Quote:
Originally Posted by Denver
RMAF is a local show for me, so I was in this room a couple of times. I had exchanged a couple of emails a few months prior to the show with Benchmark. My next component was going to be a new moving coil, since I WAS happy with my less than 3 year old First Watt F6. The 10% show discount clinched it. It arrived yesterday.
The gentleman with ML said that the engineers at the factory were very impressed with the Benchmark, as am I.
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The Benchmark amp has been plugged in for more than two months. What a huge upgrade over the First Watt F6. This was a bit of a surprise. On another forum, a F6 owner commented that he did not think the Benchmark would be better than the F6. Given my experience, I don’t believe he actually did a comparison between the two.
The differences between these two amps was still much more than I had anticipated before the 30 day trial. To say that this amp has more definition, would be an oversimplification. What I’m hearing does not change with a change in the volume. The details that I hear at low-volume are no longer drowned out as the sound increases. That also means that I am listening at a higher volume compared to the F6. Using a Audio tools app to measure loudness, I would usually listen at around 70db. I’m not saying this is accurate, it is just a number that was loud enough for my room. If I turned up the volume above 70, the sound deteriorated. What I began to notice with the new amp, is that detail was not lost in louder passages when playing classical music. Normal listening is now closer to 80db, but does not sound that much louder. This is something I may not have realized if I did not have the app. This does not mean that it sounds better simply because I am playing it louder. When I do play it at 70db, the differences are still quite obvious.
Yes, there is more music coming thru my Salk Songtowers. There is also much more texture with everything that’s coming through my speakers. I had begun to wonder if the lack of definition and texture with the bass in my system was my amp, or my speakers. The Benchmark has been a huge improvement in this area.
The Benchmark has a 3 position sensitivity switch on the back. After speaking with Rory at Benchmark, he recommended the middle position, even though it is louder in the top position. In the middle position, the volume control on my Van Alstine T10 tube preamp is higher, getting a better signal to noise from my preamp. The position of the volume control is around 11, at 80db.
Also, what a difference in the amount of heat generated between these two amps. The F6 is a class A, and was always very warm. My tube preamp has two tubes, and runs warmer than the Benchmark.
Patrick