Gdybym miał wskazać najważniejszą cechę brzmienia tego wzmacniacza, to byłoby to zrównoważenie. Choć przekaz obfituje w detale, to nagrania odbiera się przede wszystkim jako całość. Gatunek odtwarzanej muzyki, sposób jej aranżacji nie ma przy tym większego znaczenia. Czy będzie to "Crta" Ivan Kapec 5tet (FLAC 24/96), czy "Haydn String Quartets Opp 71 & 74" The London Haydn Quartet (FLAC 24/96), czy wreszcie "Boarding House Reach" Jacka White'a (FLAC 24/96) – pogodzenie muzykalności ze szczegółowością w każdym wypadku jest nieprzeciętne, a proporcje między drobnymi szczegółami a całością muzycznego obrazu są uchwycone bardzo trafnie.

Jednocześnie duże wrażenie robi przywołana już czystość brzmienia. Najwyraźniej zapewnienia producenta o zniekształceniach zredukowanych do minimum nie są tylko "pijarową" zagrywką. Nawet najdrobniejsze detale mają tu swoją moc, co wynika z nieprzeciętnej mikrodynamiki i prawdziwie wysokiej rozdzielczości. Czystość brzmienia powoduje także, że muzyki chce się słuchać głośniej niż zwykle, zwłaszcza że przy bardzo wysokim natężeniu dźwięku trudno odczuć oznaki kompresji.

Brzmienie zestawu HPA4/AHB2 jest świetnie zrównoważone, rozdzielcze, przestrzenne, a zarazem gęste i nasycone. Oba komponenty bardzo dobrze czują się we własnym towarzystwie, ale nie znaczy to, że nie można/nie powinno się ich rozdzielać. AHB2 może być świetną propozycją dla posiadaczy DAC-ów Benchmarka. Z kolei sam HPA4 świetnie sprawdzi się ze słuchawkami, zapewniając wyjątkowo czyste i rozdzielcze brzmienie.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi Class

Całość brzmi spójnie, ale instrumenty pozostają wyraźnie od siebie odseparowane i dopiero pogłos łączy je w jeden obraz. I to właśnie on ma w sobie coś magicznego. Otacza instrumenty miękką, romantyczną chmurką, jakkolwiek dozowaną precyzyjnie, bez rozlewania się na boki ani tracenia kontroli nad wybrzmieniami. Panuje romantyczna atmosfera i specyficzna lekkość. Pomimo stada decybeli, nie jest to na pewno wzmacniacz do budowania ściany dźwięku ani kruszenia murów; nie spodziewajcie się wtłaczającej w fotel dynamiki. Owszem, w skali mikro kontrasty są rysowane dokładnie, ale nie poczujemy kalorycznych uderzeń ani impulsów masujących żołądek. Można powiedzieć, że dynamika jest wystarczająca, a uwaga kierowana na inne atrakcje.

Główną stanowi barwa średnicy. Jest ciepła, nasycona, ale na pewno nie lampowa. Okrągłość i mięsistość zaznaczono delikatnie, a jednak to wystarczy, aby zbudować określony nastrój. Po przesłuchaniu kilku utworów zauważamy, że tak ciekawie brzmiących klawiszy chyba jeszcze na tej płycie nie słyszeliśmy. Różnicowanie ich barw oraz koncentracja na subtelnościach nie wymagają wysiłku, ale dopiero po jakimś czasie dostrzegamy, gdzie tkwi tajemnica smaku, do którego chcemy wracać. To wspomniany pogłos, tworzący tło, które samo w sobie urzeka pięknem.

