D Hypex N-Cores.

Some complain that accurate is somehow deficient, what then should hi-fi be ?

The Benchmark is class AB.

I have an AHB2 driving Quad 989 ESL's, using the eaqually boring Topping Preamp

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-pre90-review-preamplifier.18283/

Fed from a boring SMSL M400 DAC yawn....

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../smsl-m400-balanced-usb-mqa-dac-review.13732/

Or a Project Xtension fitted with a 12" Wand unipivot tonearm with an Ortofon Cadenza Black hanging off it into a four box Paradise phono stage.

It sounds shit if the recorded material has been badly recorded.
 
N3rd said:
only the Benchmark DAC has a SNR comparable to the ABH2.
Click to expand...

Benchmark has addressed this limitation with the DAC2 D/A converter and the AHB2 power amplifier. The DAC2 can deliver a 126 dB A-weighted SNR and this can be delivered to the speakers using the 132 dB A-weighted SNR of the AHB2 power amplifier.

SMSL M400 full 5.3V output 127.5dB SNR.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-dac-review.13732/#lg=attachment66450&slide=0

Sometimes the truth is less than accurate, though at the end of the day only your ears in your room can be the arbiter of what sounds best to you.
 
This looks like an excellent amp.

However, Emotiva offers better VFM, at least in the states.

I own 4 of their Gen2 monoblocks as well as the preamp and couldn't be happier.
 
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