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Hegel H300 Integrated Amplifier Review

Hegel H300 Integrated Amplifier Review

It seems as if Hegel Music Systems, the Norwegian electronics manufacturer, can do no wrong these days. Kirk Midtskog has written glowing reviews of the Hegel H100 and H200 integrated amplifiers (in Issues 206 and 211). And when Editor- in-Chief Robert Harley evaluated the H30 Reference stereo amplifier, he characterized the 350Wpc behemoth as a contender for any well-heeled audiophile’s short list (in Issue 223). So, when the opportunity for me to review the H300, Hegel’s latest and most powerful integrated amplifier, presented itself, I figured, “Okay. Let’s see what all the excitement is about.”

Even before I started delving into what makes the H300 tick I cued up “Georgia Lee” from Tom Waits’ Mule Variations [Anti- Epitaph]. It’s a favorite track of mine—a raw performance, underscored by Waits’ gravelly, chesty voice. With the mbl Corona C31 CD player handling front-end duties, I could already hear straight through the H300 to the tattered felt hammers of his old upright sounding uncertain pitches, the noisy sustain pedal thumping along with the piano, the song’s tempo shortening and lengthening with the shifts in the tune’s emotional landscape. It’s a track adorned with low-level found-sound ambient clatter and birdcalls. I felt that I was hearing and feeling this performance at its deepest levels.

I then turned to the Jimmy Cobb Quartet’s bossa-nova- accented cover “If Ever I Would Leave You” from Jazz in the Key of Blue [Chesky]. The easy ensemble playing was captured in a stunning display of discrete imaging, micro-dynamic gradients, and hi-hat detailing—and of course trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s tasteful playing and carefully measured dynamics. Even after just a couple tracks I was beginning to understand what all the Hegel brouhaha was about.

The H300 is a high-power, line-level integrated amplifier that outputs a generous 250Wpc into 8 ohms (430Wpc into 4 ohms). Visually, the flat black exterior is seriously Spartan with merely a pushbutton on/off, and rotary knobs for input and volume selection plus a large blue-lit display, easily legible from afar. Paired with the H300 is a beautifully machined aluminum, full-function remote control that makes front-panel visitations essentially irrelevant. The back panel houses ample analog and digital connectivity and one big plus. The H300 joins a new and relatively select segment of electronics, the DAC/integrated amplifier—new in the sense that amplifiers and DACs, though not novel in themselves, have mostly been marketed as independent components. However, in recent issues I’ve reviewed DAC/integrateds from Simaudio and Perreaux, and more are either currently available or coming to market. Given the ever-expanding popularity of digital media the trend is logical and not unlike the built-in phono/RIAA inputs that were commonplace when vinyl was dominant.

The H300 represents a ground-up redesign, which Hegel characterizes as a Hegel 2 amplifier platform; improvements are geared to increase channel separation and decrease noise levels. The H300 evolved during the design phase of the P30 Reference preamp and the H30 Reference monoblocks. The most significant change, according to Hegel chief designer Bent Holter, is in the preamp section—a dual-mono design with new advancements in circuitry, optimized board layout, improved components, hand-matched FET transistors, and, perhaps most significant of all, a newly devised precision volume attenuator that’s based largely on the P30. The amplifier stage features a robust dual-mono 1000VA power supply with 90,000uF capacitors and an output stage formed by twenty 15A 150W high-speed bipolar transistors. Hegel’s newest generation core technology, SoundEngine, was also spawned during the H30 project. It’s based on a proprietary topology and highly selective transistor-matching that is said to eliminate dynamic crossover distortion in Class AB amplification. (See RH’s H30 review in Issue 223 for Holter’s thorough explanation of the SoundEngine technology.)

