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Hegel Music Systems V10 Phonostage

Hegel Music Systems V10 Phonostage

“A Hegel phonostage? Nah!” That’s what I thought for years—with good reason. Hegel has never produced a phonostage before now, even though the vinyl renaissance has been underway for years. In fact, Hegel’s chief designer Bent Holter told me he could not envision making one when I asked him about it a few years ago. In a typically Norwegian way of considering his answer carefully before speaking (Hegel is based in Oslo), and I am paraphrasing here, Holter said something like: “Ja….well…we are more oriented towards digital sources. They fit well with our amplification products.”

So, what changed Holter’s mind and led to the creation of the V10 solid-state phonostage under review here? According to VP of Sales and Marketing Anders Ertzeid, the long-standing resurgence of vinyl in general, and in Norway in particular, prompted Holter to enter the phonostage waters. At first, various other projects and deadlines apparently delayed what would become the V10, but once he got started on it, Holter apparently went into deep dive mode. “He was practically lost for us and just worked on the phonostage, saying he had not had so much fun in many many years.” According to Ertzeid, it was initially supposed to be a “simple, inexpensive thing…you know, just op-amps and a small chassis.” It turned out, Holter spent months working on getting the gain stages and other aspects of his design to perform to his then-revised higher acceptance level. Ertzeid added, “So, the V10 is really a product of passion, inspired by Bent’s deep knowledge of transistor design. In many ways it is engineered like typical $3000–$4000 phonostages, with fully discrete first gain stages. But with a simpler casing.”

With that, let me get right down to the business of the V10’s performance. This is one honey of a $1500 phonostage. I did not have access to other phonostages near the V10’s price, but I am willing to aver that it delivers elevated sound quality in relation to its price based on my extended experience with the following phono preamps: Benz Micro Lukaschek PP-1 T9 ($1800), Ayre P-5 ($2500), and my current reference, the Simaudio Moon 610LP ($7500). My speculation follows this path: The Ayre P-5 performed better than the Benz PP-1 T9; the Simaudio 610LP performed a lot better than the Ayre P-5; and the Hegel V10 performed better than I expected compared to my Simaudio 610LP. Ergo, the Hegel V10 will most likely stack up very well against other phonostages in its price range, and possibly against some units priced above it, as well.

Hegel Music Systems V10 Phonostage

“While not in the same overall performance zone as the Simaudio 610LP, the Hegel V10 performs so well in comparison to the much more expensive 610LP as to be encouraging in a atmosphere of Audiophile skepticism and often justifiable resentment about audio equipment pricing.” Just as the $7500 Simaudio 610LP acquitted itself marvelously when compared to the substantially more expensive Constellation Revelation Series Andromeda ($23,000 as I reviewed it in 2019), so, too, the Hegel V10 sounded better than it should have in direct comparison to the five-times-more-expensive 610LP. In my setup, the V10 had a similar bandwidth, similar timbral qualities, and similar musicality. (Some of this impression comes from the two ’stages being evaluated in the same system, of course, but that was also the case when I switched from the Benz Lukaschek PP-1 TP to the Ayre P-5 and from the Ayre P-5 to the Simaudio.) Sure, the 610LP did everything better, notably in areas such as resolution, soundstaging, imaging, and dynamics, but (and I consider it a significant but) the V10 sounded, overall, remarkably like the 610LP—surely closer than it should have given the price gap.

Rather than automatically resenting high audio-gear prices in all instances—as seems to be the case among some enthusiasts—I actually take heart when I encounter an obvious increase in performance from much more expensive gear. The aforementioned $23,000 Constellation Andromeda is a high-performing phonostage and is clearly in an elevated class. It validates the unspoken agreement between audio gear makers and their customers. Namely, if you pay more, you should get more. Unfortunately, this tacit agreement does not always play out—in my opinion. Much of what one considers to be “more” has, of course, a highly subjective element to it. Also, whether the incremental increase in performance is worth the often-drastic increase in price is, understandably, a sore spot among many audiophiles. This discontent is fairly common, even though most of us acknowledge that above a certain performance level, price-to-gained-performance is generally not linear, and price trends upward in a steeper curve. The converse, the lower-priced/high-value proposition, stirs my audio enthusiasm more, and the V10 is a good example of this. While it is not up to the performance level of some of the most expensive phonostages, it certainly delivers a lot of performance at a very reasonable price. To simply assert that the V10 represents a great value does not really do it justice. The V10 deserves better, and so I will try to give it its due.

