Benchmark AHB2 Amp order and alternatives

[Puska]

How you compare the nord build to ahb2?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

The new NAD M33 is powered by a Purifi PSU and is due out in March. Ok, it's an integrated but still....interesting prospect.

And NAD has more Purifi-powered devices in the pipeline.

 

[boXem]

And NAD has more Purifi-powered devices in the pipeline.

Do you know if they will have customized designs as with Hypex or will use cots?

 

[q3cpma]

Should just take a Behringer A800 and make a swimming pool full of bills with the rest of the money.

 

[Puska]

Sorry ahb2 and BEHRINGER is apple's and oranges.

 

[q3cpma]

Not for your ears through speakers with much higher distorsion than your electronics.

 

[Puska]

No Sir!

 

[q3cpma]

No Sir!

Give it a few months on this forum and you'll say the same thing. Just some reminders:
* The JBL M2, one of the best speakers available, is sold with a Crown I-Tech 5000HD with a quoted THD of 0.1% at max power.
* Speakers produce a lot of distorsion compared to electronics: See the LS50 and KH80DSP reviews, where THD is around -48 dB (0.4%) from 300 Hz onward. So why should you care about Behringer's -76 dB (0.015%)?
* Distorsion (THD) isn't very related to sound quality. See https://www.axiomaudio.com/blog/distortion/ for example.

Basically, caring about amplifier distorsion is the same as changing socks to run faster.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Do you know if they will have customized designs as with Hypex or will use cots?

At the moment, I do not know. We'll see when they are released.

 

[restorer-john]

If I wanted a new amplifier and had decided on the Benchmark, I'd wait.

Good amplifiers stay with you for a very long time, decades in fact. What's a few weeks or months in the scheme of things? Back yourself, put your money into a decent company who employs Americans and builds their gear in the US. Give them a bit of time to sort their chit out with supply chains. It's obviously wildly successful for good reason and is maintaining its value on he secondary market. All good if you ask me.

 

[tmtomh]

Not for your ears through speakers with much higher distorsion than your electronics.

While that is of course true, @amirm always points out that noise and distortion are cumulative in the signal chain - the source signal that the speaker will distort will be more or less distorted when it enters the speaker, based on what the distortion of the amp is like.

I do not claim to know what the audible thresholds of distortion and noise are - but there is good reason to pay attention to amplifier noise and distortion specs despite the fact that transducers (speakers) are always going to be less linear and more distorted than source components and amps.

 

[Crazy_Nate]

I ordered an AHB2 on January 13. I too received the delay message. My order shipped today, delivery on Tuesday. So they are definitely filling back orders. After reading reviews here and elsewhere, I was ok with waiting even longer if I had to.

Glad to hear! I ordered mine on the 13th as well (plus HPA4 / DAC3). Maybe I'm coming up soon.

 

[Panelhead]

I was in the market for an AHB2 myself but besides the low availability, these things are throwaway items - unrepairable. Maybe if you're very, very very lucky but otherwise if it ever goes pop, it's a doorstop with it's custom programmed FPGA on board and all lead-free soldering.
Even sending it from EU to the USA to Benchmark would've cost a fortune.

With any Hypex you can just swap out a module or the PSU and that's it, however Hypex seems to deprecate heavily in value and the older models disappear pretty quicky from the market. The UcD400/700 amps all seem to be gone and forgotten after the initial hype.

Being a company focused in the Pro Audio sector the reliability should be fine. They have kept it going for 37 years. The Pro guys are not tolerant of failure prone gear.
They offer extended warranty options also. They state the company will repair after warranty expiration. But not a free service.
The product evolution there is slow. I suspect it will be at least a few years before there is a new updated amplifier released.
I never buy audio products based on resale. But at least for now you get free shipping and two years later these have held 90% of purchase price.
Talking myself into an order. Know now I would go for the black option. Wanted silver, until really looked at it in black. The milling really pops with the black color.

 

[h46e55x]

Yes, the Benchmark is worth the wait. The M22 is an alternative, not an equal. OTOH, when we get to politics, the specifics have more significance.

The M22 is a fantastic amp! I don’t know if the Benchmark is “superior” in the real world, or only on paper, but I do know that I was able to purchase a used (mint) M22 for less than $1300.

 

[RPG]

I ordered my AHB2 on January 16th and received a shipment notice, today, Feb. 14th. I believe they're starting to catch up on their shipments.

 

[AudioEnthusiast]

I ordered my AHB2 on January 16th and received a shipment notice, today, Feb. 14th. I believe they're starting to catch up on their shipments.

Looks like they ship a batch every Friday maybe? Mine was shipped Friday the 7th.

 

[ChrisF]

OP: Did you ever get your Benchmark? I ended up getting one to try with my GE T2+'s. Curious on your experience.

 

[Puska]

I ended up with 2 Hypex 450 mono Audiophonics per recommendation here. Excellent choice!

 

[win]

OP: Did you ever get your Benchmark? I ended up getting one to try with my GE T2+'s. Curious on your experience.

I got one recently. The aesthetics, build quality, and perceived sound quality are all top notch. I'm very happy I went with the black, I was on the fence to get the silver. I wish it had 50w more per channel, but that's with my 86db sensitivity speakers at 4ohms, room correction, and listening to classical music (high dynamic range).

 

[tmtomh]

I got one recently. The aesthetics, build quality, and perceived sound quality are all top notch. I'm very happy I went with the black, I was on the fence to get the silver. I wish it had 50w more per channel, but that's with my 86db sensitivity speakers at 4ohms, room correction, and listening to classical music (high dynamic range).

I don't think the wattage is likely to be the issue, as 50 extra wpc would translate into a barely noticeable volume increase. I'd guess it's more likely it's the amp's gain. I assume you've set the Benchmark to the highest gain setting? Even then, through, it's spec'd at (if memory serves) 23dB of gain, which is fine, but a bit lower than the 25-29dB gain that most power amps provide. Compared to a 25dB gain amp the difference might not be noticeable, but compared to a 29dB gain amp the difference might be pretty noticeable and you could conceivably be finding yourself running out of volume range on your source component or preamp. (The Benchmark does provide 29dB if you have two of them and run them in bridged mono mode).