The 32-bit DAC stage is built around the AKM AK4399 chipset. For Hegel it’s AKM’s best pro audio chip and capable of 24-bit/192kHz resolution. For USB throughput, resolution tops out at 24-bit/96kHz, but extends to 192kHz through either the optical or coaxial SPDIF inputs. Hegel notes that the new DAC improves over the HD11 with more robust and cleaner power supplies and newly designed, higher-precision clocking. Like the HD11 it features proprietary reclocking circuitry and a Hegel designed clock.

Unique to the H300 is the DAC Loop function, which allows the owner to add an external (and presumably more advanced) DAC down the road while retaining Hegel’s sophisticated reclocking circuit. Although naturally Hegel would urge owners bent on upgrading to buy its own HD25 DAC, the company stresses that all H300 owners can continue to take advantage of its re-clocking circuitry by connecting any quality DAC to the H300’s digital output. Holter explained that the DAC loop has a high-quality SPDIF reclocker circuit that removes jitter from all digital inputs so that the H300 can be used as a stand-alone reclocker with any audio system. He adds that “the beauty of the H300 reclocking is that when feeding the reclocked SPDIF signal to the coax input of an external DAC you will reduce the complete system digital jitter to as low levels as possible.” [I heard a demo of the H300 used as a reclocking device and can report that it improves the sound as claimed.—RH]

The sonic character of the H300 is strictly neutral. Neutral, that is, in the sense that even the most minor tonal colorations or electronic detritus common to many amplifiers simply don’t materialize. There’s certainly no grit or grain. If you’re looking for a plush midrange warmth, some extra push in the bass, a golden bloom in the upper mids, or even a burst of sparkle in the treble, the H300 won’t be your ride. Hegel’s approach is holistic but no-nonsense—opening a transparent, harmonious window of sound. And neutral doesn’t imply dull by any means. For the H300 neutrality is merely the platform to exhibit a pristine lack of distortion, superb edge definition, and micro-dynamic liveliness.

What the Hegel possesses in spades is the ability to reproduce the source material from an exquisitely low noise floor without compression, constriction, and transient distortions, in essence releasing music openly, rather than bullying it into submission. So to my ears, during Elgar’s Enigma Variations from the new Reference Recording disc [RR129], a snare drum thwack and a bass drum or tympani thwump never sounds cut off or artificially controlled at the resonant end of the note. It lingers as long as it can before it’s swallowed by the silence of the hall. And equally defined is the timbre of wind instruments, notably flutes, which is reproduced in a remarkably lifelike manner and always with the appropriate halo of surrounding air.

The H300 provided a wide luscious soundstage during Dire Straits’ “Private Investigations” from Love Over Gold [Warmer], a track brimming with sound cues large and small. I was especially taken by the dynamic breadth of the performance, from the CinemaScope-styled drum fills emerging from somewhere approximating the center of the Earth to the delicacy of the nylon-stringed guitar, marimba accents, and scratchy soles beneath the intermittently appearing footsteps. The sudden turn of a doorknob and a kitten’s mewing, noises I’ve heard dozens of times, still send shivers down my spine.

Turning to the DAC, I felt it produced a startling, focused sound without the sensation of phasiness or smearing of stage and image information that has often accompanied DACs in this segment. Images were detailed and discrete yet possessed of a natural ambient connection with adjoining images on the soundstage. Like some of the elite DACs the H300 digital section suggests more than a hint of analog-like warmth, dimension, and continuity, a richer flow of information. On Jennifer Warnes’ “Song For Bernadette” [Impex] there’s plenty of image elbow room, the overall impression being one of expansiveness rather than clutter, right down to the very last element of reverb echo.

How does this compare to the USB/ DAC section aboard the mbl Corona C31, a $9200 player? It’s awfully close, but fair is fair. The mbl is more convincingly realistic on Holly Cole’s cover of “I Can See Clearly.” And it has more warmth and a stronger sense of dimensionality and physicality. Still, the H300 is excellent by any yardstick I’ve encountered thus far.

