What did you do to your stereo rig today?

stangman67

Yo drew, no need to go ballistic. I’ll take whatever chance I get to poke at the “measurement” crowd. Not saying the benchmark isn’t a good piece of equipment, I’m sure it is. I just hate ASR and all it stands for, sorry

maxward

In Drew’s defense, he said it only bothered him because it was in his bedroom. I’m sure that my hearing isn’t as acute as his, but the wrong kind of ambient noise in a bedroom is pretty irritating.

stangman67

I can understand that, but I’m sure no piece of equipment should put off an audible whine like that. Maybe drew has superhuman hearing, maybe the benchmark has a flaw that bears mentioning, I am always a skeptic when places crown affordable products “giant killers”. Once again I’m sure the benchmark is a great piece of equipment overall, but…

invalid

I just want to know how he came up with 5 customers with this problem, maybe he's the only one or maybe there is more than 5. He seems so defensive when it comes to this amp.

Clipdat

@invalid I think you might need to work on your reading comprehension. Here's my original quote:

"Because I'm one of probably under 5 customers of Benchmark that have EVER complained about this particular issue?"

I put the relevant word in bold for you. In this case "probably" means I'm guessing and theorizing. Whatever the number, it's surely low. As I'm sure you already noticed, there's zero results when Googling this symptom on the AHB2 and seeing any relevant discussions/complaints.

But just to ease your curiosity, I've emailed my contact at Benchmark and politely asked how many customers have ever reported this aside from me. Will let you know as soon as they reply.

Clipdat

stangman67 wrote: »

I can understand that, but I’m sure no piece of equipment should put off an audible whine like that. Maybe drew has superhuman hearing, maybe the benchmark has a flaw that bears mentioning, I am always a skeptic when places crown affordable products “giant killers”. Once again I’m sure the benchmark is a great piece of equipment overall, but…

Zach I'd be happy to ship the amp to you on my dime if you wanted to try it in your system, and also to see if the extremely faint, barley noticeable high pitched whine while it's powered off/in standby would be audible to your ears. All I would ask is that you treat it as if it was your own and return it in the same condition it arrived in. LMK.

jdjohn

stangman67 wrote: »

treitz3 wrote: »

"Put it in the closet for now" and, "flawless" doesn't mix in my world.

It's either one way or the other.

Tom

Truer words have never been spoken. The comments above are a perfect example of the “measurements mean everything” narrative being pushed by ASR and others is complete BS

As an owner of a Benchmark AHB2 amp myself (and other Benchmark products), I have some perspective on this. I find this amp to be VERY transparent, which can be a blessing and a curse. Let's face it: Benchmark gear started as studio monitoring equipment, meant for mixing in (honestly) near-field environments with monitor speakers.

They branched into home consumer products, and for 'monitor' (bookshelf?) speakers, I think the AHB2 still excels. This amp provides an abundance of clean, undistorted power...but there is a limit. For power-hungry floorstanding speakers, the AHB2 is great...up to a point. IMO, at higher volumes, this amp can become a little thin compared to more 'hefty' amps, when driving bigger speakers. Some folks use two of these amps in a mono configuration for bigger speakers, but my research indicates there is no real gain/advantage in doing this. Ouch.

As with everything many things in this hobby, it comes down to personal taste. Many folks LOVE the coloration of tubes (or class A), while others LOVE the transparency of modern amp topologies/technologies, such as Class D. Let's face it: the bass response for a Class A amp is much meatier than the tighter response of a Class D, or other modern amp topology. The Benchmark AHB2 is not Class D, but it does employ a much more modern implementation of Class A/B topology.

Personally, I have not kicked my AHB2 to the curb. But for the time being, I have set it aside for another day, or for another setup - either mine, or for a friend or family member.

Clipdat

jdjohn wrote: »

They branched into home consumer products, and for 'monitor' (bookshelf?) speakers, I think the AHB2 still excels. This amp provides an abundance of clean, undistorted power...but there is a limit. For power-hungry floorstanding speakers, the AHB2 is great...up to a point. IMO, at higher volumes, this amp can become a little thin compared to more 'hefty' amps, when driving bigger speakers.

I thought that generally speaking smaller speakers were lower in sensitivity, and thus actually required more power.

And that larger speakers generally had higher sensitivity and didn't necessarily require as much. With obvious exceptions such as big planars, low efficiency towers below 84db sens., etc.

jdjohn

Clipdat wrote: »

I thought that generally speaking smaller speakers were lower in sensitivity, and thus actually required more power.

And that larger speakers generally had higher sensitivity and didn't necessarily require as much. With obvious exceptions such as big planars, low efficiency towers below 84db sens., etc.

I can understand and appreciate these generalities, but I don't think they are necessarily accurate.

jbreezy5

jdjohn wrote: »

I was wondering the same thing about Drew's AHB2. Mine is also boxed-up at the moment since I have the Butler TBD 2250 in situ. I did have to send the Butler in for servicing, but I've had it back for a bit and all is well again.

Still envious of your Butler amp. Hope to get my ears on one someday. Read the 6moons review very frequently during fiscally leaner times in my 20s.

stangman67

I guess I had one too many beers last night sheesh. Sorry folks, didn’t mean to incite a riot! And Drew thanks for the offer, I’d love to hear one one day but no need to do that. I doubt I’d hear the whine in my listening room anyways, my neighborhood isn’t particularly quiet and there’s always a bit of ambient noise. I’m sure it would outshine a small whine. I wonder if it’s somehow mains power related. I’ve had equipment in my old **** house cause some weird stuff when mixed in with my electrical system

My statements were way more intended to dig on ASR than that benchmark as they seem universally liked.

