Some love for the Benchmark HPA4/LA4

My gear is linked on Virtual Systems.

Preamps I owned and demoed.

Bryston BP20
BAT VK-42SE
Benchmark DAC3 HGC

*Luxman c900u
*Hegel P30
*Mark Levinson 526
*D'agistino something
*T+A P3100 HV
*SimAudio 740P 
* Bryston BP17 Cubed

* I demoed these at stores in the last 24 months 

I figured out I do not want any flavor to the sound from a preamp. I also want complete silence from the preamp (deep space silence) with an incredible volume control and inputs for my sources. That is what the HPA4/LA4 gives.

My current AHB2 amp also has no flavor but in the future, now that I have new speakers, I am looking to add something like the Luxman m900u or the CODA #8 or #16 to pair with the HPA4. I will rotate 2 amps with the HPA4 to waste my time.

I would love to hear folks who have tried this pre-amp and compared it to others as I have. 

Interesting.  Many of those are in different price tiers.

Most of those preamps I heard were excellent. However, I came to feel that I do not want the preamp to add anything to the sound, especially noise. The amp and speakers can do that.

This thread is getting zero traction.  Too bad, I wish it would.  There must be folks out there that like Benchmark???

Trying to help by bumping this up again...

yy, which do you think is the higher performer, to extent such a comparison is even possible -- ahb2 or la4?  Which one is more of a giant killer I guess?  

That is an easy one for me. I have been blabbing on A’gon about which component I think is the real giant killer. It is the LA4 without a doubt. I say this because I think the LA4 can be used in all scenarios I have personally encountered. I do not mess around with tube amps so I have no clue about compatibility there.

If your preamp has some noise, and all the preamps I listed above do have some noise. My personal feeling is that the LA4 would be my preference in all of those systems. The unit does not look that nice so I can understand people not being interested in it. However, if you are looking for total silence from a preamp then this is the unit to try out.

I guess the question to ask yourself is, what do you want your preamp to do? As I said earlier, what I want from a preamp is a great volume control (how is it al low volume), multiple inputs for my 4 sources, and silence in the circuitry to not alter the sound in audible way. That is the HPA4/LA4.

The HPA4 also made me want to spend close to $3K more to buy an incredible headphone (Meze Empy), which I I love. I used to hate headphones and only bought the HPA4 instead of the LA4 because of reviews stating it was one of the best headphone amps in the world (for $500 more than the LA4). So I am listening to more music today at all hours of the day with the HPA4. That is a good thing.

The AHB2 is good or great depending on what you want from your amp. I can see 50% here liking it and 50% not. However, my perception of what a preamp should do makes me think most people would like it. Maybe my perceptions of a preamps role are not shared by others, I don’t know. I live in an audiophile desert, except for A’gon.

I have some new speakers now (Thiel CS3.7) and I am looking to get a second amp in the future with a warmer sound signature (with a caveat). The Luxman m900u (which I love) or the CODA #8 or #16 which I need to demo. The AHB2 is very good with these 2 Ohm speakers but it may not be great. The AHB2 was great with easier to drive speakers (KEF LS50) and I cannot use the AHB2 in mono for these new speakers based what I hear is feedback from Benchmark themselves.

Before I get a second amp (the caveat), I am working with a sound engineer to apply Digital Room Correction to my room (for DAC streaming only not analog sources). Going to be starting that project today with the microphone I just got. It will be done using Convolution file(s) running on my ROON Server.