Wzmacniacz pracował ze słuchawkami Emotiva GR-1. Okazuje się, że w tym przypadku Benchmark gra zupełnie inaczej niż z kolumnami. Owszem, pozostają punkty wspólne, takie jak zjawiskowa przejrzystość czy precyzja, ale to koniec analogii.
Brzmienie z wyjścia słuchawkowego jest jasne, ale podbudowane solidnym basem, który zdecydowanie przyspiesza i nabiera masy. Można nawet powiedzieć, że staje się rockowe – pełne energii, a niekiedy nawet potężne. Zawsze szybkie i świeże dzięki zaakcentowaniu wysokich tonów. Klasę preampu słychać zwłaszcza w rozdzielczości, choć trzeba się przyzwyczaić do specyficznej prezentacji przestrzeni. Scena jest szeroka i precyzyjna, ale w zasadzie bez głębi. Czujemy się jak w centrum akcji. Estetyka trochę przypomina tę z nauszników Grado, choć bez koncentracji na średnicy. A przynajmniej nie jest ona uprzywilejowana, lecz stanowi fragment pasma, wpisujący się w jasną paletę barw i łączący z górą w jednolity zakres.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi i Muzyka

次にHPA4をヘッドホンアンプとしてここに追加した（図：接続②）。MacBook ProとDAC3 HGCの組合せはそのままに、DAC3 HGCとHPA4をバランスケーブルで接続して、HPA4でHD800Sをバランス駆動した格好である。先ほど同様、帯域バランスおよび質感表現はフラットだが、中低域の重心がより低くなる印象で、オーケストラ楽曲のジョン・ウィリアムズ『ライヴ・イン・ウィーン』（96kHz／24ビット）は、豊かな情報量をベースにコントラバスやグランカッサの迫力が増す。

また、ヘッドホンアンプが搭載されたモデルは、ドライブ力の高さも印象的だった。現時点で音の色付けのないヘッドホンアンプを探そうとすると、業務用で使われるオーディオインターフェースを利用するのがひとつの手段だと思っていたが、これらの製品は絶対的な駆動力が不足していると感じている。

　いっぽうでベンチマークはデジタル入力時にネイティブ対応するレゾリューションでやや限定されるところがあるうえ、価格も決して安価ではない。しかしながら、高インピーダンスモデルや平面振動板を採用するハイエンドヘッドホンのリファレンスアンプを求めていた筆者にはまさにうってつけ。テストを忘れて長時間聴き入ってしまった。同社の今後が楽しみでならない。

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereo Sound

The Benchmark Media HPA4 quickly showed itself useful in several headphone reviews that I had lined up. It had no issues driving the efficient Focal Stellia, Astell & Kern AK T5P II, and the slightly more demanding Monoprice Monolith M570 headphones cleanly. The HPA4 also did wonders for my Beyerdynamic DT 880 PRO which has a 250-Ohm impedance and needs a bit more “shove” to sound its best. There was also plenty of headroom to spare with that headphone so driving 600-Ohm cans should be a non-issue. In each use case, compared to the few portable headphone amps that I have around here and even the Focal Arche headphone amp that I reviewed, the HPA4 was just that much more transparent, giving me a more accurate sense of a given headphone’s true characteristics. As a straight-up preamplifier, the HPA4 has a noticeably lower noise floor and 2nd and 3rd order distortion products than my venerable old Bryston BP25 and even the Anthem STR preamplifier. Is this difference audible? I feel that it is although it is more subtle here. Swapping each of the preamps while connected to my Class D Audio SDS 470C or Anthem STR power amplifiers, I came away with the impression that the Anthem STR and Bryston BP25 sounded almost identical to each other while the HPA4 brought a touch more openness and clarity to the mix. 

It should come as no surprise that, when the Benchmark DAC3 B, HPA4 preamplifier, and AHB2 power amplifier were used together they performed especially well. I dare say that they produced as clean and noise-free a stereo playback chain as I have ever come across. I found this type of transparency and neutrality very appealing but I realize that others may not necessarily agree because it is thoroughly revealing of any less-than-stellar source material. I have heard speakers and equipment in the past that I considered ruthless in their ability to reveal recording flaws but there really is no wiggle room with this Benchmark stack. Case in point, listening to vinyl through the HPA4 was not always an enjoyable experience as it laid bare the medium’s dynamic range and noise limitations more often than not.

