Hegel H80 integrated amplifier

[Tarzan]

Have any AOS members heard this amplifier and care to share their thoughts?:)

[Dauntless]

This product recently had a positive review in Hi-Fi Choice. It piqued my interest also. If you log on to Hegels web page they tell you some of the specs that make their products different and I found it an interesting read. My nearest dealer is Loud & Clear down in Edinburgh. I rang them and they said Hegel was a new brand to them and currently they are only stocking the Integrated amp. Next time I'm in Edinburgh I will drop in for a listen.

[montesquieu]

This product recently had a positive review in Hi-Fi Choice. It piqued my interest also. If you log on to Hegels web page they tell you some of the specs that make their products different and I found it an interesting read. My nearest dealer is Loud & Clear down in Edinburgh. I rang them and they said Hegel was a new brand to them and currently they are only stocking the Integrated amp. Next time I'm in Edinburgh I will drop in for a listen.

Don't know what the amp sounds like but a hefty whiff of bollocks on their web page

'HegelSoundEngine-300It's a common fact: As a story is told from person to person, details change. Things are added, others lost. At some point, the story has changed. When a music signal is passing through an audio amplifier a similar effect will take place. As the signal is passed from stage to stage within the audio amplifier, the music signal will be changed by every single amplifier stage. When the music signal finally reaches your loudspeakers, the signal is different from the original music signal from the signal source. The Hegel SoundEngine local error cancelling system prevents distortion in the audio amplifier circuit stages, preserving the original details and the dynamic range in the original music signal. The end result is a much cleaner music signal with a larger dynamic range and lower distortion.'

Reads like regular use of feedback to me.

[Firebottle]

Yeah, does me too, local or global.

[YNWaN]

Me three - "local error cancelling system" sounds like a fancy way of saying local feedback - nothing new there.

[hifi_dave]

I hate BS.

[struth]

I hate BS.

its a bugger when you tread on it;)

[hifi_dave]

Been there, done that, still got it on my boots..:doh:

[awkwardbydesign]

Me three - "local error cancelling system" sounds like a fancy way of saying local feedback - nothing new there.

In fact, it's claimed to be feedforward. And patented, FWIW.
"Hegel has leveraged some new technology derived from its P20 preamp into the H80 and employed a price-scaled implementation of Hegel’s patented SoundEngine technology in the power amp section. SoundEngine uses a feed-forward technique (instead of feedback) to reduced distortion as the signal passes from one amplifier stage to another, and, apparently, also greatly reduces crossover distortion (as the positive and negative halves of the signal switch over to each other). "
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/hegel-h80-integrated-amplifier/?page=2
" The Hegel SoundEngine technology is not using any kind of global negative feedback, it is using local and adaptive feed forward technology if there should ever be any need for cancellation of distortion within the audio amplifier stages."
http://www.hegel.com/technology/soundengine-technology
Worth having a read BEFORE posting. :doh:

[YNWaN]

Isn't 'feed forward' what Sansui called their version of Quads current dumping circuit?
-----

OK, I've bothered to read the Hegel website and it says precisely nothing about how any of their claims are actually accomplished and is just marketing verbiage IMO.

If their patent is an American one in means very little indeed as you seem to be able to patent pretty much anything in the US, even existing ideas.

[Dauntless]

Don't know what the amp sounds like but a hefty whiff of bollocks on their web page

'HegelSoundEngine-300It's a common fact: As a story is told from person to person, details change. Things are added, others lost. At some point, the story has changed. When a music signal is passing through an audio amplifier a similar effect will take place. As the signal is passed from stage to stage within the audio amplifier, the music signal will be changed by every single amplifier stage. When the music signal finally reaches your loudspeakers, the signal is different from the original music signal from the signal source. The Hegel SoundEngine local error cancelling system prevents distortion in the audio amplifier circuit stages, preserving the original details and the dynamic range in the original music signal. The end result is a much cleaner music signal with a larger dynamic range and lower distortion.'

Reads like regular use of feedback to me.

Posted in good faith. No idea if it's true or false. Only one way to find out. Visit the dealer. I spoke to him by phone and he himself seemed pleased with the product.
As regards BS well in my experience you find it everywhere, for instance when you walk into a Hi-Fi shop. Then some of it is rather expensive BS and it's a shame for you if you leave with some of it stuck to your shoes!

[awkwardbydesign]

Isn't 'feed forward' what Sansui called their version of Quads current dumping circuit?
-----

OK, I've bothered to read the Hegel website and it says precisely nothing about how any of their claims are actually accomplished and is just marketing verbiage IMO.

If their patent is an American one in means very little indeed as you seem to be able to patent pretty much anything in the US, even existing ideas.
Why would you think that? The company is Norwegian!

[Dauntless]

Hegel have a review of their 160 Intergrated Amp here : -
http://www.hegel.com/products/integrated/h160/83-reviews/h160-reviews/431-hifi-uk
This would appear to be the next amp up the range.

Here is another very positive review for their product. Price is not too bad either ( in Hi-Fi terms )

[Beavis]

I just acquired an H80 before Christmas....

I'm a tube guy but wanted a 'workhorse' sand integrated as an everyday driver to just kick back and listen to FM, CD, or LPs and not fuss with tubes (also thinking ahead to the heat of the summer).

This H80 is a real steal for the money. Other than the earliest McIntosh solid state amps the H80 sounds more like a tubed unit than perhaps any SS amp I've ever heard. I think the secret is in the preamp section more than in the amplifier section. At 75 WPC it has globs of power for my speakers and loads of versatility. I got a great deal on the unit; and it is bullet-proof and sounds terrific. Definitely worth an audition for anyone in the market for a cutting edge integrated.

The dealer I purchased from heard the first one that came into his store and immediately took it home for his own use. Now that's a recommendation.

[Tarzan]

Posted in good faith. No idea if it's true or false. Only one way to find out. Visit the dealer. I spoke to him by phone and he himself seemed pleased with the product.
As regards BS well in my experience you find it everywhere, for instance when you walk into a Hi-Fi shop. Then some of it is rather expensive BS and it's a shame for you if you leave with some of it stuck to your shoes!

Mmmmm sounds a bit like Lavardin with their ' memory distortion'.......

[Fulci]

Anyone else tried the Hegel H80? Thinking of replacing my Brio-R in a few months and this is contender against the Elex-R. Has anyone compared or listened to both amps? Also, what did you think of the DAC? What is it comparable to?

Speakers are Rega RS3 for now.

[jasonC]

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/hegel-h80-amplifier/

[Fulci]

Thanks Jason. That was the article, along several others that made me consider the Hegel. Would the internal DAC be better than the Rega DAC?