Some love for the Benchmark HPA4/LA4


Making this thread to show my love for this amazing preamp. Yea, all the use usual descriptions apply. Yadda yadda it is great.

It is 1:15 AM  in the morning and my kid and wife are asleep. I am not cranking it but listening at very very low volume (I have great headphones available but it sounds amazing on the speakers right now).  It is the preamp that is doing the great sound at low volume. I won't get into details., but damn this is something special. I am on my 4 or 5th scotch but do let that cloud your perception of what I am saying. I knows what I am talking about.

You guys going direct to amp from DAC. Put this into the circuit (for $2500) and tell me it is not better.
yyzsantabarbara
All I can say is that I have a Benchmark ADC 1 and it is a great little piece made like a swiss watch. Because they do mostly commercial stuff their pricing is down to earth. Great value, great equipment. 
Thanks for sharing that recent interview.  Pretty interesting information and something that resonates is the comment in regards to Benchmark's use of switching power supplies and how in there opinion, they do not understand the audiophile fixation with linear power supplies.

I am really loving my LA4, been listening all weekend, I did not realize how much I missing with the digital volume control of the DAC3.
I think the HGC is some sort of hybrid volume control but nevertheless te LA4 volume is  killer.

In Dec that Absolute Sound review will likely be a rave. It will be interesting to see what happens after that since the LA4 is relatively so low cost.