Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier, opinions and competition

Try the Job 225. Lots of info and reviews online.

mzkmxcv, …."Even 25W is good enough for most setups (if you’re speakers are 84dB sensitive and you sit 20ft away, that’s a different story)."

This has not been my experience, my speakers are rated at 89db, 6 ohm nominal, although I suspect they are a little less efficient than this would indicate.  They only really came alive after I started using a 100 watt+ per side amp.  Oh they played using 35W tube and 50 watt SS, but they sang with the greater power.

Go to the cable forum and read up on the thread that bears my name, regarding the Schroeder Method of IC placement. I have been doing this with the Benchmark Amps in Mono and they are nothing short of stunning. 

@jetter

They might have stated in-room sensitivty (Klipsch almost always does this for instance, but they are even worse and use corner (2-wall) loading, so +6dB).

Bass-limited speakers usually get +2dB while almost full-range speakers get +3dB.

So, if they stated 89dB, it might be 87dB in actuality, or even 83dB if it were a Klipsch speaker.

Also, that’s at 6ohm, which takes in 1.335x the wattage, so my stated 25W which was for 8ohm nominal is thus >33W, not to mention if their minimum impedance take up a large bandwidth.

100W (8ohm) is +3dB vs 50W (8ohm); 
https://www.audiocheck.net/blindtests_level.php?lvl=3
It’s a good difference in volume.

You also don’t know if it’s just a better amp in general and that’s also why it sounds better to you.

The more I listen to the Benchmark, I’m hearing that the reviews are accurate: it has laser-like precision, but is not forgiving on mediocre recordings. As most recordings are not audiophile, that becomes a problem.  I have thousands of CDs and records.  I want to be able to listen to them without gritting my teeth.
 I’ll have to see how the amp breaks in before I decide whether or not to keep it.