Running Benchmark AHB2 in bridged mode and 4 Ohm Speaker

@ramtubes Agree with you that great specs on a single tone at some frequency or even frequency sweep tests does not really come close to complexity of music. But at this point that is all I have.  Good point about complexity yes it is more complex but the amp has been out there for a bit. And people who have it never seem to complain why it failed or how it faulted. Still I see these (amplifiers) as simple things compared to stuff I am aware of. These days manufacturing and design has come a long way with computer simulation etc. Testing techniques etc have come a long way. I am more concerned with someone in their backyard building a complex amp more than anything else.

Agree with you that good specs might not translate to good sound. But I cannot go on some one saying some monster class A/B or class A sounded great and since it is big and consumes a lot of power I have to go for it.

I have a class A SET tube amp and I am going to compare with this amp along with class D (Hypex NC500) before making my mind up on few things. I am in the bucket of people who think all good amp sound the same.

At the end can an amp just amplify the source faithfully and get out of the way. Can it just get out of the way!!. This is what I am going for and I want it at lowest price possible. 

Suggest me few amps better than AHB2 at this price and I will consider them, I am only looking for a great amp that do justice to my speakers. I don't have any past baggage or any biases.

Suggest me few amps better than AHB2 at this price and I will consider them, I am only looking for a great amp that do justice to my speakers. I don’t have any past baggage or any biases.

I did, a pair of used John Curl Parasond Halo JC1’s in high bias class-A mode on your speakers will sound majestic. I heard them on Wilson Alexia’s and they were just a little behind the Gryphon Antillion Evo. And they come with 5 year warranty.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-of-Parasound-JC1-Mono-Amplifiers/132849036390?hash=item1eee6b6c66:g:E5...

or a black pair here on Agon $200 more
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis97eja-parasound-jc1-black-pair-solid-state?refsource=hifishark

Cheers George

@geek101, just so you'll know (in case you don't), poster ramtubes is Roger Modjeski of Music Reference, designer and maker of tube electronics. Asking him for an amplifier recommendation puts him in an awkward position ;-) .

Ramtubes, could be my terminology is off, but if a loudspeaker has a built in power amp for the bass drivers and separate inputs for an external amp to drive the midrange/treble, then it requires bi-amping.

Ramtubes, could be my terminology is off, but if a loudspeaker has a built in power amp for the bass drivers and separate inputs for an external amp to drive the midrange/treble, then it requires bi-amping.

 We really shouldnt have to be doing all this guessing. I wish the OP would tell us more about how this speaker is set up in his system. 

I think he has the preamp/processor that goes with this speaker. If one looks at the back panel there is an XLR jack to drive the plate amp. There is one one pair of speaker terminals for the rest of the speaker so it cannot be biamped without going inside. What I do find curious is:  If you do not have their preamp, which is featured on the website, then where are you supposed to get the signal to drive the XLR?

If a speaker has a built in power amp  for the sub, no other amp is required there.  It wants a line level signal. So there is no biamping in this case. One could s

Many speaker makers, Vandersteen and others provide two pair of inputs that can be biwired, biamped or simply strapped for one amp. That is when biamping is possible. Some choose different amps in that situation as the upper speaker often needs less power than the lower (regardless of the sub). So a big SS amp on the bottom and a nice tube amp on the top. 

There are many of us who feel small amplifiers sound better. The sins that are committed in making a large amp will cause the lower power range to suffer. As an amplifier designer I happen to agree.

That is why the FTC stepped changed the rules in the 70's. Before distortion could be specified at full power where it is often lowest (in SS amps). At low levels there was often large amounts of crossover distortion. So they changed the rule to quote maximum distortion from 0.25 watts to full power. I would further reduce it to 0.000000025 watts to full power. We dont want distortion to climb at the bottom of the range.

It bothers me there is no sub control. Makes me think you have to buy their pre.