Probably my favorite Wes Montgomery live recording. The engineers did a great job not only capturing the sound of Wes and his band, but they also captured a great sense of the concert space, the balance is very complimentary. The Benchmark stack’s transparent and revealing nature did a fantastic job of letting me enjoy the subtlest details of both the performers and the space they were in. During the opening of “Jingles,” both Montgomery and his piano player Harold Mabern play identical repeated phrases together to set the tone and pace of this instrumental. With my trusty Bryston/Class D Audio setup, the tone and ring in the piano portion of these little duet parts got buried/smoothed over when listening on a few different speakers. In contrast, the Benchmark trio of components allowed me to hear the two distinct instruments completely during those same passages. The jazzy ring of the guitar strings and the ring of the piano notes were no longer blending together into one tone. Even the Anthem STR preamp and amp combo weren’t quite as revealing of these details. Better than the Bryston/Class D Audio combo but not as all-seeing as the Benchmark.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Home Theater High Fidelity

Listening with the HPA4 and Susvara—I used the HPA4's balanced outputs for all my Susvara listening—and playing the full hour of Horowitz in Moscow (16/44.1 FLAC, Deutsche Grammophone/Qobuz) was the first full-length unmitigated musical pleasure I achieved with the HPA4. Shortened reverb tails were not a distraction. On this recording, with the HPA4, the notes from the master's piano were displayed with a weighty force and overtly pacey momentum that showed me more hammers and less pedal. The Benchmark-Susvara pairing moved the performances right along, emphasizing the authority of Horowitz's execution.

Playing Tango: Zero Hour (one of my all-time favorite album titles), the HPA4 + HiFiMan Susvara combo showed each instrument in dramatic bas-relief. It accomplished this by presenting cleaner, better-articulated bass and manufacturing a sharper midrange focus than I had experienced previously with either my solid state reference, the Pass Labs HPA-1 preamp/headphone amp, or the tubed Linear Tube Audio Z10e line-stage/power amplifier/headphone amplifier

Ultimately, the Benchmark-Abyss combo really clicked for me. It gave me a fresh, intriguing look at my most familiar recordings. On Dead Man, there was fierce growl and sharp bite and every Foley sound was easy to identify. For the first time, Johnny Depp's voice sounded like "young Johnny talking to a microphone": very direct. The Benchmark-Abyss–Dead Man soundfield had this evenly lit, glare-free, corner-to-corner, front-to-back focus that I found especially fascinating.

Lately, Carlos Cipa's Correlations (on 11 pianos) (24/44.1 FLAC Warner Classics/Qobuz) is the primary recording I use to assess tone character and reverb tail lengths. And guess what? On this Cipa recording, the ZMF Vérité showed me a gentler, more well-tempered side of the HPA4. As expected, reverb tails were shortened compared to the Vérité driven by ZMF's own, Justin Weber–designed Pendant amplifier, but now, with the HPA4, they were also radiant and beautiful and a pleasure to observe. The ZMF's 300 ohm load seems to have brought out a bit of spring-sun sensuality from the usually stoic Benchmark.

Whether I listened from the balanced or ¼" outputs, the Stellia's ease of flow was not diminished while being driven by the Benchmark HPA4 with music served up by the HoloAudio May DAC. Playing the hip new album Long Time Passing: Kronos Quartet and Friends Celebrate Pete Seeger (16/44.1 FLAC Smithsonian Folkways/Qobuz), I thought, "This Benchmark amp sounds like my memory of the original 'chrome-bumper' Naim NAIT integrated amp." The HPA4's punch, vigor, and rhythm-keeping talents are the traits the NAIT was famous for (footnote 2). The HPA4 moved these Pete Seeger songs along with a foot-tapping, finger-snapping, Linn-Naim–flat-earther pace, rhythm, and timing (PRaT). The HPA4 showed me also how solid state amp design has evolved since the 1980s. Compared to those famous Naim amps, the Benchmark's PRaT was delivered with a more silent, refined, grainless, microdetailed quality.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile

DON’T BE FOOLED by the HPA4's diminutive dimensions, for beneath its stylish, touchscreen chassis Benchmark has packed in two completely separate components. And good though the line preamp element undoubtedly is, it’s the
headphone section, with its choice of 6.35mm stereo or four-pin balanced XLR connectors, that really impresses with a smooth signal delivery.

