Benchmark love

hearhere

Wammer
Wammer
Apr 9, 2013
1,373
1,185
158
Portsmouth, UK
AKA
Peter
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Hard, or even impossible if you buy used, especially if it's not from a dealer. Or you live in Plymouth.
Buying used unheard is ok as you can try for a few weeks and resell at little or no loss if you buy carefully. I don’t think I lost anything by reselling 4 amps bought used and resold. Also of course when you find the “right” amp, it will have cost half the new price - or you end up with a much better amp than your budget for a new one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lawrence001

Lawrence001

Mega Wammer
Wammer
Jul 21, 2015
5,953
3,535
168
London
AKA
Lawrence
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Hi, just asking for a friend: is there any Benchmark love here? I didn’t see a Benchmar thread in the Owners part of the forum.
I’m quite happy with my current setup but the products that Benchmark make seem to strike a chord with me somehow. They measure well I heard, they look the part too. I’ve read the review of the magnificent HPA4 by Mr Underhill and just got me wondering. Any more users here? Happy with the products? I’m most interested in the DAC3 tbh, how does it compare to for example the RME ADI2 and the Chord Qutest?
I'm surprised there's no Owners thread for Benchmark. Phil @hifinutt will usually start a thread if there's not one even if he doesn't own anything by the brand 😂
 

DomT

Food and coffee and rock n roll
Wammer Plus
Jul 23, 2019
10,327
9,594
198
Village near Nottingham.
AKA
Dom
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have compared the Benchmark DAC1 against a number of competitors and I found it hard to find something that was worth the ‘upgrade’. There are DACs that sound different and it comes down to personal preference. One of the things that I liked about the Benchmark DAC1 and my current DAC 2 HGC is the weight and punch of the sound without it being fatiguing. In direct comparison with Flash’s dCS DAC it stood up well in his system. I actually bought the Benchmark DAC2 without hearing it. I knew that I would like the sound and the extra facilities were useful. The manufacturer says that there is little difference between the DAC2 and DAC3.
 

DomT

Food and coffee and rock n roll
Wammer Plus
Jul 23, 2019
10,327
9,594
198
Village near Nottingham.
AKA
Dom
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/benchmark-dac3-hgc-£2-449.114435/

A review of the Benchmark DAC3. I have the DAC2 that Benchmark say sounds the same. The review and especially the comparisons with Chord TT and QuTest mirror my own experiences having had the QuTest at home and taken my DAC to a Chord Dealer to hear the TT. Some people are not keen on Benchmark and I wonder if it was a synergy thing as it’s a musical thing but clearly doesn’t sound like a valve DAC.
 

Camverton

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 20, 2009
4,621
2,155
158
Herefordshire
AKA
Malcolm
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/benchmark-dac3-hgc-£2-449.114435/

A review of the Benchmark DAC3. I have the DAC2 that Benchmark say sounds the same. The review and especially the comparisons with Chord TT and QuTest mirror my own experiences having had the QuTest at home and taken my DAC to a Chord Dealer to hear the TT. Some people are not keen on Benchmark and I wonder if it was a synergy thing as it’s a musical thing but clearly doesn’t sound like a valve DAC.
I am one of those not keen on the Benchmark DAC 1 HDR, which is not to say that there is anything wrong with it.

For my hearing there is something, along with Hegel, mini DSP SHD, that I find slightly distracting. Perhaps a bit too precise, a bit too hifi, which is doubtless good news for many if not most folk. I prefer the Chord approach and have been very satisfied with the naturalness of m scaler into TT2 to the extent that i don’t even think about the sound as such anymore.

The Benchmark I have doesn’t have galvanic isolation which may be part of the problem for me, Shame really as it is a fantastically useful item with its additional analogue in. Whatever the oddities of the way I hear, Benchmark do make exceedingly good equipment, doubtless excellent in a studio environment, but not for me in my home environment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DomT

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles