Hegel H95 Review (Streaming Amplifier)

[Bruce Morgen]

What exactly is “bad” about utilizing feedback? It’s like the audiophile myth about opamps and mosfet transistors: baseless.

And as a St. Louisan, I take offense at the crack against Budweiser!

The Budweiser under consideration is a traditionally brewed, rice-free European product, not the cheap U.S. quasi-Pilsner.

 

[watchnerd]

I wish Amir had access to hyper amp / preamp from D'agostino. I want to see the products measured.

I wouldn't expect them to measure especially well -- that's not what they're selling.

 

[PeteL]

Well i would say a DAC and DACAMP is broken if it can not Handel 0dBFS.
Sadly most manufactures don't agree.

Stupid customer seem to prefer if only halve of the volume range is usable so they think there amp is more powerful.

Anyways
I also agree this should be detected and the amp tested at what ever level it performs the best.

I'm interested on how you calculate this, without seeing schematics? We don't know the gain structure, and it's an analog Volume control. Do you mean that if you feed the digital input with 0 dBFS it will clip at any volume? I really dont get your resoning. what is the clipping we see as any relevance with the digital being fed? You can tell that the line out clip before full volume, and it's a problem, but there is no way to know that 0 dBFS is clipping the output of the DAC, please explain your reasoning, what does Digital level has to do with this? when we have no digital volume. Why would you need 0 dBFS being impossible to clip the amp? You turn down the volume that's all but if the only way to get the full power of this amp you need 0 dBFS it's in my book more of a problem because you don't know if all your digital source will come in at 0 dBFS. The volume control is analog, it's not so different than an analog input, in analog you want the input sensitivity to be lower or equal than the full output of the upstream device with the lowest output you can find to connect to. If not you are wasting Watts, for anything that is not normalised at 0 dBFS. Yes most sources will end up clipped at full volume that's what we want no? Why should it be different for digital exactly? Don't get me wrong I don't think it's a good amp and I don't thing it's a good idea to have analog out clip that early, I just don't get your reasoning about dBFS here, it's an analog gain structure.

 

[fcracer]

But, but, how could this be? Hegel sounds so luxurious and commanding when Darko waxes poetic over its extraordinary capabilities…

Im so glad that ASR exists. I almost got sucked into the Hegel orbit from watching all the nonsense reviews online. Glad I dodged that bullet.

 

[Chrispy]

Getting thru most of the comments now, it does make me wonder why someone would buy something like this in the first place (but not asking owner but some more info on what he based his original choice on might be helpful)....just based on feature set/cost....Hegel never seemed any better than a much more reasonably priced avr, if that. Seems I wasn't far off at least.

 

[aj625]

I’m sure @Matias meant the narrow performance rather than the overall value for money, which is obviously not great. BTW as good as the AHB2 is it would likely be indistinguishable from the Hegel under controlled conditions.

So you listen music in controlled conditions ? According to you if amp measurements difference as big as between ahb2 and Hegel does not matter then may be you are better off to listening am radio ! Btw do you even know what is ahb2 or just any other passing remarks you have posted here ?

 

[aj625]

Actualy most audiophiles will tell you the Hegel is a lot better. Benchmark is made by a pro audio gear company, people who only measure but don't listen you know

Yes so correct. Such people have already started commenting like "under controlled conditions one can't find difference between ahb2 and Hagel" brigade of those audiophiles saying "all amp sound same, all dac sound same , measurements are not related sound quality and blah blah is going stronger day by day .

 

[aj625]

Amir's data looks terrible. However, I wonder how so many reviewers can be wrong. Are the described distortions even audible...?

Good question !

 

[BDWoody]

However, I wonder how so many reviewers can be wrong

They don't use controls.

 

[watchnerd]

I believe, under controlled conditions, I can't easily tell most amps apart, or Redbook from high rez, based on past tests I've done on myself.

But, at the same time, I don't listen daily under controlled conditions.

So I just allow placebo to happen, knowing I'm fooling myself.

 

[aj625]

I believe, under controlled conditions, I can't easily tell most amps apart, or Redbook from high rez, based on past tests I've done on myself.

But, at the same time, I don't listen daily under controlled conditions.

So I just allow placebo to happen, knowing I'm fooling myself.

Controlled conditions means ?

 

[watchnerd]

Controlled conditions means ?

It was double blind, level matched, amps operating well below their max power, ABX switch.

45 min to listen as long as I wanted to each one, switch back and forth as much as I wanted, use whatever songs I wanted.

 

[Rottmannash]

It all comes down to this (try not to laugh): Quote; “There is no damage control, there is only a sensible approach to claims that you do not understand”. We simply just don’t understand, understand?

I was wondering when someone was going to quote that phrase...what hubris.

 

[Rottmannash]

Mine has been very well behaved after its return visit to its homeland following 'the incident.' No plans to get rid of it.

The "incident"? Do tell...

 

[Amplifier dude]

I believe, under controlled conditions, I can't easily tell most amps apart, or Redbook from high rez, based on past tests I've done on myself.

But, at the same time, I don't listen daily under controlled conditions.

So I just allow placebo to happen, knowing I'm fooling myself.

But if you’re enjoying what you’re hearing without knowing you shouldn’t, should you really be doing it? It‘s kinda like the Metaverse at that point.

 

[watchnerd]

But if you’re enjoying what you’re hearing without knowing you shouldn’t, should you really be doing it?

I've tried three times and can't parse this sentence.

 

[Amplifier dude]

I've tried three times and can't parse this sentence.

In translation, if you‘re enjoying what you’re hearing because you don’t know how bad the objective performance is, are you only cheating yourself because if you knew the objective performance you’d be disgusted? In other words is ignorance bliss?

 

[Beershaun]

@amirm congratulations on bringing yet another manufacturer to the conversation around providing properly engineered and tested products to audio consumers! I am hopeful that like Sound United, Topping, Schitt, Elac, and others Hegel will review and reproduce the measurements themselves and reset their benchmarks and targets to improve their products in their next generation.

This is another win for all of us!

 

[Amplifier dude]

@amirm congratulations on bringing yet another manufacturer to the conversation around providing properly engineered and tested products to audio consumers! I am hopeful that like Sound United, Topping, Schitt, Elac, and others Hegel will review and reproduce the measurements themselves and reset their benchmarks and targets to improve their products in their next generation.

This is another win for all of us!

Only problem is if they did that the Chinese would be their direct competition. And they’d go under because they could never compete and continue with a profitable business utilizing the distributor/dealer supply chain their business model is based on.

The Chinese manufacture in house, and sell direct to the consumer. Hegel subs out their work to the Chinese, imports them back to Norway for final inspection, then distributes world wide though a network of distributors. From there they go to dealers, and from there they go to the consumer. Lots of mouths to feed.

 

[TOR]

Only problem is if they did that the Chinese would be their direct competition. And they’d go under because they could never compete and continue with a profitable business utilizing the distributor/dealer supply chain their business model is based on.

This is not about Chinese, UK, Germany, Norway...... This is about if you know how to put your best resources to the best use. The most important is if you have the technical know how to make a TOTL product. With ASR, a lot of audio product that do not have a sound fundamental will be weeded out.