While on the one hand it can rock out when it needs to – its prodigious output means it can give as much power as your headphones can take – its sheer impact, openness and vivacity is jaw-dropping. An immaculate all-analogue design, the aptly named Benchmark is both technically and sonically as good as it gets.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – AV Tech Media

To explain, first consider decent but not great amps, because a big element of the HPA4 is not committing the errors of lesser amps. With lesser amps, the sonic ingredients get somewhat blended, as with chili con carne, and less distinctly layered, like a hamburger with ketchup, a bun, and a side of beans. The second typical problem with lesser amps is that dynamics are slightly squashed. As we go up the amp-quality scale, the instruments are more distinctly rendered and more expressive, and at the top, as in the HPA4, this isn’t done by cheating with tweaked treble or bass. It is done by reducing distortions of many types and lowering noise.

The HPA4 is exceptionally good at presenting a layered, dynamic, yet relaxed sound. You can hear these rich results on, for example, Eliza Gilkyson’s Hard Times in Babylon (Red House), where the instruments not only are clearly differentiated but also sound fully rendered, as live instruments do. You also can hear the overtones of each instrument as they decay, which makes them sound more real. This sounds like audio nerdiness, but the payoff is that music sounds more alive so that you spend less time thinking about the sound and more time playing air guitar.

It would be nice to say that the sound of the HPA4 is the sound of nothing getting in the way of the music. However, I think some listeners would say that it has a certain, albeit subtle, character with tight bass and a very slight treble dryness. I’d comment that the bass is a feature, not a bug, but you need the right headphones. And the more I listened, the more I concluded that the dryness was actually the HPA4 revealing a character of the recording chain.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – The Absolute Sound

All of a track or two should do the trick, as whether with revealing headphones such as the Oppo PM-1s or used as a preamp, the HPA4 simply drops jaws with the sheer impact, openness and vivacity of the way it plays music. I played a new Channel Classics recording, pianist Anna Fedorova’s Four Fantasies [CCS 41318; DSD 256], and was instantly struck by the way it sprang to life, with every element of the playing, and the size of the Steinway in a credible concert-hall acoustic, readily on display.

It was one of those real ‘performer in the room’ experiences and I was instantly transported back to the time I spent monitoring the recording as it was being made in the Eindhoven Muziekgebouw back in July. Then the effect, through producer/engineer Jared Sacks’s spare pair of AKG K1000 ‘earspeakers’, was spine-tingling. Listening to the released version [from NativeDSD.com] via the Oppo PM-1s driven in balanced mode by the HPA4, was every bit as emotional, and just as fulfilling as Fedorova attacked the last section of Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ sonata with remarkable speed, spirit and precision.

The sound here is technically about as immaculate as you’re going to get, but the real beauty of the HPA4 is the way it lets through all the intent of performers, producers and engineers. Play the flat dynamics of a recent release such as Nicki Minaj’s Queen album [Young Money/Cash Money/Republic 00602567712183] and, for all the swagger and attitude supposedly in there somewhere, it sounds dull. But switch to Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan’s live Small Town set [ECM 2525] and instantly all the presence, ambience and instrumental timbre is restored.

So yes, this isn’t a preamp to flatter poor recordings, nor indeed to give so-so source components an easy time, but get it right and it can turn on the magic in a way that eludes many a much more expensive preamp, let alone one doubling as an outstanding headphone amplifier. And it loves voices and real instruments, which allow it to shine, as is clear with Loreena McKennitt’s recent Lost Souls album [Quinian Road QRCD117], which absolutely sparkles, or the even more atmospheric Shine A Light, Billy Bragg and Joe Henry’s ‘Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad’ [Cooking Vinyl COOKCD623], where the ambient effects on these location recordings are often quite literally startling – especially via headphones!

The HPA4 can certainly rock out, its prodigious capability when it comes to output levels meaning it can give as much as your power amp or ’phones can take. In fact, it gets louder without the sound changing one iota, so some caution is to be advised if one isn’t to drive partnering components to their limits. But that’s testimony to the purity and skilled design of this thoroughly remarkable product.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi News

The LCD-5 and HPA4 made an impressive partnership, the ultra-low noise and distortion of the amplifier enabling the LCD-5’s similarly rigorous standards of engineering to shine, resulting in high resolution with impeccable neutrality for what can only be described as reference-standard playback.

