Dust Settled Consensus- is the Benchmark AHB2 an Audiophile Amplifier?

A digital amp is a class D amp that takes normal PCM signals and converts it to PWM in software.....then into a class D output stage. Some will just say its a class D amp with a digital input only. However, most of the manufacturers of this type of amp call them digital amps........including Technics and Lyngdorf. How you do the software conversion of PCM to PWM is crucial. Tact was the first company to make such an amp back in the 90s. In their white paper they stated that converting PCM to PWM was inherently non linear.....and that is why it took them so long to do the software. We now have much greater computing power and people have been writing audiophile code for years......but there is always room for improvement.

Because it converts the digits directly to PWM (analog) then there is no need for a "normal" dac......and, if you use excellent digital attenuation......no need for preamp or other kinds of analog volume controls. You might call it a "power dac". Tact actually lowered the output power voltage to reduce the gain in their amp they made in the 90s. Now we have seriously good digital attenuation and we now work with higher bits then back then.

@ricevs 

@ricevs I always thought the class-D was a switching amp and not a digital amp.

… Because it converts the digits directly to PWM (analog) then there is no need for a "normal" dac......and, if you use excellent digital attenuation......no need for preamp or other kinds of analog volume controls. You might call it a "power dac"…

^This^ makes it sound like I should not consider using one of these amp if I have a TT and phono stage.

Where does the digital come into this ‘digital amp’, which in the Benchmark literature is referred to as “Class-H”?

There you go......not what I was talking about. The GaN 400 and the GaN1 are completely different animals.....one is analog in with op amps and feedback inside....the other is digital in with no opamps or feedback and not needing a DAC or preamp.  Please.....get this information straight.  As far as I know there are only 3 companies in the workd making "digital" amps......Technics, Lyngdorf and Peachree......The Peachtree amp was just released and has the most simple pure signal path.....we shall see how it fares as more people listen to it.  Please follow the thread on the Gan 1 Beta amp here on Audiogon. 

Class H is not digital......class D is not digital. I already explained that the digital info is turned into PWM inside the "digital" amp....and then into the swtiching class D output stage.

Yes, if you have analog then you need to convert it through a great ADC to make it PCM so the amp will decode it. There are GREAT ADCs out there that do less damage to the sound then a normal preamp and normal amp do. However, most who have a serious record collection will look elsewhere. Most people who own Benchmark amps, etc....do not do analog. I stopped doing analog 32 years ago. Analog is GREAT.....no doubt. Love it.