The V10 had a marvelously musically engaging quality in my system. It sort of made it difficult for me to stay focused on analyzing standard “audiophile parameters” like tonal neutrality, dynamic range, resolution of detail, imaging, etc. It seemed to guide my attention to the flow, the thrust, the mood in the music, rather than to its various separate sonic qualities. Mind you, the V10 covers the mentioned audiophile categories pretty darn well, but the V10’s design seems to prioritize the appropriate proportion and integration of musically important elements over spotlighting particular sonic aspects. To me, this is indicative of a fairly high level of technical sophistication in its engineering. Usually, a less accomplished design has some element that seems to be inconsistent with its overall performance—such as an uneven tonal balance or a frequency zone that has higher resolution than the rest of the spectrum.

If the V10 has a sonic characteristic as such, it is an even handed, fairly high level of resolution of details across its entire bandwidth. I heard lots of nuance in all sorts of music, from vocalists’ lip and chest sounds to instrument string and body sounds. Spatial details like image location and hall reflections were rendered admirably. The V10 strikes a nice balance among leading-edge details, resonant fullness, and the trailing tails of notes. 

While overall resolution is good, the V10’s main forte is its ability to weave musical elements together convincingly. The V10 immersed me in the various pieces of music as performances rather than as exercises in electronic reproduction. Especially at this price level, this is a more rewarding effect—if you ask me—than a more spot-lit, analytical presentation. LP after LP, I just listened contentedly through the V10, even though I could have easily switched over to my Simaudio 610LP.

Bass notes were extended, solid, and defined in pitch. The top end was open, natural sounding, and non-fatiguing. The midrange blended seamlessly with the whole. Again, this kind of frequency-spectrum analysis was sort of relegated to the background, other than when I was trying to verify that everything sounded extended, well-balanced, and served all kinds of music well. The Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Stings, and Tympani [Martinon, Erato] had a good deal of the grand sweep of an organ and orchestra in a large hall that gives this recording a wonderful sense of drama. The V10 also showed how some of the forte passages in the upper registers of the violins could sound a bit steely, which I have come to recognize is part of the recording. One of my guilty-pleasure 1980s bands, Scritti Politti, on the extended 12″ 45rpm version (featuring Miles Davis, no less) of the song Oh Patti (Don`t Feel Sorry For Loverboy) had the drive and slam I am familiar with, along with the over-cooked studio reverb that was pretty much standard practice on this sort of pop back in 1988. So, the V10 has enough bass weight, dynamic thrust, and resolution of detail across its bandwidth to present the good and the not-so-good parts of recordings, which is pretty much what I would want in a phonostage—as much of the truth as is feasible for the price.

Soundstaging and imaging were also quite good. Soundstage, in particular, impressed me as being wider and laterally more continuous than I anticipated at this price level. Depth and height were also rendered well. The V10 put all three dimensions together into a viable soundscape. Individual images were well proportioned and had a notable level of heft and “physical presence”—something analog sources seem to have in greater abundance than similarly priced digital front ends.  

Hegel set out to make a better phonostage at the $1500 price point by using ultra-low-noise discrete JFET transistors that are hand-matched, instead of op-amps, for the inputs. The input section has four such transistors connected in parallel to aid in reducing noise, which is, per Hegel, important when using sensitive low-output mc cartridges. This also apparently blocks “any bias current feedback to the cartridge coil.” “From there, the signal is fed to amplifier circuits, “where both the mm and the mc gain stages use ultra-low-noise power supplies built with discrete bipolar transistors to keep the signal noise at a minimum.” The circuits are powered by a “linear, low-noise, analog AC-power supply”. This features a large, custom design, E-core transformer, placed in its own housing to eliminate all possibility of interference.”