On more energetic material, such as Marcus Miller’s M2 album from 2001, and the aptly named track Power, the LCD-5 showed that the HPA4 couples deep reserves of low-end grunt with a good level of dynamic expression. At loud but not silly volumes, the boom and snap of Miller’s slap bass technique had timing and tonal qualities that to my ears – alas, I do not have Miller’s talent but I do play bass – sounded uncommonly real through the LCD-5 headphone.

I tried the HPA4 as a line stage, driving the household Bryston 4B3 power amplifier and PMC MB2se speakers. The Benchmark gave me one of those rare moments in audio when a lucky collision between two brands and two different sonic approaches delivers a result better than the sum of the parts. The Bryston and the HPA4 absolutely loved each other; the HPA4’s transparency and lack of audible distortion combining with the amp’s iron fist in a velvet glove to give performances that had heads nodding, feet tapping and faces wearing wide grins. What we heard was music. No apologies or explanations required.

Turning to orchestral music with constantly shifting multi-instrument layers that pose a stiff test of timing integrity, I played Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony and the 1999 recording under Sir Colin Davis. I have played it many times before, but the HPA4’s resolution drew my attention for the first time to the noises off. Nine seconds into the adagio, someone – I assume Sir Colin Davis – can be heard taking a sharp nasal breath before humming along as the mass weight of the strings leans in for the first time. Listen on and it becomes clear the whole recording is replete with various noises off; score pages being turned, restless feet and so on. Oddly perhaps, I did not find this distracting, but actually found it a welcome you-are-there addition to my experience of a wonderful recording.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – The Ear

The Benchmark HPA4 is one of the most transparent headphone amps I have ever heard — at any price. Just as impressive is the line stage, which delivers volume control that many an esoteric analog or digital preamp could only dream of.

With the first play of the DMP Label’s DSD title track of Warren Bernhardt — So Real, as played via the Macbook Pro/Audirvana Plus through the Benchmark DAC3-HGC output connected to the HPA4, I could immediately hear how accurate the new HP amp is.

The DAC’s precise DSD decoding delivers the recording’s pristine, airy, brushed drum cymbal tone with the brilliant Steinway piano and bass pulsing the rhythm. The minimalist mic technique, direct DSD recording chain and no post-processing showcases as close to live as you can get with a recording, and the Benchmark HPA4 delivered that transparency at any volume level.

I switched to Classical music on the Audeze LCD-XCs and played the SACD-to-DSD file transfer of Arabella Steinbacher — Bela Bartok’s Two Violin Concertos on Penatone. This violin recording has a rich string harmonic persona from the Stradivarius and a spot-on recording set up in terms of orchestral/violin balance.

With the AKG K702/HPA4 setup, the violin’s impression was so live like. Turn it up or down, the image, outer-edge instrument detail, the focused solid center image never changes. It is so involving listening to headphones through the Benchmark HPA4.

As a line-stage, the HPA4 was quite adept at delivering this pristine live to two-track violin/piano DSD recording. The instruments are perfectly placed, the music impeccably played with a fleshed-out violin tone and very percussive piano signature from Mr. Minaar.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Everything Audio Network

Without a doubt Benchmark HPA4 is an end-game, top of the line headphone amp – it’s The One to rule them All.

It never crossed my mind that I will hear new nuance, more hidden information out of my favorite tunes that I am listening to more than 15 years. Every single track I played shown me that there is much more that meets the eye (the ear?), every note was better defined, having a very strong leading-edge like I never heard before. It is like my favorite bands suddenly improved their recording and mastering equipment, there is more of Everything.

When I tested the Headamp Gilmore Lite Mk2 I knew I was hearing something special in terms of transparency and resolution, but HPA4 trounces it like it’s nothing. Put it simply this way, with HPA4 you will be listening to your source and nothing more. Any change in the downstream equipment, like other source, a cable swap, a different power outlet will be immediately felt with HPA4 in your chain.

