I would be interested to know Benchmarks thoughts on damping factor. Assuming the same 10’ cables are used, I believe the damping factor is halved, down to 85 bridged in to an 8 ohm speaker.
From Benchmark web site:
Nevertheless, it is possible that this 0.2 dB variation could be detected in a A/B or A/B/X test between two amplifiers having different damping factors (one with a damping factor of 100 and one with a much higher damping factor). If we match the amplitudes at 3 kHz, one amplifier could be almost 0.2 dB louder at 119 Hz using our example speakers.
The general rule of thumb for A/B and A/B/X tests is that levels should be matched to better than 0.1 dB. If this is not done, the level changes can be detected by many listeners.
This seems to conflict with their statements to you and does not address any issues with less bass driver control. The solution is to use a much shorter speaker cable to increase the damping factor, however, that involves additional cable cost albeit nominal if you use the BM cables.
