Hi all, i just joined the forum and saw the thread and wanted to share my AHB2 experience. I bought my AHB2/DAC2 HGC COMBO shortly after the AHB2 came out at the end of 2014 and i have been extremely pleased. I wholeheartedly agree with those who stated that you buy this once and you are happy for life. I haven’t felt the need to look at amps since then. My speakers are Martin Logan Montis, which dip to 0.52ohms at 20kHz, but the little champ drives them with ease to ear-damaging SPLs, which i try to avoid to preserve my hearing. Even with adding some serious DSP boost to the highs, i can get the DAC2 to the 12’o clock position before the AHB2 starts clipping. Before i got the AHB2, i used an NAD M2, but it couldn’t take the Montis. Anytime i raised the volume to -20dB (no equlization) the protection would shut it down. I spoke to NAD and they told me it can’t handle loads below 2ohms. That’s a $6k amp and it was really struggling with my speakers.
Some people might call it clinical, but to me it’s absolutely transparent and accurate and most importantly non-fatiguing. i would call the sound pristine, silky smooth, which I absolutely love about this amp. During the winter months I have binge listened for up to 14 hours a day and it’s like a sports car, begs you to push it and i don’t get fatigued. I have noticed that i usually start listening in in the 10-11 o’clock volume position and gradually increase it to 12 even 1 o’clock sometimes. I have to remind myself to turn it down to protect my ears. it feels like the louder it gets the better the system sounds. No noticeable distortion whatsoever. I’ve had systems where i listen for half an hour and catch myself slowly turning down the volume until i turn the system off and go do something else. It’s from all the distortion that is hard to pinpoint but the brain registers it nonetheless and fatigues you.
I’ve been passionately into audio for 35+ years and i‘ve gone through many speakers and systems, always dreaming up of something better until i got to this setup. I think i will pull the trigger on an LA4 and i can honestly say that i feel like i will be totally content with the LA4/AHB2 combo’s sound for life. These components are pushing the limits of the best Audio Precision testing equipment out there. I don’t claim to have golden ears and i don’t think I will be able to appreciate any further improvements from here. Kudos to
@John_Siau and the team at Benchmark for the solid engineering.
The only reason to get me to upgrade them would be for purely cosmetic and aesthetic reasons. I am totally happy with the aesthetics of the AHB2, but the DACs and LA4 could use some botox for my taste. I really like the direction they have taken with adding a large display to the LA4, but to me it needs improvement. The only reason I would not go for the HPA4 and would rather go through the inconvenience of getting a separate headphone amp is because the display looks very busy with displaying options for both headphones and line amp. The volume bars are small to begin with and HPA4 has 2 side by side. I would sit 10 feet from the unit and there won’t be much useful information i can see. The larger volume bar on the LA4 is much more appealing to me from my listening position. if i push on the volume button to switch between the headphones/line and want to make an adjustment it should declutter the screen and fill the screen with the volume information for the selected choice. The current setup seems only suitable for someone sitting next to the unit. Otherwise choosing the HPA4 would have been a no brainer for me. I wish the LA4 could come with the same heatsinks as the AHB2 just for visual appeal. The faceplates are identical but the overall sizes differ. It would look aesthetically pleasing if they shared the same size. Imagine stacking DAC3, LA4 and AHB2 on top of each other. Each component gets progressively wider. They look like a Christmas tree and not a serious set of components, which they actually are. Please make all the same overall width. Finally i wish Benchmark would offer a combined DAC and LA4 into one unit with the same dimensions of the AHB2. I am not a big fan of the 16 lights on the DAC and all those buttons and it’s also half the height of the other components and it sits on top of them, which look so much cleaner and decluttered than the DAC even though the DAC3 B is definitely an improvement in that regard. I hope Benchmark streamline the different components and i would be totally happy.