![]() A third Neutrik NL4 is provided for use when the amp is in bridged mode, which is selected with a second toggle switch. For output, the Benchmark amp offers a choice of traditional multiway connectors or a stereo pair of Neutrik NL4 sockets. I was also impressed with a seriousness of design apparent in its features: The fully balanced AHB2 has, on its rear panel, only XLR jacks for signal input, plus a toggle switch that allows the user to select among three input-sensitivity levels. When I unpacked the AHB2, I was impressed with its small size and weight: the non-rack-mount version is 11.04" wide by 3.84" high by 9.34" deep and weighs only 12.5 lbs. I didn't recall how well the Benchmark AHB2 might suit me, until the amp began making a buzz (only figuratively!) happily, when I asked John Atkinson if I might review the Benchmark, he told me that he already had one that he could drop off. Fast-forward to 2015, when I found myself investigating lighter power ampsI can no longer lift my 155-lb McIntosh MC303, or easily maneuver my 65-lb Parasound A31. Out of technical curiosity and my own interest as a consumer, I wanted an AHB2 right away, but the model had yet to be launched. By the time of Burdick's retirement, in 2006, Benchmark didn't yet offer a power amplifier, but the company used a prototype based on his work to evaluate their new digital products, and that amp was soon developed as a commercial product Burdick died just weeks before the AHB2, now named in his honor, was shown at the 2013 AES convention. ![]() It was also explained to me that the AHB2 was based on designs by Benchmark's founder, Allen H. On silent display in Benchmark's booth on the convention floor, its compact size and comprehensive features made the amp immediately attractive, and the design was described as a departure from traditional analog and digital amplifiers (footnote 1, more on that later). KR suggests A– too bad there’s no such rating.I first saw Benchmark's AHB2 stereo power amplifier at the 2013 Convention of the Audio Engineering Society, in New York City. JA’s conclusion was that the Primare A35.8 offers high power, especially in bridged mode, with very low levels of distortion and audioband noise. On the test bench, the A35.8 exceeded its specified power of 150Wpc with two channels driven into 8 ohms, clipping at 200Wpc, and met its 300Wpc specification with two channels driven into 4 ohms. He noted that there was never any evidence of the “gray” treble he had experienced with earlier Ncore-based amplifiers: “In my preferred five-channel configuration, the A35.8 equaled other good amplifiers in the treble.” Comparing the Primare with his reference Benchmark AHB2, he felt that the Primare sounded “more convincingly live” than the Benchmark. While he did try the amplifier in eight-channel mode KR found that bridging transformed the A35.8 “into a much more exciting amplifier” with a better bass balance and superbly stable imaging, even in stereo. KR auditioned the Primare with three bridged pairs to run his Left-Center-Right speakers and the remaining two channels to run his two surround-channel speakers. Pairs of outputs can be run as bridged mono amplifiers. The amplifier features a switch-mode power supply, with its two outputs each feeding four amplifier stages. ”Class B (solid state) – This eight-channel colleague of the Swedish manufacturer’s stereo A35.2 uses the reliable and powerful Hypex NC500 class-D module, with some modifications.
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