All Benchmark System Question

Guys, I have come to the conclusion that i do get “tired” periodically with whatever I am hearing and want something different. For years I used a Conrad Johnson amp and preamp and I remember hearing it for the first time after living with a Tandberg amp and PS Audio pre and I thought it was a revelation-tubes is the way to go I thought. Then a dear friend convinced me to try all Benchmark and when I first heard it I thought it was a revelation. Now, after reading @yyzsantabarbara’s comments I want a Coda 07x! I do believe I will never sell any of my Benchmark though. @mrpsync, whichever DAC you pick between the two will be a winner. And a year from now there will be a new flavor we all want and we will go through it all again!

The CODA 07x is pretty amazing. It is at the level of the Luxman c900u preamp at $15K.  I think I would take the CODA over the c900u. I am comparing these 2 because they are sort of similar sonically. A little warm for the CODA a bit warmer still for the Luxman.

As I write this I am playing some music via my Sony SCD-1 SACD player into my Topping pre90 and then to a D-Sonic Class D amp which then goes to my RAAL SR1a headphones. This is the first time in a long time I have heard the RAAL SR1a naked (no DSP). It sounds great with the 20 year old disk player. The Topping really gets out of the way and lets me hear the SACD player. The Sony SCD-1 does not sound as nice with the CODA 07x preamp, both are warmish components.

The $1500 D-Sonic amp has a switch to select between RCA and XLR inputs. So I have the CODA and Topping preamps hooked up to it at the same time. The speaker outputs from the D-Sonic go into my RAAL SR1a headphones. I recently got an RCA cable to make this Topping to D-Sonic connection possible. So another listening option.

I do not plan on buying more gear after I get some speakers for my living room. I am pretty sure I will stick to what I have now built. This system setup was a long time in the making for me (about 10 years of saving).

A new update on my finalized office system. I now have the CODA #8 to pair with the CODA 07x or Topping pre90. The CODA #8 is incredible with the Thiel CS3.7. Better than the Benchmark AHB2, though I like the sonic signature of the AHB2 a little more. The AHB2 does not have the required power at 2 Ohm. I can see it makes a massive difference. I had to lower a Convolution filter I use in my small office to be ruler flat as opposed to the slight bass bump I was using with the AHB2 monos. These DSP files were professionally created for me and are of incredible quality.

The Benchmark stack is also super quiet while the CODA stack has a tiny bit of hiss with ear against tweeter (like most gear). This is not a deal breaker since the CODA pair sounds so good with the Thiel CS3.7.

I moved my AHB2’s to be the mono amps to my RAAL SR1a. It sounds incredible via the CODA 07x preamp and another RAAL SR1a Convolution file. It is not really overkill because these headphones can use the power.

Now everything is not unicorns and rainbows. My Topping pre90 and the CODA #8 sounds like crap, very disappointing on that. The Topping pre90 and AHB2 sounded great but I do not use that combo anymore to the Thiel CS 3.7. I need to figure out what to do there. I will likely have an orphaned KEF LS50 in the future so that is an option for the Topping pre90.

I was testing the Topping pre90 today with RCA sources, but XLR output to the CODA #8. Maybe that makes a difference because I compared the all CODA setup using all XLR’s.

I wonder how the Benchmark HPA4/LA4 + CODA #8 would have sounded (won’t know now). The AHB2 and CODA 07x are amazing together.

BTW - I only have the Benchmark DAC3B in the office. I had to move the Gustard X26 Pro downstairs to do preamp/DAC duties for a month or so while I get some cosmetic repairs done on an integrated amp. The DAC3B is great with the CODA stack.

I spoke with my CODA dealer who sells CODA gear to a lot of recording studios in Los Angeles. He told me a few of his professional clients use the Benchmark preamp (LA4/HPA4) with the CODA #8. He thought the Topping pre90 sounding dull or lifeless with the CODA was likely an impedance mismatch.

I sold the HPA4 to some guy in France a few weeks ago but I only lost $200 so not the end of the world to buy the LA4 to replace it. Bye, bye Topping pre90 at least with the CODA #8.

I also learned that I could reduce the tiny bit of hiss on the CODA 07x preamp by lowering the individual source gain on the CODA 07x. I had raised it in the past to match the HPA4 sound level when I was comparing gear via ROON.