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Hegel H95 Review (Streaming Amplifier)

JRS

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The H95 was meant to be my all in one dream amp that one day I wish I could afford and be an endgame amp. Now you ruined the fantasy for me @amirm

I would like to imagine that you just had a faulty unit.
Why not imagine a happy future with a Purifi power amp, and say a Camridge Audio CXN v2 streamer/preamp? More power, far better specs and less money. And some blue blooded audio bona fides with Cambridge Audio, if that matters. Personally, I'd go looking for even less expensive pre/DAC but that's just me being an audio cheapskate. Instead I'd buy a musical instrument preamp/DAC with many in/8 or more out, or maybe something like a miniDSP SHD with Dirac.
 

ROOSKIE

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Please someone send this to Darko. He is just another talking head that thinks he has golden ears.
He knows. Look at his lifestyle. His is living the hipster dream by reviewing audio gear.
I don't blame him either.
Most people have a job that is very compromised and the way most folks make a living involves significant BS. Fault no one particular cat.
Don't put Darko's head on a pike unless you are earing a very cleaning living doing...?
 

Amplifier dude

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Hmmm,
With all sincerity I think you would need to document the test and processes in a very detailed way before I or anyone ought to beleive you on this.
It's not that critical of a situation for me to go though all that hassle. This is something I do with my buddies whenever I test new amps.
 

JRS

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Oh boy this one made me create an account... I had to thank you !

At some point last year, I decided to update my audio gear.
Yeah it was about time... I had a "Yamaha RX V393" for very/too long, rca inputs were all producing a different sound... Not even sure which one were better or worst.

I watched all these 'audiophile' videos and have been amazed to see how pricey audio gear was, and the amount of subjectivity in reviews.
Finally settled on Hegel because of all the fantastic reviews and "affordable" price (for such quality)... Until I decided to dig in the specs and found your forum.

In the end, I went for a minidsp SHD and a Purifi amplifier.
By publishing these objective measurements, you allow us (consumers) to avoid spending thousands on crap. For most of us, buying an amplifier is a big investment and we don't want to mess up and regret it later.

At some point, I will replace the loudspeakers too... Still using my old "Infinity primus 150" (BTW I would love to see them reviewed at some point).
Looking at the price of speakers, I know I'll have to go "second hand" but honestly I don't know what to buy.
Here (France) some local brands with "innovative engineering" are appreciated by the audiophile community (JMR, PEL, Mulidine) but I don't believe these audiophile guys anymore, and these speakers are not reviewed properly like you do here... So I'm stuck :)

Coming back to Hegel, I think they have a (much cheaper) chinese clone which looks exactly the same (internal and external), without the "sound engine" blue chips... But can't find it anymore... I wonder how it measures.

Would love to see how the praised H590 (>10k$) performs too...

TLDR; Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !!
Great choice, coincidentally just recommended the same combo to another now pining about to buy Hegel member.
 

Billy Budapest

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Please someone send this to Darko. He is just another talking head that thinks he has golden ears.
A few years ago, Darko did a comparison between a Technics SL-1200G ($4000) and a Pioneer PLX-1000 ($699). As you could probably guess, in his wholly subjective analysis the SL-1200G won.

I opined that the comparison was not realistic and did not give potential buyers any useful information, and that the SL-1200mk7 ($999) and PLX-1000 ($699) should instead be compared because potential purchasers would be choosing between those two turntables, not between the 1200G and the PLX-1000.

Darko refused to do the comparison, stating that the point was to show what “an additional $3000 gets you,” and not to compare Technics and Pioneer turntables head to head.

Since then, I have learned to take his reviews with a major grain of salt. They are decent to demonstrate product features, but otherwise, I do not find much utility in them.
 
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Billy Budapest

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He knows. Look at his lifestyle. His is living the hipster dream by reviewing audio gear.
I don't blame him either.
Most people have a job that is very compromised and the way most folks make a living involves significant BS. Fault no one particular cat.
Don't put Darko's head on a pike unless you are earing a very cleaning living doing...?
Darko is too old to be a hipster. He is pushing 50. Not sure what his full time job is, though. Maybe he makes his entire living reviewing gear. However, that would be a rarity in the audio world.
 

JRS

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I wonder why we see so many reviews of Boutique expensive snake oil products?
They are almost universally bad and this is not even surprising.
Why not Focus on cheaper consumer or professional products.

If a "transparent" >120dB SINAD DAC can be bout for example can be bougt for <200€ hat is the Point to review 2000$ DAC
To the ear it cant be better if the 200€ DAC is already perfectly transparent.
It can only measure better. And if they want to convince someone to spend 10x the price for better measurements it schuld be on them to provide this information.
After this this clams can be tested.
Or why not woo away some Topping engineers to design the amp. You could afford to pay them a bunch at these extortionate prices.
 

oivavoi

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

Because the described distortions are by all accounts not audible, and hearing is extremely prone to bias. So when reviewers think that the Hegel amp is expensive and well-engineered and is supposed to "sound very good", they do - honestly and actually - think that it sounds very good.

