Benchmark ABH2 compared to Merrill Element Series and other ultra high end amps

I have not tried the Benchmark XLR interconnects as I received advice from other users that they were decent but were bettered by a number of high quality interconnects. Benchmark amps and preamps do benefit from audiophile grade cables - including power cords, interconnects and speaker cables - although their literature does not acknowledge this observation.

The AHB2 is a special amp given the right load. It is not a good amp for ESLs. As soundhound mentioned ESL's drop their impedance as the frequency increases. Even mono strapped AHB2's  do not do well. However with an 8 ohm or higher, efficient speaker say like a Klipsch the little amps kick ass. They are priced lower because Benchmark makes professional equipment and the market is priced differently. They also really have their act together. I have their ADC and it is a little jewel. Beautifully constructed. I have no trouble recommending their equipment under the right circumstances. Don't let the price fool you. Benchmark stuff is as well made as anything out there. 
I have never been close to a Merrill amp. 
As far as ESLs go, and I have been using them for decades the JC 1 is very hard to beat. They make my stats thunder. Pass amps do very well.
The best may be Atma Sphere MA 2s.
 I am not an ML fan. Curving a panel is a silly idea and the man who designed them, Roger Sanders agrees. As far as Hybrid ESLs go Roger makes the best and they are very easy to live with. His amps also do a fine job driving ESLs. Sound Labs currently makes the best ESLs available by a fair margin. But, they are no compromise speakers and even the small ones will dominate a room. The big ones own the room. They are huge but boy are they special. They were using JC 1's to demo their speakers.     

@soundhound Thanks for the feedback. It is what D Schieder (sp?) said in his Dagago review but that was only 1 person's feedback. I am also using good interconnects, Audience Au24SE (not sure of exact model). It sounds great. I contacted Audience to ask if these XLR's can carry a 24 dBu signal and the person responding to me did not know, though I imagine someone there would know.

I can add to the AHB2 with demanding speaker. I demoed a single stereo AHB2 with Magico A3 and compared it to the 2 Mark Levinson amps that were under consideration.  The 585 integrated and the $20K mono blocks. The AHB2 was the worst performer. However, at home on my KEF LS50's the AHB2 sounded much better. I attributed this bad showing to not enough power in stereo for the A3.

I sold the ABH2 after that demo. However, now that I have the HPA4 preamp I will be getting the AHB2 again to pair with the LS50 speaker. On that speaker the AHB2 sounds excellent.

soundhound,
You cannot have it all in any system.  If you like fine stats like the ML CLX, you value accuracy and detail.  The Benchmark AHB2 is an accurate amp in like manner.  There are certainly many amps that emphasize power and large scale dynamics, which will make the stat sound more like a dynamic speaker.  Unlike people who say the AHB2 is lifeless, I find that other amps which are fuller and rolled off in HF by comparison, take away from the exciting subtle musical detail that the AHB2 reveals.  The Merrill 114 is worth auditioning if you want warmth and fullness in lower midrange and bass.

I can see from the comments that there are many opinions most of which are well grounded. I regularly attend live concerts - principally symphonic and opera.  I was fortunate to attend two performances of the Metropolitan Opera in February before the pandemic hit New York.  When listening to recorded music I value natural timbres, the minimization of distortion, and the ability to follow the musical intent of the performers.   I agree that the AHB2 has a low noise floor and so reveals details that help to convey the intent of musical performers; in my system I was disappointed that a single amp did not provide accurate timbres from recordings of artists  that I have heard live. No system that I can afford will provide a perfect replication of all live music.  However, one wants to optimize their system within the limits of their resources. Experienced listeners reviewers, not a single individual, have had good results with AHB2's driving electrostatics, including a single AHB2 driving Quads and, contrary to my naive expectations, good results from mono'ed AHB2's with other electrostatics including the CLX and hybrid ML's.  When I started this thread some months ago, I did not have any first hand experience with the AHB2.  I probably need to audition the mono'ed AHB2's, the newer Merrill amps and probably the Constellation Taurus as well.