True, but Qutest has no pre and finding a pre to mix-match with it and the amp will be a headache, switching to DAC3 will make it a all-in-one solution
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Review and Measurements of Benchmark AHB2 Amp
- Thread starter amirm
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That's a good point.
True that.
https://benchmarkmedia.com/products/benchmark-ahb2-power-amplifier
MAXIMUM AUDIO OUTPUT CURRENT
- 29 A peak, per channel, both channels driven
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We need a Restorer John helpful advice column--sort of a Dear Abbey for confused audiophiles.
Dear Restorer John,
Reading the on-line reviews and wondering about power is getting me a little nervous and anxious. I have an AHB-2 driving Paul Klipsch horns. Now, I've never seen the clip light come on, and it never gets more than cool to the touch at really loud levels, but I'm wondering about current, power, and headroom. I'm seriously thinking about buying another, bridging them, and running a pair for stereo. Do you think that would solve my problem? Or am I completely insane?
Sincerely,
Neurotic Audiophile
Neurotic Audiophiles drive me crazy but it's a short drive.
GrimSurfer
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If you were to buy two extra AHB2s and send one my way, I'd be delighted to attest to your sanity, good taste, and charitable nature.
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Anyone use this in a 2.1 system? How are you connecting your sub?
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John Saiu of Benchmark suggests using one of the pre-outs on the DAC3 HGC for connecting a sub. My speakers roll off naturally below about 60Hz (horns), so I use the AHB2 full range into the loudspeakers, and connect a powered sub using one of the HGC's analog out. It works well in my system. The DAC3 HGC is a very flexible control unit, for add-ons.
A whole new type of Dear John letter, maybe if the advice is good the traditional letter can be avoided.
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Thanks for the info. I'm strongly considering the AHB2 but the DAC3 HGC is not in the cards (I already have the RME ADI-2 DAC). Generalizing, I take the recommended solution is to just use one's DAC or pre-amp. Fair enough.
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
No Ray, I wouldn't know where to start. You guys would make fun of me anyway! I have two permanent offsite humidity controlled lockups. One is 6x6x4m and the other is 6x3x4m. The smaller one is completely dedicated to electronics and HiFi with floor to ceiling stacked boxes.
At home, there may be 100-150 component pieces, I guess, maybe 20+ pairs of speakers (mostly small/medium two ways and 4 or 5 pairs of towers) at the moment and a lot of it (my partner is very understanding) in my lounge/listening/play room or in my lab. I've also sent a huge amount of gear to my 86yo audiophile Dad's house over the years on "loan". He has a large home with a massive dedicated music (HiFi) room, a speaker room (I call it), systems-of-the-month on various dining tables and a few turntable based systems in his office. His personal collection is also very large, and more 1970-1985 era, whereas I focus on late 70s and 1987-92/3 Japanese pieces.
I have little interest in traditional HiFi components (digital excluded) produced after the Japanese stock market crash(91/92), either from a collector's perspective or a performance perspective. Also from a technician's perspective, it's discrete, through-hole, traditionally engineered product that gets and keeps my attention, as it performs beautifully, can be repaired and returned to spec easily, and is built to last essentially forever.
Both of us have significant repositories of HiFi, music and electronics magazines, reviews and documentation going right back into the late 60s/early 70s. I've got a lot of original brochures and catalogs covering the few decades when I was either buying or selling retail HiFi. So when a product is mentioned, reviewed or compared, I hope it can be useful to have some original documentation or experience details added to the thread.
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GrimSurfer
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No Ray, I wouldn't know where to start. You guys would make fun of me anyway! I have two permanent offsite humidity controlled lockups. One is 6x6x4m and the other is 6x3x4m. The smaller one is completely dedicated to electronics and HiFi with floor to ceiling stacked boxes.
At home, there may be 100-150 component pieces, I guess, maybe 20+ pairs of speakers (mostly small/medium two ways and 4 or 5 pairs of towers) at the moment and a lot of it (my partner is very understanding) in my lounge/listening/play room or in my lab. I've also sent a huge amount of gear to my 86yo audiophile Dad's house over the years on "loan". He has a large home with a massive dedicated music (HiFi) room, a speaker room (I call it), systems-of-the-month on various dining tables and a few turntable based systems in his office. His personal collection is also very large, and more 1970-1985 era, whereas I focus on late 70s and 1987-92/3 Japanese pieces.
I have little interest in traditional HiFi components (digital excluded) produced after the Japanese stock market crash(91/92), either from a collector's perspective or a performance perspective. Also from a technician's perspective, it's discrete, through-hole, traditionally engineered product that gets and keeps my attention, as it performs beautifully, can be repaired and returned to spec easily, and is built to last essentially forever.
Both of us have significant repositories of HiFi, music and electronics magazines, reviews and documentation going right back into the late 60s/early 70s. I've got a lot of original brochures and catalogs covering the few decades when I was either buying or selling retail HiFi. So when a product is mentioned, reviewed or compared, I hope it can be useful to have some original documentation or experience details added to the thread.
It's a bit like asking to see where the snags are made, instead of simply enjoying them.
I love the thru hole stuff too. Rugged as hell.
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Your RME has both unbalanced and XLR outputs. If both are active at the same time, the easiest way would be to run the analog signal into the sub, and make crossover/gain adjustments using the sub's controls. But then your main speakers are going to run full bore. On my system that is not much of a sonic issue, since bass rolls off pretty smoothly above sub levels.
I have not investigated active crossovers. That, of course, would be your most flexible option, but then you're adding expense and possibly noise. For example, on the low end of the price scale you have a dbx 234xs crossover, that specs in at about 90dB S/N with 88dB interchannel crosstalk. Not sure I'd want to buy an AHB2 and drop that between my DAC and amp. It seems to me that the point of the AHB2 is to preserve its inherent lack of noise and distortion. Bryston's crossover also specs at 90dB S/N... for almost twice the price of the AHB2 amp, but you get a nice warranty. McIntosh makes a room EQ and crossover for $4500.00 with S/N claimed to be 100dB (A weighted--however that is). So there are options.
If it was me I'd go to a guitar store and buy the dbx for two bills, and play around with it. See if it makes a difference, and find out whether it causes audible issue for you, or solves your problem.
Can it be done in software, if you use a PC as your source? I don't know, but I'm sure someone here does.
Certainly, if you have enough DAC/channels to support it.
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But the RME is a two channel DAC. So that's not really an option for him. I really don't know how it could be done with a two channel DAC fed by a PC. This early in the AM the only thing I can think of is a processor between the DAC and amp, feeding the full range signal to the subwoofer controls, while attenuating the LF to the amplifier that drives the main speakers. I can think of cheap ways to do that, or expensive ways. I always go for the cheap way first. LOL
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