Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier, opinions and competition

I upgraded to AHB2 from class D Rowland 102.  I had similar impressions, but what really surprised me was bass extension.  I started hearing lowest bass notes more pronounced.  How different could be 5Hz@-3db (Rowland) vs 0.1Hz@-3dB (Benchmark) when the lowest bass note is 41Hz ?

I find better bass is a common observation with Benchmark products. It isn’t simply more bass as in fact their bass response is flat. Just better definition of pitch and timbre - you hear more detail in the bass and better separation of instruments at those frequencies.

rvpiano OP


Nice amp, if you want to hear them at their best, don't bridge "if there's no need to", as all you'll gain is watts, everything else takes a hit.

And if you have two of them better to run them in stereo mode and vertically bi-amped, instead of bridging.
http://www.av2day.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/biamp2.jpg

Cheers George

I’m not bridging.  I only intend to use one amp.
It seems plenty powerful with my speakers.

@rvpiano 
 
Yeah, 100W into 8ohm doesn’t seem like a lot for $3000, but people overestimate how much wattage they need. It also doesn’t help when you have companies like Sim/Moon who sell a monoblock amp that delivers 888W (for ~$120,000), the funny thing is that it has more distortion than the Benchmark. 
 
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).