I was not picking sides, I was just providing a perspective. If anything, I'm on your side, but those less fortunate should have options.
If I had the means - as in the past - I would be very very tempted to purchase the Benchmark amp. By all indications, it is a fantastic product for a fair price and excellent customer support. It pushes all of my buttons as being a classic American company that reminds me of my younger days when Marantz, McIntosh, Scott, Fisher, Sherwood and other excellent audio companies were the mid to high-end audio manufacturers.
(I wonder why Benchmark - or Emotiva - are not listed on the
AmericanMadeAudio.com website?)
As a retiree who blew his investments and is now living in Panama on my {decent} SS pension, I am one of those who is forced to look at less expensive options. I am currently using a Topping PA3 amp, and although I think it is an excellent cheap amp, I am "upgrading" and waiting for my ICEpower modules to put in the Chinese Ghent amplifier case that has already arrived. Total cost for an excellent pair of balanced connection components - a "DIY assembly" 100 WPC ICEpower amp, and a Topping DX7s DAC with volume control and a remote - will cost under $400. That is $2,500 less than the superb Benchmark AHB2, but even $400 stretches my budget.
With respect to cheap Chinese audio electronics, Topping and SMSL - as verified by Amir's testing - are prominent among the exceptions to the mountain of cheap Chinese audio garbage currently being sold around the world. This website and Amir's comprehensive testing are a godsend for those of us considering and buying truly inexpensive audio gear. However, the testing here has also exposed flaws and sub-par performance even with supposedly respected - and expensive - audio hardware, so whether we buy less or more expensive components, if they have been tested, we can use those results to make informed buying decisions.
(One route I will not take is commodity-level components from "re-branders" like Douk, Nobsound Monoprice. I want to know who actually makes the components that I buy - even with Chinese brands.)