[Melting735]

Dumb question. Is the faceplate replaceable?

 

[Rhamnetin]

Dumb question. Is the faceplate replaceable?

Yes so that you can choose to have the rack mountable faceplate or not.

 

[Melting735]

Yes so that you can choose to have the rack mountable faceplate or not.

Mine is not the rack mountable one. I see benchmark sell top plates, but I don't see faceplates for hpa4. I just want to do a color match

 

[alxw0w]

Mine is not the rack mountable one. I see benchmark sell top plates, but I don't see faceplates for hpa4. I just want to do a color match

It is possible. I asked about that benchmark sometime ago. But it requires sending the unit back to the benchmark.
Maybe something changed since then, just email benchmark

 

[sarudia]

Good morning, dear members.

I own a Benchmark DAC 2 HGC and woul like to know if somebody ever compared the sound diferences between the HPA4 and the direct headphone output of the DAc. Thanks in advance!

 

[nobela]

What do you guys think, is this thing relevant in 2024?

I'm searching for an excellent quality headphone amp with channel balance control, and there's not too many... To tell the truth only Violetric V550 comes to mind besides this one.

 

[plumpudding2]

What do you guys think, is this thing relevant in 2024?

I'm searching for an excellent quality headphone amp with channel balance control, and there's not too many... To tell the truth only Violetric V550 comes to mind besides this one.

Maybe the Holo Bliss could be better but its also 1.5x as expensive (used). I really like my HPA4 and if I ever move to speakers it will become an extremely transparent preamp.

 

[SalR406]

What do you guys think, is this thing relevant in 2024?

I've owned the HPA4 and it's an excellent piece. I don't see any reason it wouldn't be relevant in 2024 and well beyond. In fact, as happy as I am with my current system, there are days when I regret selling the HPA4 and can see myself going back to a Benchmark stack with its smaller footprint, lower cost, and strong performance.

 

[gonzalo05]

I've owned the HPA4 and it's an excellent piece. I don't see any reason it wouldn't be relevant in 2024 and well beyond. In fact, as happy as I am with my current system, there are days when I regret selling the HPA4 and can see myself going back to a Benchmark stack with its smaller footprint, lower cost, and strong performance.

What did you replace it with?

 

[SalR406]

What did you replace it with?

I found a second-hand Niimbus US5 Pro locally in 2022 at a good price. I had the Benchmark and the Niimbus in my rack together for a while that year. Later on I had a local buyer in my house auditioning a different piece I had listed for sale and he expressed interest in my HPA4 as well. I felt happy enough with the Niimbus that I agreed to sell the Benchmark to him.

 

[gonzalo05]

I found a second-hand Niimbus US5 Pro locally in 2022 at a good price. I had the Benchmark and the Niimbus in my rack together for a while that year. Later on I had a local buyer in my house auditioning a different piece I had listed for sale and he expressed interest in my HPA4 as well. I felt happy enough with the Niimbus that I agreed to sell the Benchmark to him.

Wow. Killer amp congratulations

 

[rlawry]

I see no reason the HPA4 would not be relevant in 2024. Both Stereophile and ASR reviewed the HPA4 in the past few years and their tests showed the lowest distortion (THD, TIM, and CD) and highest signal-to-noise ratio. I am not aware that these specs have been equaled much less surpassed. The performance of the amp results in the best detail, speed, transparency, and spaciousness with any headphone I have tried, particularly the RAAL SR-1b. IMO most headphones I have heard have way too much bass and warmth and the HPA4 is a good way to balance the sound out into a more neutral tonal balance. I previously used tube amps to drive my speakers and headphones, but once I heard the HPA4 I was instantly hooked.

 

[NEXTLEVEL5]

I have the HPA4 and Bliss and I cannot tell much between them. In fact, I think I am looking to sell the Bliss because the HPA4/AHB2 footprint is much better for my office setup.

 

[etc6849]

Benchmark all the way, even when driving electrostatic headphones like the Stax X9000's.

 

[etc6849]

A few measurements of what the AHB2's are doing in the transformer setup... I posted more measurements in the ifi pro iesl thread. I stopped testing at 2kVpp, so I don't know what the max is. At 10Hz, I was getting ~1450Vpp before you'd see small misshaping of the sine wave. Above 13Hz looked great even at 2kVpp! I'd assume the transients are well above 2kVpp. I can drive the Stax X9000 headphones to insane never before reachable levels with no clipping. Definitely on par with the best headphone setups out there.

The AHB2's are such low noise, they work great with transformers. Even stepping the voltage up to thousands of volts, I can't hear any hiss and the sound is every bit as good as my Blue Hawaii amp, plus I have tons more headroom.