The funny thing is I hear more of absolutely everything, even much more treble information and yet not a single trace of brightness/harshness, how that can be possible?

All that bandwidth under its belt and all that speed paid off Big Time! HPA4 to me is bonding the musical notes together with incredible fluidity. It has a super smooth, harsh-free and tireless presentation.

Do you know how much noise HPA4 outputs at maximum volume? 1.9 uV! The lowest I’ve seen so far was 3 uV! HPA4 without a doubt has the blackest background, the cleanest and the one that just gets out of the way of your music.

Here’s another fun thing: with HPA4 I don’t need to mumble about frequency response. I don’t need to mention sub-bass, mid-bass, lower or upper midrange or any of the treble ranges. I would be repeating myself in all those sentences.

Simply put, it has the widest frequency response I ever encountered in a headphone amp, it’s simple like that. I know I sound like a maniac or fanboy, but I dare and encourage you, if possible take a listen for yourself and realize how extended and linear this one sounds.

Deepest sub-bass, with absolute levels of control and grip, with tons of layers around those bass notes? Check!

Natural, life-like midrange, deep sounding and soul-reaching voices with crazy guitar plucks and natural decay of the notes? Check!

Super extended in the subsonic treble area with tiny dynamic swings and micro-detail information with absolutely zero brightness? Check!

Can you ask for more? You can’t.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Sound News

This is the fastest and the most controlled bass I have ever heard. It goes deep, it’s organic when it needs to be, but it doesn’t linger at all. It’s controlled by an iron fist. The punch is really really fun and strong. The speed, impact and control is mesmerizing. When I listened to infected mushroom I was paralyzed for a few minutes, being hypnotized by the accuracy, speed, impact and energy. 

The midrange is really pure and lively. The instruments and voices have vibrating, lively and pure textures. The sounds pulsates with life and purity. 

The treble is really extended, very detailed and sparkly. It doesn’t have any touch of brightness, but it does brighten up the place in a good way if you know what I mean. If you hear people saying that HPA4 is bright, it’s not actually the amplifier’s fault and the problem is either the DAC or the rest of the system. 

The level of detail is amazing on HPA4. I seem to discover other sounds in some songs that I did not notice before. However there are two types of detailed audio components out there. The bad type is when the details are extracted in an unnatural way and thrown into your face. With HPA4 it comes in a natural and effortless manner. 

The voices are incredibly pure and textured. Depending on the artist and the song, the voice can sound incredibly pure, stammeringly clean and extended, but also guttural/throaty in other cases.

The transients are fast and explosive. The attack is really strong and the decay is fast but detailed in the same time. You don’t lose any micro details from either. Also the leading edges from each note is crispy clear. It’s amazing how clear the leading edges are actually and the accuracy of this amplifier. This also translates into incredible dynamics and energy that transpire in the songs. You vibrate and become part of the music with this amplifier.

From my perspective this is the best headphone amplifier I have ever heard. It’s no competition really. It’s not cheap, I can give you that. Is it worth it? That is up to each and every one of you, but if you really want the best amplifier out there, an end game amplifier…this is it.  As I said above it’s funny to pay the money to add a component to the system that actually removes itself from the system, right?

Let’s say you have a state of the art DAC with awesome measurements, specs and also great sound quality. If your amp is not in the same ballpark, you will lose some of the sound in it. This is not the case with HPA4 and I actually think that there is no DAC out there yet to outperform the HPA4 in terms of specs/measurements.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Headmania

The tonality of the piano in “Trust in Me” was simply “life-like”. The tonality and detail of Holly’s piano playing was as if I was transported to a jazz club with Holly paying in front of me. Her vocals were seductive, transparent and perfectly portrayed. The HPA4 amplifier offered an incredibly close look into this recording with the ability to mine out the smallest details that other amplifiers would seem to gloss over. The bass notes at the beginning of “Jersey Girl” hit both hard but was tight at the same time with a certain presence that lingered for just the right amount of time. At the same time, Holly’s vocals that were overlaid on top of the bass were perfectly rendered and in perfect proportion. This layering was as good as I’ve ever heard the HD800S headphones sound. Throw in an extended and detailed treble that was never harsh or “tin-like”, but rather natural and effortless, I found the HPA4 amplifier to be especially neutral in its overall balance and nature. But still it never seemed clinical in its presentation. Detail extraction was off the charts as was its ability to cast an expansive sound stage and truly one of the best I’ve heard the HD800S headphones portray!

