When I first fired up the AHB2 without it, the soundstage was surprisingly two dimensional. I often use a PS Audio PS10 power mains regenerator because it makes a massive difference to my reference system's sound in some instances. I initially gave the amp my pair of B&W 802D3s to play with, appropriately enough a cousin of the speakers than can be found at Abbey Road Studios, just down the road from me.
Benchmark ahb2 smps plus#
The AHB2 duly found itself installed in my reference system, comprising a Townshend Allegri Reference preamplifier complete with fully balanced inputs and outputs, plus a dCS Bartok streaming DAC. Just as well then, that the manufacturer says that it needs little warm-up to fully come on song. However, in the case of the Benchmark, it switches itself off after forty-five minutes of inactivity. I normally like to leave an amplifier on to burn in for a few days, before getting my head around what it's doing. It uses a switching power supply – explaining its light 6kg weight and small size – and runs in Class H, with a novel Class AB output stage and multiple power supply rails to improve efficiency. The company says the AHB2 shows no traces of the crossover distortion and delivers less than 0.00011% total harmonic distortion in stereo mode – which is extremely low, if you were in any doubt. It's an interesting design, developed jointly with THX. It runs very cool all the time yet provides a quoted 100W RMS into 8 ohms, both channels driven, and nearly twice that into 4.
Benchmark ahb2 smps series#
The amp performs a series of self-tests on start-up, and the various lights come on to show current warning, clipping, temperature problems, or power supply loss. The front panel has a power switch and a light display, which can be decoded with reference to the manual. You get normal speaker binding posts plus a pair of Neutrik's Speakon connectors on the output side. You can bridge the AHB2 to make it a monoblock, or bi-wire it to a single speaker there are only balanced connections incoming, as well as a choice of gain to match the speaker. Two things strike you upon first seeing it – it's surprisingly compact, and it also has the sort of features that make it more at home in a studio than a listening room lounge space. His initials adorn the AHB2 power amplifier that you see here.
Based in Syracuse, New York, the company was founded thirty years ago by Allen H. I first heard about this brand over a decade ago, when it made an excellent – by the standards of the time – and reasonably priced DAC. However, to this shortlist, we can add Benchmark.
Maybe Bryston and the odd ATC, but there aren't a lot.
Benchmark ahb2 smps pro#
In my experience as a professional musician who's regularly performing live and/or recording, I can't think of many amps with dual hi-fi and pro functionality. Still, amplifiers are less likely to cross the great divide. As far as the latter is concerned, B&W has famously made in-roads to the great temple of recording that is Abbey Road, and Quad electrostatics are sometimes found in the vans of recording engineers. Yet for some strange reason, very few products truly bridge this divide – never the twain shall meet, it often transpires.Ĭompanies like dCS and Chord Electronics spring to mind as exceptions to this rule, but perhaps it's an easier job for digital converters as they're not being asked to directly power banks of studio monitors or PA loudspeakers. True, they also demand greater reliability and ruggedness due to the rigours of continuous usage and often transportation. There's an interesting parallel universe to be discovered in the neighbouring domain of pro audio – after all, engineers should want the same as audiophiles, namely great sound. Benchmark Media Systems AHB2 Power Amplifier
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