Benchmark AHB2 Review (Updated Measurements)

[tesseractASR]

...at some point you are doing the same thing people who buy $3000 cables are doing. Just justifying it with graphs instead of golden ears.
Can we have a middle ground of common sense with metric like clean watt per $ or something.

Wat? Cable people justify using *cough* graphs?!? No.

The beauty of this amp is not just the "graphs" cable people do not use. It's stellar performance, combined w/stellar build-quality, that ensures consistent performance through years of production runs and years of usage.

Your comparison is apples to pizza.

 

[Chester]

So I looked at ordering the Benchmark SpeakOn speaker cables but they’re mighty expensive here in the UK (£200 for a pair of 6ft cables).

I then looked at buying direct from Benchmark in the US. While they were obviously cheaper, they wanted $90 to ship them, I guess primarily to not undercut their UK distributer.

So I have ordered a couple of Neutrik SpeakOn connectors and will screw them on to one end of my existing cables.

I’m not expecting to hear any difference, just tinkering for the sake of tinkering really.

It’s standard but decent enough 11 AWG cable, with screw-in locking bananas at one end and will be screw in SpeakOns at the other. Should I expect my DIY effort to have the same measurable impact?

 

[Nicolas]

So I looked at ordering the Benchmark SpeakOn speaker cables but they’re mighty expensive here in the UK (£200 for a pair of 6ft cables).

I then looked at buying direct from Benchmark in the US. While they were obviously cheaper, they wanted $90 to ship them, I guess primarily to not undercut their UK distributer.

So I have ordered a couple of Neutrik SpeakOn connectors and will screw them on to one end of my existing cables.

I’m not expecting to hear any difference, just tinkering for the sake of tinkering really.

It’s standard but decent enough 11 AWG cable, with screw-in locking bananas at one end and will be screw in SpeakOns at the other. Should I expect my DIY effort to have the same measurable impact?

I did the same, not expecting any measurable or audible difference; I just like the locking, reliable connection that the speakONs provide.

 

[Chester]

Neutrik SpeakOns just arrived. Anyone ever seen them in brown before? I’ve only ever seen them in blue. The company looked legit and have been trading a long time so I’m sure they are fine, just not what I was expecting.

 

[JustJones]

Neutrik SpeakOns just arrived. Anyone ever seen them in brown before? I’ve only ever seen them in blue. The company looked legit and have been trading a long time so I’m sure they are fine, just not what I was expecting.

View attachment 340923

You have the FXX series. Green or Brown depending on wire size , 2 pole or 4 pole

https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/speakon-loudspeaker-connectors/speakon-cable-connectors/fxx-series

 

[Nicolas]

Neutrik SpeakOns just arrived. Anyone ever seen them in brown before? I’ve only ever seen them in blue. The company looked legit and have been trading a long time so I’m sure they are fine, just not what I was expecting.

View attachment 340923

Yes, I believe these are 2 poles connectors.
Depending on your intended use these may or may not be suitable.
From the AHB2 manual :

 

[Chester]

You have the FXX series. Green or Brown depending on wire size , 2 pole or 4 pole

https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/speakon-loudspeaker-connectors/speakon-cable-connectors/fxx-series

Thank you @JustJones . And they are fine for what I have in mind?

 

[Chester]

Yes, I believe these are 2 poles connectors.
Depending on your intended use these may or may not be suitable.
From the AHB2 manual :

View attachment 340924

Just standard speaker wire, 2 cores.

 

[Nicolas]

Just standard speaker wire, 2 cores.

As far as I can tell your 2-pole plugs are compatible with the 4-pole jacks of the amplifier, and unless you are in the situation described in the last paragraph you should be fine.

The 1&2 OUT NL4 jack can also be used for biamp applications. Use this jack with a four-pole
cable to connect both output channels to the high and low drivers in a biamped 2-way
speaker.

 

[JustJones]

The back shows how to wire your connection.
1& 2 out you just wire for 1 channel
1+ 1- channel 1
2 out
2+ 2- channel 2

 

[denydog]

Neutrik SpeakOns just arrived. Anyone ever seen them in brown before? I’ve only ever seen them in blue. The company looked legit and have been trading a long time so I’m sure they are fine, just not what I was expecting.

I just installed a pair of those on some Bluejeans 10 ga cables without issues. I think they've replaced the blue ones. I like that they use torx screws.

 

[Nicolas]

I just installed a pair of those on some Bluejeans 10 ga cables without issues. I think they've replaced the blue ones. I like that they use torx screws.

This is one series of connectors (FXX) among several others in the Neutrik range: the blue ones still exist in other series.

 

[denydog]

This is one series of connectors (FXX) among several others in the Neutrik range: the blue ones still exist in other series.

OK

 

[Platypus20]

The NL2s I just got from Benchmark were blue, the NL4s were black, the cable hole in the black one is larger

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Let's not go there. . .there was a heated exchange on the looks of the Soncoz.

Looks aside, haven’t we already had reports of failures and subpar service from Soncoz? That alone is enough for me to stay away.

 

[glideslope]

Neutrik SpeakOns just arrived. Anyone ever seen them in brown before? I’ve only ever seen them in blue. The company looked legit and have been trading a long time so I’m sure they are fine, just not what I was expecting.

One difference I noticed on those new ones is the contacts are silver plated copper rather than silver plated brass on the older NL4FC. The copper likely has higher conductivity and may be better.

 

[Giacomo]

The Benchmark AHB2 looks nice, measures really good and has a reputation for being reliable. It is on my wish list for the next time I need a new amplifier.

Buy it. I have fine so and now I’m very happy.

 

[SAV1972]

I have ahb2. Very good amplifier.
I'm a little worried about the slight click in the acoustics when I turn off the amplifier.

 

[Martini]

I have ahb2. Very good amplifier.
I'm a little worried about the slight click in the acoustics when I turn off the amplifier.

Unless you are getting a THUMP or loud tic, don't be concerned.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I have ahb2. Very good amplifier.
I'm a little worried about the slight click in the acoustics when I turn off the amplifier.

No need to worry.