Benchmark is absolutely amazing. I have DAC3 HGC and AHB2 amplifier. My first initial reaction, many years ago, when I bought Benchmark DAC1 was that it sounded too clean. I realized, that up to this point I was listening to music with added distortion either in form of noise or THD. Added noise or THD can make music to sound more dynamic. When people mention "musical" or "warm" that exactly what it is - added noise (perhaps coming from jitter) or even order harmonics. Some people say that Benchmark strips natural harmonics. I don’t know of any way, other than bandwidth limit, for amplifier to "strip" harmonics. People just got use to listen to different sound and it takes time to get used to clean sound, that many call "clinical" or "analytical". It takes time to learn to listen. There is no right or wrong either way, but I prefer Benchmark approach. Music sounds more exiting to me. Not only that I hear instruments in the background that were "sounds" before but immediacy and slam of AHB2 is beyond believe. My previous class D Rowland model 102 was good, but AHB2 is different class, while it also consumes very little energy in spite of class AB operation.
Truly transparent audio components or flavor of the month equipment
Having read many of the comments by a number of subscribers, it appears to me that most are mainly interested in the flavor of the month view instead of the transparent ability of a piece of equipment. Transparent components give the listener a clearer picture of the actual performance as captured in the studio, concert hall, subway station ,etc
Benchmark is the only manufacture to my knowledge who attempts to educate the listener on the really important and meaningful aspects of audio reproduction.
Any comments?
Benchmark is the only manufacture to my knowledge who attempts to educate the listener on the really important and meaningful aspects of audio reproduction.
Any comments?