The DC power supply separation from the signal circuits within the chassis is cleverly executed. The power supply section is housed in the front of the chassis, while the signal circuits are housed in the back. The two sub-enclosures are separated from each other by a 2.5″ by 4.75″ gap that is visible from the bottom of the chassis. The supplied power cord inserts into two round jacks in the power supply section of the chassis, accessed from that gap underneath the enclosure. The power cord clears the vertical space between the bottom of the chassis and its supporting shelf. (It is so flexible it can be routed in any direction away from the V10—to the right or left sides, to the back or front as needed.) The other end of the power cord has a large “wall-wart” AC power plug. This plug is large enough to crowd out receptacle space for other power cords on a power conditioner or a wall outlet. When I asked Hegel if it had considered a different approach, perhaps one that extended the “wart box” away from the wall plug with a 1.5-foot length of cord a la many computer cords, Anders Ertzeid told me that Hegel chose to stick with the captured wall wart because the design performed very well, and going a different route would have raised cost to an unacceptable level. 

I sincerely hope that Bent Holter and his team design a more upscale, higher-performing phonostage in the future—not only because I think they have a great foundation for further development in the V10, but also because they could use the opportunity to try an IEC power-cord receptacle for standard aftermarket power cords—and the attendant performance gains they afford. 

The V10 is pretty straightforward to use and appears to be well made. Its chassis is considered to be “half-width” (8.3″ actually) and is about 2.4″ high and 11″ deep, so it should be easy to place in a typical system. It offers a decent range of impedance, capacitance, gain, and subsonic-filter settings, most of which are adjusted via piano-style DIP switches on the back panel. (Please see the setting options in this review’s Specs & Pricing section.) The DIP switches must be set independently per channel and are arranged in a mirror-imaged configuration. I found this to be a bit awkward, at first, but I got used to it. (Some mc impedance and additional gain settings must be done via jumpers inside the chassis, though I did not need to use them for my setup.) I suppose the mirror-imaged DIP switch arrangement is another thing I hope Hegel will change if it creates another phonostage. All the connectors (XLR, RCA, and grounding post) appear to be of high quality. The manual is informative and easy to follow, and both the manual and chassis have charts for all the DIP-switch settings.

Conclusion

The Hegel V10 is a worthy first phono preamp from a company known for its well-engineered integrated amps and DACs. It is more than a capable “starter” phonostage; it is a relatively high-performing one at a very reasonable price. It should be easy to integrate into a typical audiophile system because of its user-friendly size, clever power-cord deployment, and flexible range of cartridge loading and gain settings. The V10 is a highly musical phonostage that resolves fine details, honors tonal colors, and allows the dynamic life in music to breathe at levels that belie the unit’s modest price. On a personal level, I enjoyed my time with the V10, even though I had access to a much more expensive and accomplished phonostage. Recommended.

Specs & Pricing

Gain: XLR mm: 40dB/45dB/50dB/52dB; XLR mc: 60dB/65dB/70dB/72dB; RCA mm: 34dB/39dB/44dB/46dB; RCA mc: 54dB/59dB/64dB/66dB
Loading: MC, 33-to-550 ohm or 47k ohm; mm, 47k ohms, 100pF/147pF/220pF/247pF/320pF/420pF/ 467pF
Inputs: One unbalanced
Outputs: One balanced (XLR), one unbalanced (RCA)
Dimensions: 8.3″ x 2.4″ x 11″
Weight: 4.9 lbs. (2.2 kg)
Price: $1500

HEGEL MUSIC SYSTEMS USA
Fairfield, IA
(413) 224-2480
hegel.com
usa@hegel.com

Associated Equipment
Analog source: Basis Debut V turntable & Vector 4 tonearm, Benz-Micro LP-S MR cartridge
Phonostage: Simaudio Moon 610LP
Digital sources: Hegel Mohican CDP, HP Envy 15t running JRiver MC-20, Hegel HD30 DAC
Linestages: Ayre K-1xe, Hegel P30, Constellation Audio Virgo III
Integrated amplifier: Hegel H390
Power amplifiers: Gamut M250i, Hegel H30
Speakers: YG Acoustics Sonja 2.2, Dynaudio Confidence C1 Signature
Cables: Shunyata Sigma V2 signal cables, Shunyata Sigma USB, Shunyata Alpha S/PDIF and AES/EBU, Shunyata Sigma NR and Omega XC power cords
A/C power: Two 20-amp dedicated lines, Shunyata SR-Z1 receptacles, Shunyata Everest 8000 and Typhon power conditioners
Accessories: PrimeAcoustic Z-foam panels and DIY panels, Stillpoints Ultra SS

Tags: AMPLIFIER HEGEL PHONOSTAGE

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