VR3

You just are not ready!

engie490

Finished up replacing the battery packs for my Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena. I couldn't find the packs for sale anywhere and Musical Surroundings offered no help. Found a suitable battery pack on Tenergy.com. Ordered 2 for less than $90.

Michael Yee is definitely one of the good guys of this business. We exchanged numerous emails and he responded quickly and enthusiastically without any hope of remuneration. He helped me figure out how to connect the new batteries without buying a $300 crimping tool and also helped me align the light sensors that control the battery mode.

Now it's making very nice music in battery mode being fed by an Audio Technica ART-1 MC cart.

Clipdat

Clipdat wrote: »

@invalid I think you might need to work on your reading comprehension. Here's my original quote:

"Because I'm one of probably under 5 customers of Benchmark that have EVER complained about this particular issue?"

I put the relevant word in bold for you. In this case "probably" means I'm guessing and theorizing. Whatever the number, it's surely low. As I'm sure you already noticed, there's zero results when Googling this symptom on the AHB2 and seeing any relevant discussions/complaints.

But just to ease your curiosity, I've emailed my contact at Benchmark and politely asked how many customers have ever reported this aside from me. Will let you know as soon as they reply.

@invalid Benchmark replied to my inquiry and said "Only a couple, including you" - Sounds like under 5 to me.

They also offered to put it on the bench and test everything out, noting that it could potentially be a bad/failing PSU. Great service.

treitz3

Hey, Drew. I would not be surprised if they came back and stated that a capacitor went bad within said LPS. That's cool that they have taken an interest in testing it.

Tom

Clipdat

SMPS, but yeah. I imagine some inductor coil in the standby SMPS is acting up and resonating at a specific high frequency. Could be out of tolerance, bad batch, etc.

"Coil whine" is a pretty big/well known issue among PC gamers using high-end powerful GPUs. In fact, many consumer electronics are now shipping out of China with coil whine, either while powered on or in standby. (KEF KC62 I'm looking at you) It's just something that not a lot of people notice/talk about it seems.

VR3

Dunno Drew... A few plus you is like 3...

5 is a gross exaggeration by percentage increase margins 😝

Clipdat

A few, a couple, a little bit. Itty bitty, if you will.

invalid

Should have used a linear power supply in that amp.

Clipdat

Yeah if they did they would've prevented three customers complaining about a noisy standby SMPS.

invalid

Clipdat wrote: »

Yeah if they did they would've prevented three customers complaining about a noisy standby SMPS.

Plus it would have sounded better. You were the one that bragged about how quiet it was on the linear power supply thread kind of funny.

Clipdat

It would've sounded better? I wasn't aware you've tried one in your system, when was that?

treitz3

This is worthy of another thread.

Are well built SMPS PS's noisier than a well built LPS or is it a cost associated, nose in the air placebo?

Tom

invalid

I've heard the benchmark in other systems, it's not bad, but always seems like something is missing, not my cup of tea.

jbreezy5

invalid wrote: »

I've heard the benchmark in other systems, it's not bad, but always seems like something is missing, not my cup of tea.

Maybe a LPS? J/k (or am I?; not even sure if I know 😅)

I actually wish I could A/B the node 2i stock vs. the LHY LPS upgrade. Tbh, I subjectively felt like imaging improved, but that transparency decreased; not sure I like that trade. I ❤️ transparency.

Since I can’t A/B can’t really reach a conclusion, hence why I haven’t done a review.

Unlike when I purchased an outboard LPS for the Dacmagic, the LHY LPS from my perception is not necessarily night/day better.

Clipdat

invalid wrote: »

I've heard the benchmark in other systems, it's not bad, but always seems like something is missing, not my cup of tea.

Some people find the complete lack of distortion to be unpleasant/uncomfortable or simply not enjoyable in some way (it does take a bit of time to acclimate to it), and quickly go back to traditional solid state A/AB or tube amplification. It is what it is.

invalid

Clipdat wrote: »

invalid wrote: »

I've heard the benchmark in other systems, it's not bad, but always seems like something is missing, not my cup of tea.

Some people find the complete lack of distortion to be unpleasant/uncomfortable or simply not enjoyable in some way (it does take a bit of time to acclimate to it), and quickly go back to traditional solid state A/AB or tube amplification. It is what it is.

There is no such thing as lack of distortion in an audio system, the speakers have the most distortion. Measurements are not as important as you think. we do not measure devices in the working conditions they are used, and we do not need a human weighting standard.

Clipdat

I was talking about the distortion profile of the amplifier, and you know that.

But yeah by all means go off on a nonsensical tangent about how measurements aren't as important as I think they are and blah blah blah.

You're impossible to have a rational intelligent discussion with. * B o z o L i s t ' d *

invalid

What I said is true, there is no agreed upon weighting standard, and we do not measure equipment in the working conditions they are used. Measurements are fine, but designers wouldn't even have to do listening evaluations if all that was needed is measurements.

jbreezy5

invalid wrote: »

What I said is true, there is no agreed upon weighting standard, and we do not measure equipment in the working conditions they are used. Measurements are fine, but designers wouldn't even have to do listening evaluations if all that was needed is measurements.

That’s my issue with so many audiophiles (not aiming what I’m about to say at you, but speaking to the thought paradigm)…

Some say it’s all subjective, ignoring the fact that manufacturers do measure their equipment, and certain measurements clearly affect what is audible to most listeners…

Others say measurements are all that matters, and any perception that hasn’t been measured can’t be heard.

Why are so many black/white minded about this?