I'm fairly sure a blind test would not reveal the amp to sound bad, but simply that it will sound like 98-99 percent of other amps - indistinguishable from each other under most listening conditions.

The problem for me is not the level of distortion, which is below the limit of audibility for all practical purposes, but the prices they charge for it and the audiophile mumbo jumbo the company engages in.
 

PuX

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bad show.

it's nowhere near the top of their lineup, but I expected the amp part to be decent.

and before someone tells me it's decent, no, it is not, NAD C320 shows SINAD of 92db and that is a low end model from a less premium company, made ages ago.
 

Billy Budapest

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Or why not woo away some Topping engineers to design the amp. You could afford to pay them a bunch at these extortionate prices.
I have not been impressed by Topping’s desktop amplifiers. I do not think that is where most of their engineering finesse has been focused.
 

Billy Budapest

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bad show.

it's nowhere near the top of their lineup, but I expected the amp part to be decent.

and before someone tells me it's decent, no, it is not, NAD C320 shows SINAD of 92db and that is a low end model from a less premium company, made ages ago.
NAD is a long-standing, esteemed company that from time to time shows great engineering chops. I do not think it is any “less premium” than Hegel and in fact has some similarly-overpriced offerings.
 

JRS

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NAD is a long-standing, esteemed company that from time to time shows great engineering chops. I do not think it is any “less premium” than Hegel and in fact has some similarly-overpriced offerings.
And when NAD offers a 100W/side preamp/streamer in the 2000--3000 range, they provide in spades. To wit: (includes HDMI-eARC in, multiple outs, DIRAC and looks beefier):
 

PuX

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NAD is a long-standing, esteemed company that from time to time shows great engineering chops. I do not think it is any “less premium” than Hegel and in fact has some similarly-overpriced offerings.
I also have a NAD amp in my secondary system and very happy with it.
by premium I mean what their price range is and what kind of audience they sell their products to.

just guessing the numbers, but NAD has a price range of $500-3000 or so?
and Hegel has a price range of $1000-10000?
that's what I'd call a premium.
 

voodooless

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What @Hegel Music System will not say in public is that H95 was designed for this level of performance. It was designed for people who have this kind of money to spend on amp but are not into ultimate sound performance and usually listen to Spotify level sound quality (which is 95% of people basically). This is why there is no Roon as it is a niche software but only AirPlay and Spotify Connect.

Also, Hegel needs to leave space in sound quality terms to higher end devices in the range.
Come on, DAC performance that best case would land it in the mid "poor" category. Even 30-year-old technology can beat this. How much space do they want (or need) to leave? Amplifier performance is a bit better, but also not what one would expect from such a device. My Loxjie A30 performs similarly for less than 10x 0.1X the price.

I'm pretty sure if we test a higher-end model that we will see a similar picture: sub-par performance for even more money.
 
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ROOSKIE

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Darko is too old to be a hipster. He is pushing 50. Not sure what his full time job is, though. Maybe he makes his entire living reviewing gear. However, that would be a rarity in the audio world.
Ha!
He lives in Berlin.
Yah he is an OG hipster.
I am 45 and still know quite a few folks around my age who are pretty hipster.
Anyway I watch his reviews for the entertainment. He does a good job some of the production aspects and I actually like his voice and style.
I don't really care what his verdict is though, he obviously works for the industry.

I'd say he might make more money elsewhere by choice, he seems like a guy who might work from cafes on a laptop and do some design or programing. Or maybe spend the day adding up his BTC and EOS, based on his website add traffic and YouTube credentials he could easily make $100+k USD a year doing audio reviews.
 

CoryGillmore

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Waht made you consider this AMP?
How dose the marketing in the this segment work? they don't provide useful factual measurement and just hope someone likes to spend 2k$ for thee back box?
To put it simply: Youtube reviews. One of my favorite reviewers gushes over Hegel. Now I don't think he's dishonest, people like what they like. I owned and enjoyed products that didn't measure well, SendyAudio Aiva is an example of such. Hell it's possible my Audiolab measures like crap, I enjoy it nonetheless.

I feel like good ol blind testing would humble everyone. Both people who don't think measurements matter and people who only look at measurements would be humbled by a blind ABX test. I'm more in the camp of all this crap basically sounds the same, regardless of measurements.
 

Phorize

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Alan Shaw has used amps like Yamaha as 701 at shows. I think he may have said that he used a Hegel because customers would make negative inferences if a cheap amp was used, or something like that. He is absolutely right of course.
 

JRS

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I have not been impressed by Topping’s desktop amplifiers. I do not think that is where most of their engineering finesse has been focused.
That may well be the case. So get the guys with the "finesse" to build an integrated amp for 2000. I can only imagine it would lap this sorry excuse for a streaming integrated. Christ for 2K, I'd expect not only a power switch on the front, but a color display for the artwork.
 

CoryGillmore

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Darko is too old to be a hipster. He is pushing 50. Not sure what his full time job is, though. Maybe he makes his entire living reviewing gear. However, that would be a rarity in the audio world.
with as many subs as his Youtube channel has (almost 250k), I can promise you he makes a living reviewing audio gear full time. And likely a damn fine living.
 
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