I listened initially to the H300 primarily with digital sources, reserving LP playback for the latter stages of this review. And as expected my turntable rig plus the H300’s superior analog circuitry and low noise floor served as a stunning reminder that, as inspired as the performance of Hegel’s digital section is, the LP remains ensconced as stubbornly as ever in the playback throne. As I listened to the glorious Athena LP pressing of the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances the dimensionality, tonal ripeness, and bloom that were hinted at but not fully developed in digital playback were restored. This was most especially the case with massed strings, as a distinct sweetness and a sense of individuation spread across the section from front to back.

As a testament to the high-level performance of the Hegel H300, only a benchmark integrated amp like the considerably more costly Vitus Audio RI- 100 ($13,000) can help define the H300’s modest limits. The H300, by comparison, doesn’t have quite the same expansive soundstage as the Vitus, nor does it image quite as discretely. Vocals have a little less air and the resonance of piano soundboards is less palpable. The bass line vamp that introduces “I Can See Clearly” becomes less distinct as the song progresses. Toss the Vitus into the mix and the acoustic atmosphere of the Rachmaninoff thickens, the soundstage widens and deepens. Still the H300 cuts the margin of these differences awfully fine—coming so close to the Vitus at times that it’s scary.

In fact, no matter how you cut it, the Hegel has got it all going on, as an unbiased transporter for music reproduction or in its sophisticated connectivity or in its forward thinking philosophy or sheer value. The greatest tribute I can pay the H300 is at once understated yet in its way an overwhelming affirmation: In all the hours I spent with this amp, I never wanted to shut it off. Ever. It represents the high end at its most rewarding.

SPECS & PRICING

Power output: 250Wpc into 8 ohms
Analog inputs: Five RCA, one balanced, three unbalanced plus HT bypass
Digital inputs: Two coaxial SPDIF, two optical, USB
Outputs: One preamp, one coaxial
Dimensions: 17″ x 4.7″ x 15″
Weight: 55 lbs.
Price: $5500

Hegel Music Systems, USA
(641) 209-3210
hegel.com

Associated Equipment
Sota Cosmos Series IV turntable; SME V tonearm; Sumiko Palo Santos, Air Tight PC-3; Parasound JC 3 phono; Synergistic Element Tungsten/ CTS , Wireworld Platinum interconnect & speaker cables; AudioQuest Coffee USB & Firewire, Synergistic Tesla & Audience au24 phono & powerChord, Wireworld Platinum power cords

Tags: FEATURED HEGEL

Neil Gader

By Neil Gader

My love of music largely predates my enthusiasm for audio. I grew up Los Angeles in a house where music was constantly playing on the stereo (Altecs, if you’re interested). It ranged from my mom listening to hit Broadway musicals to my sister’s early Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Beatles, and Stones LPs, and dad’s constant companions, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the British Invasion, I immediately picked up a guitar and took piano lessons and have been playing ever since. Following graduation from UCLA I became a writing member of the Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theater Workshops in New York–working in advertising to pay the bills. I’ve co-written bunches of songs, some published, some recorded. In 1995 I co-produced an award-winning short fiction movie that did well on the international film-festival circuit. I was introduced to Harry Pearson in the early 70s by a mutual friend. At that time Harry was still working full-time for Long Island’s Newsday even as he was writing Issue 1 of TAS during his off hours. We struck up a decades-long friendship that ultimately turned into a writing gig that has proved both stimulating and rewarding. In terms of music reproduction, I find myself listening more than ever for the “little” things. Low-level resolving power, dynamic gradients, shadings, timbral color and contrasts. Listening to a lot of vocals and solo piano has always helped me recalibrate and nail down what I’m hearing. Tonal neutrality and presence are important to me but small deviations are not disqualifying. But I am quite sensitive to treble over-reach, and find dry, hyper-detailed systems intriguing but inauthentic compared with the concert-going experience. For me, true musicality conveys the cozy warmth of a room with a fireplace not the icy cold of an igloo. Currently I split my time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Studio City, California with my wife Judi Dickerson, an acting, voice, and dialect coach, along with border collies Ivy and Alfie.

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