As noted in my Phi TC review, I definitely found the HPA4’s ability to drive these headphones to be on par with the very best headphone amplifiers that I’ve heard with these headphones. The HPA4 drove these headphones with such brilliant authority, speed and clarity that must be heard to fully appreciate. My upstream source this time was Benchmark’s own DAC-3 HGC. I found this combination very balanced and still detailed. It is a brilliant pairing to my ears!  Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” had you believing that you were right there in the stadium listening to this classic band belt out this rock anthem. The energy of the band was fully captured with this setup and had my head bopping up and down throughout the entire track. Couple truly world class bass performance and control, with liquid and upfront vocals and extended and energetic treble you end up with a perfect presentation of what it’s like to listen to this band live. It was as if it was 1987 and I was back at Exhibition Stadium here in Toronto listening to this legendary band belt out their classic songs.

The Benchmark HPA4 headphone amplifier is simply one of the best solid state amplifiers I’ve ever heard or reviewed. The overall transparency, speed, clarity and overall neutrality is something I think we should all pursue when wanting to reproduce music just as the artist intended us to hear. It was stellar with every headphone that I threw at it and I couldn’t find a sonic weakness anywhere. It drove my power hungry Abyss Phi TC headphones with complete authority, but it was still dead silent and nimble enough to amplify my easy to drive Focal Utopia headphones. Talk about having your cake and eating it too. Rarely have I come across such a wonderfully revealing amplifier that can drive many different types of headphones so darn well! The solid build construction and various controls make the $2,995 price tag seem a bit low based on the other headphone amplifiers in this market space. If you are in the market for a top of the line headphone amplifier; regardless of your headphones, I strongly suggest you give the Benchmark HPA4 a very thorough consideration…you will not be disappointed that you did!

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Headphone Guru

This is a brilliantly designed, almost addictive headphone (and line) amp, with the power to drive high quality headphones with the sonic transparency they deserve. It’s like bringing a microscope to the source, revealing every detail, whether you’re soloing an instrument or critically appraising a pre master. But it’s not at all fatiguing to listen through during long sessions. The unit is beautifully constructed inside and out too, and everything has a purpose; nothing is superfluous or ever gets in the way. The HPA4 is understated brilliance, and it has the potential to become a trusted and long lived studio companion.

Let me try and bring the sound to life with an analogy. When plasma screens first came along, if you compared them with the LCD technology of the time you’d experience a blackness and depth you’d not encountered before; with a good set of cans the HA4 delivers that same sense of depth and detail. It’s also a bit like stepping up from 16 bit to 24 bit recording: you can hear detailed reverb tails that explore a Bricasti’s chambers with the smoothness the designers intended, the tail decay of a well honed 808 bass drum becomes physical and visual. Put a guitar through a Vertigo VSM 3 plug in and feel the rasp, as if it were brushed through by a fine toothed comb. I can listen to an Anthony Rother or a Carl Finlow electro production and really be swept away. And if a track includes well crafted distortion and saturation, then you can hear that and that alone; there’s zero coloration from the amp, no distortion leading you to make the wrong decisions. I could go on: what the HPA4 does, and does with aplomb, is provide good quality headphones with all the definition they need for professional mixing and mastering.

Link do recenzji: Benchmark HPA4 – Sound on Sound

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi Class – Wybór Redakcji

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity – 2021 Best of Awards

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity – Recommended Gear 2022

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Everything Audio Netwirk – Stellar Sound Award!

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – The Ear – 5 Star Badge

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi+ – The Hi-Fi+ Top 100

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Hi-Fi News – Outstanding Product

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – AVTech Media – Best Headphone Amplifier

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2025

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2024

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2024

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2023

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2023

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2022

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2022

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2021

Link: Benchmark HPA4 – Stereophile – Recommended Components 2021