Hegel H95 Review (Streaming Amplifier)

[MacCali]

Let me rephrase. Do the same outputs on the H120 exhibit the same design issues (or intentional design choices) as the H95, that has been discussed in this thread?

Not measured we don’t know. You would hope that they do this as a stepped tier rip off. You would think the 390 is going to hit at least 110.

I think it’s Amir or where I saw the straight up power up which is more expensive than all these integrated or equally close in price to 390 was bad too. By bad I mean not state of the art.

If I can find it I’ll post it

 

[buzwork]

How do you mean that? Outputs are outputs, they output a given signal which wouldn't be just because they are outputs but rather what's behind the output. Generally line out or record out or speaker level outputs are what they are....

The H95 has very low voltage on the variable pre-outs. It's a problem for some subwoofers and requires cranking up the gains on the sub to get adequate signal. It annoys the hell out of me.

*I'm the owner of the unit provided to Amir for testing.

 

[Chrispy]

The H95 has very low voltage on the variable pre-outs. It's a problem for some subwoofers and requires cranking up the gains on the sub to get adequate signal. It annoys the hell out of me.

*I'm the owner of the unit provided to Amir for testing.

Ah thanks that makes more sense. It's been a while, too so don't remember that detail. Then again that's why you have adjustable gain on a sub....most pre-outs I've used with commercial plate amp subs have more than enough signal, and even enough for my pro amps with 1.4V sensitivity. I'll have to go check out the output levels again....

 

[jaczar]

I tested the NAD M10 V2 amplifier for several days.
The H95 sounds louder and warmer with the KEF LS50 Meta.
Dirac Live did not do any good.
The NAD is twice as expensive as the H95 in my country.
The H95 is a better choice for the KEF LS50 Meta.

 

[Geert]

The H95 sounds louder and warmer with the KEF LS50 Meta.

How can it sound louder when the NAD has twice the power? How do you drive the amp (which source, analog or digital input)?

Sounding warmer is not a quality, it´s personal preference.

 

[voodooless]

Clearly, no attempt at level matching was done here, so nothing more than a nice story.

 

[jaczar]

Digital input
The same source volume level
The difference in volume is even greater with Dirac Live turned on

 

[voodooless]

Digital input
The same source volume level
The difference in volume is even greater with Dirac Live turned on

Yeah, that is no level matching. That's just matching the numbers on the display. It is rather pointless.

 

[Geert]

Digital input
The same source volume level

But you probably didn't push the source volume to the max to test which amp can provide the most power? Not that I advice you to do so, the NAD could smoke the speakers.

You can't make much conclusions from the fact that an amp is louder with the same input volume, if you don't know and/or control the amps internal gain structure. The difference becoming even bigger with DIRAC enabled is precisely because of the average gain (or volume) being changed.

I think you're on the wrong track with your conclusions.

 

[voodooless]

You can't make much conclusions from the fact that an amp is louder with the same input volume, if you don't know and/or control the amps internal gain structure.

Isn't it funny how the louder amp always wins It's not just the gain structure. The NAD and Hegal also use different ways to display it. The NAD is just a negative gain number in dB. The Hegel just has a numeric value from 0 to something. You have no idea if that is a linear, log, or something in between. There is no way to correlate these numbers.

 

[jaczar]

In my case H95 at 50% volume level = M10 with Dirac on at 70% volume level
If I increase the volume of the M10 more it probably starts clipping

Listen what Harbeth designer said about Hegel amps around 5:50

 

[killdozzer]

In my case H95 at 50% volume level = M10 with Dirac on at 70% volume level
If I increase the volume of the M10 more it probably starts clipping

Listen what Harbeth designer said about Hegel amps around 5:50

Yes, yes. All listen to what Harbeth designer has to say. Could we first ask how come he didn't find a way to charge for his speakers accordingly?

 

[killdozzer]

Isn't it funny how the louder amp always wins It's not just the gain structure. The NAD and Hegal also use different ways to display it. The NAD is just a negative gain number in dB. The Hegel just has a numeric value from 0 to something. You have no idea if that is a linear, log, or something in between. There is no way to correlate these numbers.

Yep. I was amazed few months back when someone started pushing the story that loudness wars didn't come about because of this inclination of people to pick the louder as better. I mean, it's counterintuitive to say the least, since it would boil down to = "nobody wants it, but they're still doing it". Who's making them? What would be the goal of that?

 

[Geert]

In my case H95 at 50% volume level = M10 with Dirac on at 70% volume level
If I increase the volume of the M10 more it probably starts clipping

"Probably" doesn't make us much wiser. Like I said the NAD has twice the power than the H95, that's a fact. So I don't see a reason why it would start clipping earlier. I also didn't joke when I said the NAD has more power than your speakers can handle (long term), so the NAD clipping would not be my first worry.

And as explained above, you don't know the curve of the volume controls of these amps. Volume controls are not linear, so you don't know how much louder both amps will go when you dial up the volume.

 

[voodooless]

In my case H95 at 50% volume level = M10 with Dirac on at 70% volume level

Yeah, you just can't compare it like that. You have no idea what it actually translates to, and also not how many actual dB's the last 50 or 30% add.

