CMPic
Established Member
I’ve been intrigued by the Hegel amps and thinking of upgrading my trusty Kandy K2 to one of these. I will probably buy used or ex-display as new they are quite pricey, making audition (esp. during lockdown!) difficult. Having had a look i've narrowed to these three but differences seem not easy to pick up on.
Hegel H90 (RRP £1500, released in 2017)
Seems to be an update to H80 but down in power to 60W per channel (from 75W for H80), probably to make room for the new H120 in the line-up. One reviewer claimed it has dedicated headphone amp, but H120 doesn't so I doubt that this is true for H90.
Hegel H120 (RRP £2200, released in 2019)
Successor to Rost (which came out after H80), seems to have Rost’s analog components but the DAC has been upgraded significantly. Rost already had SoundEngine Gen2 so no change there. H120 adds Spotify Connect and other streaming improvements over Rost. Compared to entry level H90, it has higher damping factor and more power but they are of the same physical dimensions. In a nutshell it's a Rost with a new DAC (same as in H190 and H360) and added streaming functionality...
Hegel H190 (RRP £3200, released in 2017)
Successor to H160 with SoundEngine Gen2 (vs Gen1 in H160). Power is the same at 150 per channel at 8 Ohms. Seems that DAC is upgraded, borrowing from H360. Compared to H120, it has more power obviously and has a dedicated headphone amp, but I don’t know if there are any other improvements. Again, sounds like H160 with a new DAC + streaming updates.
Now to the questions – Would H90 suffice for a small room running Spendor A5s (or A4/A7 if I was to upgrade). 60Watts is probably sufficient but it is slightly on the low side. Or shall I step up to H120 as a good middle ground? Would H190 be complete overkill or is there an improvement in sound even at low/moderate volumes over H120 or even H90? I don’t care about the headphone amp so one of the improvements in H190 vs H120 isn’t really a factor for me. H190 is quite dear even ex-display and H120 seems a bit more reasonably priced. The reviews seem to be good on all of them so not much help there... I suppose I could look at a used Rost but it doesn't have Spotify Connect which is quite handy.
If anyone has one one of these or have auditioned them, would be interested in your views.
Thanks.
Hegel H90 (RRP £1500, released in 2017)
Seems to be an update to H80 but down in power to 60W per channel (from 75W for H80), probably to make room for the new H120 in the line-up. One reviewer claimed it has dedicated headphone amp, but H120 doesn't so I doubt that this is true for H90.
Hegel H120 (RRP £2200, released in 2019)
Successor to Rost (which came out after H80), seems to have Rost’s analog components but the DAC has been upgraded significantly. Rost already had SoundEngine Gen2 so no change there. H120 adds Spotify Connect and other streaming improvements over Rost. Compared to entry level H90, it has higher damping factor and more power but they are of the same physical dimensions. In a nutshell it's a Rost with a new DAC (same as in H190 and H360) and added streaming functionality...
Hegel H190 (RRP £3200, released in 2017)
Successor to H160 with SoundEngine Gen2 (vs Gen1 in H160). Power is the same at 150 per channel at 8 Ohms. Seems that DAC is upgraded, borrowing from H360. Compared to H120, it has more power obviously and has a dedicated headphone amp, but I don’t know if there are any other improvements. Again, sounds like H160 with a new DAC + streaming updates.
Now to the questions – Would H90 suffice for a small room running Spendor A5s (or A4/A7 if I was to upgrade). 60Watts is probably sufficient but it is slightly on the low side. Or shall I step up to H120 as a good middle ground? Would H190 be complete overkill or is there an improvement in sound even at low/moderate volumes over H120 or even H90? I don’t care about the headphone amp so one of the improvements in H190 vs H120 isn’t really a factor for me. H190 is quite dear even ex-display and H120 seems a bit more reasonably priced. The reviews seem to be good on all of them so not much help there... I suppose I could look at a used Rost but it doesn't have Spotify Connect which is quite handy.
If anyone has one one of these or have auditioned them, would be interested in your views.
Thanks.
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