Hello dr_joe,
I was very close to ordering the Benchmark LA4. I think you’ll probably really enjoy it and I still think it’d work well in my system. About 6 months ago, when I was looking at preamps to replace my Parasound Halo P6, my goal was to try a very neutral and accurate preamp to go with my very neutral and accurate D-Sonic M3-600-M class D mono-block amps.
But I happened to stop by a local audio/video shop here in Indy one Saturday and listened to the ML5805 integrated amp driving a pair of Magico and then a pair of Sonus Faber speakers on a customer demo. I really enjoyed the sonic qualities and extremely solid and stable imaging I heard that I mainly attributed to the Lumin D2 dac and ML integrated amp, which created the best sound stage illusion I’d ever experienced. The overall sound was very neutral, accurate and detailed but also had just a touch of euphonic sweetness that I really liked.
This caused me to rethink my preferences and system goals. I thought I wanted absolute neutrality with nothing added or subtracted from the music. I reasoned that any euphonic sweetness should be the result of the music and not imparted by any playback equipment. I still believe in this concept in theory but felt that ML equipment was reproducing music in such a beautiful and natural manner, along with creating such an amazingly realistic 3D sound stage imaging, that I became concerned about whether the LA4, being extremely neutral in character, would be able to match the sound qualities I experienced through the ML gear.
Long story somewhat short, I decided to buy a used ML 326S preamp for about $5K, knowing the ML 5805 integrated was basically a 326S preamp section combined with a ML class AB amp in a single integrated box, hoping to infuse my system with the same sonic qualities.
Fortunately, this strategy worked like a charm and I’ve been enjoying music played back on my system more than ever. Just to play it safe, I also bought a new Lumin D2 dac/streamer along with the preowned 326S preamp from this dealer.
Best wishes,
Tim
I was very close to ordering the Benchmark LA4. I think you’ll probably really enjoy it and I still think it’d work well in my system. About 6 months ago, when I was looking at preamps to replace my Parasound Halo P6, my goal was to try a very neutral and accurate preamp to go with my very neutral and accurate D-Sonic M3-600-M class D mono-block amps.
But I happened to stop by a local audio/video shop here in Indy one Saturday and listened to the ML5805 integrated amp driving a pair of Magico and then a pair of Sonus Faber speakers on a customer demo. I really enjoyed the sonic qualities and extremely solid and stable imaging I heard that I mainly attributed to the Lumin D2 dac and ML integrated amp, which created the best sound stage illusion I’d ever experienced. The overall sound was very neutral, accurate and detailed but also had just a touch of euphonic sweetness that I really liked.
This caused me to rethink my preferences and system goals. I thought I wanted absolute neutrality with nothing added or subtracted from the music. I reasoned that any euphonic sweetness should be the result of the music and not imparted by any playback equipment. I still believe in this concept in theory but felt that ML equipment was reproducing music in such a beautiful and natural manner, along with creating such an amazingly realistic 3D sound stage imaging, that I became concerned about whether the LA4, being extremely neutral in character, would be able to match the sound qualities I experienced through the ML gear.
Long story somewhat short, I decided to buy a used ML 326S preamp for about $5K, knowing the ML 5805 integrated was basically a 326S preamp section combined with a ML class AB amp in a single integrated box, hoping to infuse my system with the same sonic qualities.
Fortunately, this strategy worked like a charm and I’ve been enjoying music played back on my system more than ever. Just to play it safe, I also bought a new Lumin D2 dac/streamer along with the preowned 326S preamp from this dealer.
Best wishes,
Tim