Quote:
Originally Posted by cma29
Very nice, Yong.
I had the pleasure of hearing Yong's system in January. Very detailed with a super low noise floor. These amps will surely take it to the next level.
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While my Benchmark AHB2 is very detailed and musical in its own right, the M5-HPA is very refined while being equally detailed. While a solid state amp, Richard Vandersteen explained that it has very similar circuitry as his much more expensive M7-HPA with the primary difference being that it lacks the tubes of its more expensive brother. Interestingly enough, both the M5-HPA and the AHB2 use feed-forward correction, as explained by both companies. Should be an interesting comparison.
The M5-HPA has 150 watts per channel compared to the AHB2's 100. So combined with the built-in subwoofer amp my system will put out 400 watts/channel (8 ohms). Given the excellence of the AHB2, I'll probably get Benchmark's DAC3 which is a sort of DAC/Pre to use with a different pair of speakers.
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Primary System (Always in flux):
Analog Source: Rega RP10
Phono Preamp: Bryston BP2/PS3
Digital Software: Roon, Tidal Streaming
Digital Music Server: Melco N1A/2
Digital Sources: Totaldac d1-twelve SE MkII (factory upgraded from MKI) with "live power" 4 output power supply, Oppo UDP-205
Preamplifier: Rogue Audio RP-9 (factory upgraded from RP-7)
Amplifier: Vandersteen M5-HPA
Speakers: Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT w/IsoAcoustics Gaia 1 feet
Cabling: WW Platinum Starlight 7 digital wires, Totaldac Gigafilter USB filter, AQ Sky XLR, AQ Fire RCA
Speaker Cables: AudioQuest Oak spades ---> bi-wire spades
Power Cables: Esprit PC (for DAC), 2 WW Platinum Electra PC (Preamp/Phono Preamp), AQ NRG10 (Melco N1A/2), AQ Blizzard (Quatro Wood CT built-in subs)
Power Conditioning: 2 AQ Niagara 1000, 3 Oyaide R1 outlets
Sound Treatments: 23 ASC Tube Traps and 10 Panels
Last edited by ylee; 02-19-2018 at 12:28 AM.
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