Review And Images By Greg Weaver My first taste of this remarkable new amplifier came earlier this year in April at Chicago’s AXPONA where I discovered it driving a newly redesigned Studio Electric Pasadena loudspeaker, also bearing the Benchmark trademark. Now called the SMS1, the Pasadena’s crossover had been reworked by Benchmark, […]
AUDIO SUPPLEMENT North American
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From our archives ….
Paul McGowan writes: I have gotten a lot of mail, as of late, regarding our stance on the DAC feeding the power amplifier directly. There are clearly two camps on this issue: those that believe less is more and those that believe more is better. I have always found myself in the camp of less […]
I see lots of bad mouthing of companies but sometimes, these folks building our gear are really amazing. I’ve worked for a few notable electronic companies and sometimes it was a source of great personal price. I’d like to tell a few positive ones about the companies who have amazed me with their own pride-of-product […]
Stereophile: I first saw Benchmark’s AHB2 stereo power amplifier at the 2013 Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, in New York City. On silent display in Benchmark’s booth on the convention floor, its compact size and comprehensive features made the amp immediately attractive, and the design was described as a departure from traditional analog and […]
Most interconnects are shielded to reduce noise and improve sound quality. Is the same true for speaker cables? Watch Now
When you see a woofer moving in and out at low bass notes does that action cause distortion? And if so, what kind and how important is it? Paul helps a person make the right choice in speakers. Watch Now Paul McGowan
From our 1998 archives:
Does anyone have any opinions/info to share about the new Benchmark AHB2 power amp? Do the company’s assertions about drastically reducing noise and distortion ring true? Thanks to all. Dip in and out HERE
IMO the DAC1’s true potential can only be realised when the extra bells and whistles (XLR output attenuators, physical volume pot) are switched off, and it is fed a digital signal that is attenuated, with dither at 24 bits, and upsampled well (e.g. SoX with -v) to 110.6kHz. If used via XLR, also the XLR […]
Have you heard a difference between the DAC performance of the Benchmark USB DAC and the Benchmark DAC-1 preamp and if so, which one is superior? I have done this experiment on a number of occasions and have very rarely heard any difference at all. It might have been my imagination. And so it is […]
Paul McGowan Several days ago I promised I’d tell you how I connected the mystery subwoofer to the system and why. The subwoofer is a sealed box powered subwoofer I am auditioning from a local company and it is really an excellent sounding product, easy to seamlessly integrate into the system and as musical […]
Would any owner of this be interested in sending us their observations about this machine in operation please? Thank. HP
