Any thoughts on Hegel DACs?

[JJack]

My local store just started carrying Hegel. I had a in-store listen to the new HD11 DAC and it sounded good.

I haven't seen anything in the US media other than an HD10 review and a brief mention of the HD11 at the Rocky Mountain audio show.

Appreciate any thoughts on this DAC or on the brand in general, as they're not well-known in the States.

[theabbot]

HI Jack

I haven't heard the new HD 11 but compared to the old HD10 the HD 20 that I bought sounded so much better, even the dealer was surprised how different/better the HD 20 sounded. if you look on the Hegal web site they do have reviews, most of them from Scandinavian/German HiFi mags all very positive.

Regards

Mike

[JJack]

Yes, thanks, I did check the website.

I'm a little surprised that my European friends aren't responding much to a post about these DACs, as I thought they were popular over there.

In any event, I've listened extensively to the HD11 and really like it. I've ordered one, and ordered a Marantz 8004 to use as a transport. Hopefully the two will be a good match.

[Alex_UK]

Sorry Jack - never heard of them.

[cycler2]

Yes, thanks, I did check the website.

I'm a little surprised that my European friends aren't responding much to a post about these DACs, as I thought they were popular over there.

In any event, I've listened extensively to the HD11 and really like it. I've ordered one, and ordered a Marantz 8004 to use as a transport. Hopefully the two will be a good match.

Jack,

When you receive the Marantz 8004, give it a try as a complete music playback solution. I have the predecessor model (8003) and it sounds very good. The internal DACs are high quality, as is the Marantz output section. I was hard-pressed to distinguish my Marantz SA 8003 using its internal DAC from the Marantz digital output into my Lavry DA10 DAC. I use my Lavry for computer audio and my Marantz for playing CDs that I haven't ripped to my hard drive.

Please give us a report when you get your new gear and have a listen.

Rich

[JJack]

Jack,

When you receive the Marantz 8004, give it a try as a complete music playback solution. I have the predecessor model (8003) and it sounds very good. The internal DACs are high quality, as is the Marantz output section. I was hard-pressed to distinguish my Marantz SA 8003 using its internal DAC from the Marantz digital output into my Lavry DA10 DAC. I use my Lavry for computer audio and my Marantz for playing CDs that I haven't ripped to my hard drive.

Please give us a report when you get your new gear and have a listen.

Rich

Great suggestion. I demo'd the 8004 and the Hegel back and forth over two extended listening sessions: the quick answer is that I won't be keeping the Hegel.

The Hegel is a great unit, and if I listened to more pristine recordings, I would have kept it; however, many of my favorite CDs are a little bright in the treble, and the Hegel's slight emphasis on this region made me stick with the stock 8004. The Hegel has superior slam and bass impact, but with a small subwoofer I no longer needed that little bit of extra bass.

In sum, this ended up being a system-dependent decision - with a different transport I might have kept the Hegel.

The 8004 is great on CD, but just stupendous on SACD - WOW!