All Benchmark System Question

No, my BM stack is number 1. I have taken the BM gear out (moved it downstairs) several times the past 6 months and always missed it. I replaced it with the following.

- CODA CSiB integrated
- KRELL K-300i integrated
- Gustard X26 Pro as a preamp
- D-Sonic amp

Maybe more stuff that I cannot remember. I liked the above stuff a lot and I thought they were great. However, I always missed the BM stack when I did not have it in the office.

The AHB2 is not ideally suited for my Thiel CS3.7 (even in mono). It sounds very nice but a more powerful amp gives a more impactful sound on these specific speakers. So I do not use the AHB2 on the floor standers but I will never sell the AHB2. 

In a few years, when my young son no longer uses the living room for his gear I will put the BM stack in there with a speaker ideally suited for the AHB2.

I agree with you that the BM stack is not great on everything. I blame that on the source music in those cases. However, in that situation I think my hybrid BM + CODA approach works nicely. If I did not have the RAAL SR1a I think the Gustard X26 Pro alone would solve that 20-30% perfectly.

Audiosaurus rex, I have heard great things about the RME dac as well. YY Santabarbara you are absolutely right about the Benchmark Stack. When it’s right it’s transcendent and that is 80 percent of the time. It’s funny, I can pick up a Krell K300i for a good price but I’d have to sell all the Benchmark stuff and I couldn’t do it. Coda is very enticing, but again, I’d have to sell the HPA and I can’t.

If 80% of recordings sound really good then you may be hitting the bullseye because some are just not very good. I’d leave well enough alone perhaps unless there is some specific thing on certain recordings of particular interest you know you are missing out on having heard it elsewhere, etc.

I would love to try the all BM stack with my Ohm Walsh speakers. It’s on my audio bucket list of things to try. Anybody out there with that combo?

Maybe  adding a sub properly set up to fill in low end or even with a crossover to offload some work from the little Harbeths would help take things further in the desired direction via addition and tweaking rather than replacement. 

Small speakers can only do so much. It’s pretty much assured you are missing  the lowest octave with any small speaker like that and offloading work from them would probably help them go louder and clearer with less congestion as well. 

That is a great point about the lowest octave.

Here is Benchmarks guidance to hook up subs to the AHB2

REL Subwoofers with AHB2 Power Amplifier - Benchmark Media Systems

That is an idea I have considered Mapman but I am a little concerned about losing the magic of the P3SERs’s by adding a sub. I would love to try it out though to see how it sounds.
In the interim I may very well play with the DACs to see where that takes me. As YYsantabarbara has stated, the Benchmark gear really is magical when it’s right and it’s right most of the time. With the Benchmark stack it’s hard to believe the midrange magic coming out of those P3SER’s!