Hegel vs Pass - can anyone describe the differences?

Fair enough. Here's the old listening room...with my little performers. Current gear; KEF LS50, VPI traveller, Ortofon 2m black, Oppo 105, and leftover HT front end Parasound p7 and A23, Grover Huffman IC and cords.
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Upgrades since then - lumin T1, Magico S1's, Shunyata power cables, and the ordered Hegel H30. Panels by GIK
 
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Absolutely adorable! I bet you get a very solid center image with your daughter singing along to the music. The Hegel H30 should be a huge step up in performance, enjoy it!
 
Unfortunately I'm too late for audio preferences for the older one...she into the Disney artists and top 40 (the clean stuff). But my younger will sit and listen to my affectionately referedto "M" collections - Myles, Mingus, Mo (Keb), Morrison, and Meppelin. I may have cheated on one of those. But she still likes them :D
 
The pass is allot more neutral . I have the Xp-30 and 100.5 . , the Hegel at first seemed quicker to me and seemed to have a more open sound . But once I went to the xp-30 the 100.5 came to life . I was running the anniversary audio research and as crazy as it sounds it didn't do justice to the 100.5 . Apples to apples I would say the Heg while I can't say is better but would be my choice as it seemed to fit well with all my rigs and never tended to color anything or add anything tone wise .. But if you are running an XP-30 I would def suggest the pass amps , there's just something to love about that pairing . It is a way underpriced setup for the quality of sound .. Together they sound nothing like solid state to me but def not tube .. Of you end up leaning towards the pass let me know maybe I'll pawn mine off ;) , I'm itching to get the new .8 series
 
I personally think that the H30 will pair perfectly with your Magico speakers. The Hegel has a way of bringing much needed 'soul' to music. It's a very,very special amp !
 
I had a good chance to listen to the Hegel H30's last night and I still plan on doing the stereo vs mono test later this week. After about 6 hours, they were sounding damn good. I switched from the Classe CP800 preamp to the VAC Preamp and it was a different presentation: more roundness to the instruments, increased texture, vocals were more forward, etc. It was good evidence that tubes in the chain somewhere (if not everywhere! :) ) can produce some positive results.


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I won't tell. But a couple weeks ago, I hooked the Lumin straight into a Parasound A21 and i was shocked how good it was. Absolutely shocked.

bthomas9 said:
Thanks! I'm already enjoying them in a (very) less than ideal setup. Lumin direct into the Parasound A23...shh don't tell the audio gods.
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Thanks Mike , glad to see traffic picking up on here . Keep up the good work !
 
Mike said:
I had a good chance to listen to the Hegel H30's last night and I still plan on doing the stereo vs mono test later this week. After about 6 hours, they were sounding damn good. I switched from the Classe CP800 preamp to the VAC Preamp and it was a different presentation: more roundness to the instruments, increased texture, vocals were more forward, etc. It was good evidence that tubes in the chain somewhere (if not everywhere! :) ) can produce some positive results.


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Yah...but what speakers were you using Mr. Secretive?!?!?
 
Mike said:
Strads
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Hi mike, you have the Strads again? Btw, let me chip in my 2 cents worth. I was able to hear a direct comparison of the 100.5 vs H30 driving Dynaudio temptations. Preamp was a ref 5 SE. The Hegel was definitely faster, more open, and bass was tighter and better controlled. But I have to say I preferred the the warmer and more seductive midrange of the pure class A Pass amp. So it's really a matter of taste. At the end of the day though, both amps were, IMO, outperformed by the d'agostino monoblocs and the Krell 402e which my friend ended up buying to replace his XA 100's.
 
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