If I increase the volume of the M10 more it probably starts clipping

Note that Dirac needs headroom for corrections. If you do a 3 dB correction, it means that your average volume level will be only half the power. Your 100W amp then suddenly appears to be only 50W. Now 3dB correction is not a lot. It's probably more along the lines of 6 dB, depending on your room and target curve. That brings it down to an apparent 25W. Obviously, this is not really true because the power is spent on corrections. Always be careful how you use it and make sure you don't boost too much.

So yes, Dirac will take up some additional amplifier power for correction. What you get back is more linear frequency response. If then it doesn't go loud enough, you'll probably need more power (the poor KEFs will not like that I guess). For normal listening levels, the 100W should be fine, even with Dirac. I'm running the LS50 with 40W and Dirac, and it goes plenty loud. The key here is if you compare, you should compare with the same actual volume level coming out of the speakers. Where you put the volume control to do that doesn't matter.

Regarding the video: he's clearly wrong as can be seen in Amir's review.

 

[buzwork]

Update on the Hegel H95 used for this review... it's now boxed up and ready for its new owner.

I decided to upgrade and landed on the Arcam SA30. Some improvements are power (120wpc for SA30 vs 60wpc for H95), SA50 eARC (stereo listening room also has a 55" TV), Airplay2 for SA30 vs Airplay on H95, Dirac Live & Roon Ready for SA30. The pre-outs are higher voltage than the H95 as well. The DAC is also much better on the SA30.

I've also upgraded from the Revel M105 to the Revel F206 (in walnut of course) so the additional power is nice. Also added an Arcam CDS50 SACD player. Overall I'm much happier with the SA30 vs the H95.

I will also be handing off the Arcam SA30 to @amirm in a few weeks for proper testing.

 

[MacCali]

Update on the Hegel H95 used for this review... it's now boxed up and ready for its new owner.

I decided to upgrade and landed on the Arcam SA30. Some improvements are power (120wpc for SA30 vs 60wpc for H95), SA50 eARC (stereo listening room also has a 55" TV), Airplay2 for SA30 vs Airplay on H95, Dirac Live & Roon Ready for SA30. The pre-outs are higher voltage than the H95 as well. The DAC is also much better on the SA30.

I've also upgraded from the Revel M105 to the Revel F206 (in walnut of course) so the additional power is nice. Also added an Arcam CDS50 SACD player. Overall I'm much happier with the SA30 vs the H95.

I will also be handing off the Arcam SA30 to @amirm in a few weeks for proper testing.

Nice, yea at least with Arcam they think outside the damn box and try to make improvements. I hope the company is on the same trend now.

I’m currently sticking to vintage amps for stereo. Not trying to dish out thousands on an amp that hasn’t been tested and demo’d.

To be honest I know a lot of people are fans of class D. I have not yet heard all the modules, but NAD is doing an amazing job objective and subjective to my ears with price in mind

 

[killdozzer]

Update on the Hegel H95 used for this review... it's now boxed up and ready for its new owner.

I decided to upgrade and landed on the Arcam SA30. Some improvements are power (120wpc for SA30 vs 60wpc for H95), SA50 eARC (stereo listening room also has a 55" TV), Airplay2 for SA30 vs Airplay on H95, Dirac Live & Roon Ready for SA30. The pre-outs are higher voltage than the H95 as well. The DAC is also much better on the SA30.

I've also upgraded from the Revel M105 to the Revel F206 (in walnut of course) so the additional power is nice. Also added an Arcam CDS50 SACD player. Overall I'm much happier with the SA30 vs the H95.

I will also be handing off the Arcam SA30 to @amirm in a few weeks for proper testing.

Great! I wish you all the luck with the new amp.

 

[ex audiophile]

Update on the Hegel H95 used for this review... it's now boxed up and ready for its new owner.

I decided to upgrade and landed on the Arcam SA30. Some improvements are power (120wpc for SA30 vs 60wpc for H95), SA50 eARC (stereo listening room also has a 55" TV), Airplay2 for SA30 vs Airplay on H95, Dirac Live & Roon Ready for SA30. The pre-outs are higher voltage than the H95 as well. The DAC is also much better on the SA30.

I've also upgraded from the Revel M105 to the Revel F206 (in walnut of course) so the additional power is nice. Also added an Arcam CDS50 SACD player. Overall I'm much happier with the SA30 vs the H95.

I will also be handing off the Arcam SA30 to @amirm in a few weeks for proper testing.

Love to hear what u think of the F206s; looking at buying a pair as the Performa line is 30% off until end of month.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Update on the Hegel H95 used for this review... it's now boxed up and ready for its new owner.

I decided to upgrade and landed on the Arcam SA30. Some improvements are power (120wpc for SA30 vs 60wpc for H95), SA50 eARC (stereo listening room also has a 55" TV), Airplay2 for SA30 vs Airplay on H95, Dirac Live & Roon Ready for SA30. The pre-outs are higher voltage than the H95 as well. The DAC is also much better on the SA30.

I've also upgraded from the Revel M105 to the Revel F206 (in walnut of course) so the additional power is nice. Also added an Arcam CDS50 SACD player. Overall I'm much happier with the SA30 vs the H95.

I will also be handing off the Arcam SA30 to @amirm in a few weeks for proper testing.

About a year ago bought an Arcam SR250 mainly because they were being sold off for about a third of their original price. Thought if I didn’t like it the EBAY loss wouldn’t be too big. it replaced a Denon PMA-2500NE and it’s a much better amp + internet radio built in and HDMI inputs. What’s not too love it sounds great and is a keeper.