Dust Settled Consensus- is the Benchmark AHB2 an Audiophile Amplifier?

Was this the GaN 1 or the GaN 400? What was his digital source and volume control if it is the Gan 1? Please, tell us more details......about your "trusted" friend and his experience. Have him come here and describe what he heard. I trust people’s ears. Hearsay is meaningless.

 

The Benchmark amp has been proven over time. It is certainly a reference at its price point......BUT.....a big butt.....he he.....we like big butts....well, I do. What if the Peachtree GaN 1 amp ($2000 with 30 day money back) driven from an IFI Zen Stream (with upgraded linear power supply) is better?....... Wouldn’t it be cool if it sounds much better? Or do you have to have a DAC, Preamp, amp and analog cables? Do you want the best sound? What if this thing is it?!? It has already beat a Holo DAC May KTE with Holo Serene preamp with mono block Kinki B7 amps (see thread here on audiogon). If this GaN 1 amp is the real deal (and so far all reviews are raves)....then there will be a lot of happy people spending way less money to get better sound.......and it weighs 11 lbs!!!!!! 200 watts a channel. Of course, there will be even better digital amps available down the line.

Volume control is in the digital domain.....so the better the digital volume control and the better the streamer....the better the sound. The Bluesound does not sound as good as the $400 IFI Zen Stream (according to many). The $2400 Lumin U1 has LEEDH digital volume control (totally lossless).

I know, I am repeating myself here......but usually we have to hear something several times before it sinks in. This technology to me seems like its revolutionary......better sound for

What is a digital amp @ricevs ?

Which digit is that amp using?
(I am imagining a Bob’s National one.)

A digital amp is a class D amp that takes normal PCM signals and converts it to PWM in software.....then into a class D output stage. Some will just say its a class D amp with a digital input only. However, most of the manufacturers of this type of amp call them digital amps........including Technics and Lyngdorf. How you do the software conversion of PCM to PWM is crucial. Tact was the first company to make such an amp back in the 90s. In their white paper they stated that converting PCM to PWM was inherently non linear.....and that is why it took them so long to do the software. We now have much greater computing power and people have been writing audiophile code for years......but there is always room for improvement.

Because it converts the digits directly to PWM (analog) then there is no need for a "normal" dac......and, if you use excellent digital attenuation......no need for preamp or other kinds of analog volume controls. You might call it a "power dac". Tact actually lowered the output power voltage to reduce the gain in their amp they made in the 90s. Now we have seriously good digital attenuation and we now work with higher bits then back then.

@ricevs 

@ricevs I always thought the class-D was a switching amp and not a digital amp.

… Because it converts the digits directly to PWM (analog) then there is no need for a "normal" dac......and, if you use excellent digital attenuation......no need for preamp or other kinds of analog volume controls. You might call it a "power dac"…

^This^ makes it sound like I should not consider using one of these amp if I have a TT and phono stage.

Where does the digital come into this ‘digital amp’, which in the Benchmark literature is referred to as “Class-H”?