Yes, indeed. We must each judge what is desirable.
You may find the other thread ‘That lovely PRAT’ interesting.
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Among the things you DON’T get with Benchmark is compressed dynamics (or hiss, or distortion, or noise), so if that was happening to you, you had a problem to sort out. And if you listened to it every day for two years you didn’t seem to be making any headway with a solution. I prefer my system to be accurate and neutral and indeed on lifeless recordings the sound will then be lifeless. There are some people (which may include yourself) who prefer the distortions introduced by some equipment (valve amps are notorious for this, so are turntables). However, I have no doubt the SN3 is a perfectly adequate integrated amp (about on a level with my Nait 50 I believe), and if that is what you like then good for you.
Yeah I’m a full AES member and the issues with Benchmark have been stated from speaker users to the HiFiMan Susvara headphone user groups. It’s an issue. First stack that could make the Commodores or Isley Brothers sound flat. Both in SS&I and PRaT.
We are going to have to agree to disagree here. I know exactly what I heard, and lived with. Bridged monoblock AHB2’s, an LA-4, and a DAC3b/RME ADI-2.
Dynamics were worse than with the NAD Eigentakt amp I subbed for a bit, as well (M23?). Even compared to Benchmark AHB2 mono’s.
You seem desperate to relate that the Supernait 3 sounds “very similar to” your Nait 50. That’s not what I have heard and I suspect you’ll find few who agree with you on that point. Maybe you should go listen to an SN3? I’ve heard the Nait 50 and, though it’s lovely, it sounded very different from the SN3 that was in the same room, on the same speakers.
The simple fact is that Benchmark may measure better, but it just didn’t pass the test for SQ for anybody who heard it. Which ended up being a few dozen different people, across 3 different listening spaces.
John Siao confirmed my setup was correct, btw. Nice guy, really like him a lot.
I have a friend who has a Taylor 414ce that sounds very similar to my particular 214ce. He made a simple recording at 96khz into a Neumann U47 (with NOS Tele tube), which fed an Avalon preamp, into his RME ADC, into ProTools. I have heard him play this guitar many times in my presence, with me on my own Taylor. It’s a simple song, but an acid test for tonality, tone color, and room ambience. It’s a mono recording (obviously). The Benchmark stack robbed the 414 of life, attack, and simple sustain that was clearly audible when in the room (I was present during the recording). Naim SN3 + DAC3B not only presented a much more lifelike audio hologram, but represented the sustain of the strings, guitar body, and thumps of the hand near the bridge, in a vastly more alive and lifelike manner. Whatever ‘distortions’ cause a guitar to appear vastly closer to real life…what a silly notion. It’s a deflection that you’re making in an appeal to measurements.
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We are going to have to agree to disagree here. I know exactly what I heard,
My thoughts exactly!
I like your perspective on YT reviewers. I have to admit that AR turned me on to NAIM with his early Uniti Atom review at least 5 years ago! Thomas and Stereo turned me on to Focal. At the end of the day make your short list and go listen in person.
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