Hegel H30 - Does anyone own one or at least heard it? ....

What do you guys mean when you say neutral? Are you speaking of frequency range or coloration? All electronics will color the sound in one way or the other, Some brands just more than other brands. Not many brands are completely neutral in the frequency range either.
 
Hi David,

For me, when I say neutral, I mean coloration. I'd say the H30 colors slightly on the warmer side of neutral with a meaty tone, which I love. I think Bruce's current setup with the C500T and H30 is a wonderful balance of tone and warmth without being too much. I can't wait to hear it again.
 
Does anyone happen to know the H30's gain? I was wondering if it would pair with my exaSound well but I couldn't find anything in the manual or the specs on the official site.
 
Input sensitivity is 1V for max volume, and it has 32dB gain.

joeinid said:
Hi David,

For me, when I say neutral, I mean coloration. I'd say the H30 colors slightly on the warmer side of neutral with a meaty tone, which I love. I think Bruce's current setup with the C500T and H30 is a wonderful balance of tone and warmth without being too much. I can't wait to hear it again.
Click to expand...
 
So I was going to wait for my son to come over this morning to help me lug the 120 lb H30 upstairs. But yesterday I thought, how bad can it be. I managed to get it out the back of my wife's SUV and box yesterday afternoon. Getting it up the stairs to the listening room was another story. Fortunately the window washer was in the foyer and I took the heavy end.

So I get it hooked up. The amp is probably 40 degrees cold from being in the back of the SUV overnite. Right out of the starting gate is was Nolo Contendere or "no contest" between my existing Parasound JC-1 Monoblocks and the H30.

It was like the Mike Tyson vs Leon Spinks fight. It only took me 90 seconds to figure out how much better it sounded. And by no small margin. It is distinctly better.

The JC-1's have been a perennial Stereophile Class A recommended amp for a number of years now. But the bass was much better defined, the bloom of the sound and the presence of instruments was much more lucid with the Hegel H30.

With an over nite warm up it sounds even better. So it looks like I'm going from two spaces in the rack to one with this stereo amp.

Thank you David for letting me demo it!
 
Congratulations Le Roy. I love mine and instantly knew it was a keeper. It has a full meat on the bone sound with tremendous 3D, depth and width. Way to go Hegel.
 
Odyssey said:
So I was going to wait for my son to come over this morning to help me lug the 120 lb H30 upstairs. But yesterday I thought, how bad can it be. I managed to get it out the back of my wife's SUV and box yesterday afternoon. Getting it up the stairs to the listening room was another story. Fortunately the window washer was in the foyer and I took the heavy end.

So I get it hooked up. The amp is probably 40 degrees cold from being in the back of the SUV overnite. Right out of the starting gate is was Nolo Contendere or "no contest" between my existing Parasound JC-1 Monoblocks and the H30.

It was like the Mike Tyson vs Leon Spinks fight. It only took me 90 seconds to figure out how much better it sounded. And by no small margin. It is distinctly better.

The JC-1's have been a perennial Stereophile Class A recommended amp for a number of years now. But the bass was much better defined, the bloom of the sound and the presence of instruments was much more lucid with the Hegel H30.

With an over nite warm up it sounds even better. So it looks like I'm going from two spaces in the rack to one with this stereo amp.

Thank you David for letting me demo it!
Click to expand...

I'm glad you heard the same things I hear with the H30, it plays so far above it's price range that it's not even funny. And the 3D soundstage is truly addicting !
 
joeinid said:
Congratulations Le Roy. I love mine and instantly knew it was a keeper. It has a full meat on the bone sound with tremendous 3D, depth and width. Way to go Hegel.
Click to expand...

so what was wrong with hegel h30 ?I don't see it now in your system now
 
Rimse said:
so what was wrong with hegel h30 ?I don't see it now in your system now
Click to expand...

Welcome Rimse, thank you for joining.

Nothing was wrong with it. I sold it to a friend who was begging for it. I took a detour and I am kicking myself ever since. I will most likely replace it, unless I try one of the new Twenty series Ayre amps.
 
Hi there,

I too am I an owner of MC601's. I was wondering what your experiences have been like after replacing the MC601 with the Hegel H30? I am looking at possibly doing the same thing.

Aleks.
 
Hi Aleks,

I loved my MC601'S when I had them. Any normal person would be satisfied, but there are differences. On the right speaker, the MC601's are wonderful. When you compare them side by side, the H30 is a much more lively and open presentation. There's more depth and width. Tighter bass and a more upfront 3D soundstage. If you like mellow smooth sound, the MC601's are hard to beat. If you want more of what a live performance gives you, the H30 is outstanding. My preference with the H30 is a speaker that is slightly laid back and reticent. The Hegel just takes control and wakes them up.
 
Thank you for the prompt reply! I have been thinking about replacing my Dynaudio Sapphire speakers for a while now with one of the Magico S3/Raidho/Scansonic speakers. I have been told that my MC601 may not be a perfect match with them, and that is why I am looking at replacing the 601s as well with a good solid state amp, possibly like the Hegel H30. I do find the MC601s somewhat soft sounding..
 
Hi,

I think Magico and McIntosh 601's could be great. Raidho and McIntosh is not good. I tried D1's and MC601's, I really didn't like it. When I tried my H30 on the D1's, it was amazing.

Matching amp and speakers is very important.
 
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