Where are the other THX AAA amps?

[Jorj]

Not talking headphone gear.

We've seen the Benchmark AHB2 and its stellar performance, but the cost is, well, too high. Massdrop has shown that the AAA design can be leveraged to wallop the competition in terms of price and specs. I'm wondering now....what is it about the AAA design that we have not yet seen any other home audio amps on the market?

Licensing costs too high? Difficult to implement at higher outputs? Seems that the Benchmark should have cost 1/3 of what it does, but no other contenders are showing, so maybe this AAA thing has hidden warts.

 

[etc6849]

Next best is the hypex class d ncore modules... I would try to contact some ATI dealers close to you and see who can beat MSRP for something like this by the most amount: https://www.ati-amp.com/AT52XNC.php

The only way to get a significant discount on the AHB2 is to buy used. It seems a lot of pro gear doesn't have the significant markup that consumer gear does, so it is nearly impossible to get much of a price break.

That said, Benchmark has great service, employs Americans, and seems to design some of the best gear available. They also show AP 2722 measurements in their manuals to show you they aren't selling you snake oil. I would guess that building any amp with that low of distortion takes a lot of design time and many prototypes.

I don't know how many more parts are in the AHB2 amp, but I would guess there are a lot more components than what a normal amp has. Even Monoprice charges $1k for their 200W stereo amp (looks to be made by ATI and isn't even ATI's fully differential design): https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15595

I think $1k is very unrealistic for a fully balanced amp (seeing as monoprice can't even do that), let alone one with as integrate of a design as the AHB2 with even more parts than a differential amp. Unfortunately, this amp design isn't something one can build at home.

THX was able to make a small scale design on silicone for lower outputs (as with the headphone amp you mention), but I don't see how a chip that size could ever do 480 Watts into 6 ohms (in mono mode). Unfortunately, I don't see these ever being $1k (new or used unless we have a great depression).

Amp board:

Power Supply:

 

[Jorj]

No question, the Benchmark is a quality unit, the measurements don't lie. They are a good company, completely agree.

I had not seen the mainboard before and am still a bit blown away by the number of SMDs on that thing. I've never seen an amp with so much 'stuff' in it. I think that neatly answers the question, THX AAA is not easy to implement, but there are sonic rewards for doing it. The sheer level of engineering and the number of components makes it an expensive technology at higher wattages.

 

[etc6849]

There is indeed. Here is the video with the VP of reasearch at THX talking about the amp design:

I think Laurie said it took 10 years to fully design the amp, but going off memory. That ATI hypex ncore amp is worth exploring. Had those been out when I tri-amped, I would have likely gone with them. You should be able to find ATI 30-45% off if you call a few dealers. My buddy got an "open box" 7 channel model, and we were both really impressed with it. The same 7 channels of AHB2 would have been $12k for a little better specs.

 

[Jorj]

Fun interview. Laurie really does a nice job of skirting the audiophool questions while making it clear that objective measurements were the guide for the AAA design.

 

[rajapruk]

Regarding an affordable THX AAA speaker amp, like a Massdrop version. I have heard that it is not going to happen, unfortunately.

I hope this decision will change.

 

[Jorj]

Regarding an affordable THX AAA speaker amp, like a Massdrop version. I have heard that it is not going to happen, unfortunately.

I hope this decision will change.

After looking at the images of the main board for the AHB2, I think this is likely the case. The amount of components on the board and the amount of collaboration that Benchmark had with THX lead me to believe that others will have a hard time replicating the successes of the AHB2.

For the lower-power headphone applications, there seems to be a SOC-type solution, but not for the higher output version. Massdrop and Monoprice have both implemented it, but so far, the Massdrop is the only one that seems well done.