Audio Show Deluxe 2024

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The recent Audio Show Deluxe was another enjoyable weekend, thank you to everyone who visited and took the time to listen to our system and the cable demo.

 

Combining a relaxed and unhurried vibe, the show built on the success of the 2023 inaugural event. Plenty of quality audio systems to experience and as part of that we had 2 great demo areas. A nice big system in Hockenheim room, and a smaller system in room Syndicate 10.

 

The big system was so enjoyable and easy to listen to, just as it was last year. The Hegel P30A and 2 H30A pre/ powers combination was the heart of the system, feeding into the extremely capable EgglestonWorks Viginti loudspeakers. It was fed by both the Hegel Viking CD player directly into the preamp, and an Innuos Statement NG fed through the Merason DAC1mkII. The system was completely cabled with Audiomica and power products and isolation provided by MusicWorks. It had authority, was dynamic and detailed, all without straying into harshness, very coherent and rhythmic, an excellent combination garnering many positive comments.

We also gave a sneak peek of a new brand we are introducing to the UK this year, Luphonic turntables.

The smaller system was Hegel H600 and Viking driving EgglestonWorks OSO. Again Audiomica cables with power and isolation provided by MusicWorks. This room was used by Marcin from Audiomica to introduce the brand and carry out comparative dems. We had many positive comments about this room too, it was great to be able to show how good Audiomica cables are.

 

Overall, a great weekend playing music on a superb system, and showcasing our favourite cable brand.

 

Audio Show Deluxe is shaping up nicely to be an important part of the audio show calendar.

Barnstorming Hegel H600

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The H600 is just now hitting the dealers in the UK and surprising quite a few of them with just how good it is. A replacement for the H590 it is quite difficult to explain just how good this amplifier is. When the H590 was released in 2018 it was new territory for Hegel. Now playing in a new area of the market it did a great job and showed that the brand can play at higher levels than the well loved H360. Then when H39o was released I was a bit troubled by some comments in the press about it being almost as good as the H590. Listening to the 2 models as the heart of a good revealing system proves what I always knew, the H590 was massively better than the H390. I get that a H390 might be all the amplifier you need, we must also remember very few people have bottomless pits of money so you get the best you can justify financially. However the “save your money and get the H390” narrative in some quarters was completely misguided in my opinion.

Having said how much I rated the H590 it was quite the surprise when I heard how much better the H600 is. Performance is way better than it’s price point suggests and I would not like to guess how much you would need to spend to equal it, let alone better it. I have yet to find a loudspeaker it does’t drive and grip, combine this with an ease of power delivery and an understanding of the subtle nuances of music performance rather than smacking you between the ears and you have a fabulous product. Barnstorming when needed, subtly beautiful when needed, and everything in between. Superb.

There a number of reviews around and the latest from the ear.net kind of sums up my thoughts. https://the-ear.net/review-hardware/hegel-h600-has-got-the-power/

If you want to audition the H600 or any other Hegel products the UK dealer list is here

See you at North West Audio Show!

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The weekend of June 17th 18th is the North West Audio Show, this will see our second big room appearance at audio shows this year. In March we had a great time at Audio Show Deluxe and we are expecting NWAS to be just as much fun.
At this year’s show we have several firsts from our brand partners across 2 rooms.
In the Bell Suite, just beyond the bar area, we have our main system and display area. Source will be an Innuos statement. This system will feature the new Amphion Krypton 3X, the first time in the UK following its recent release, we have had amazing results from the previous version here, so we are looking forward to hearing these.
To power them we are using the superb Hegel P30A and H30A pre and power amplifier. This is the first time we are using this combination at a public show and as with the Amphion, we are keen to hear these together.
Just as we have done for more than a decade, we will be wiring the system with Audiomica cables, with power products from MusicWorks. For many years we have also used isolation from MusicWorks, and this year is not going to be an exception. We will also be using their AcouPlex furniture which is a very exciting development from the company.
The DAC we are using is the Merason Audio DAC1 mkII, and this is the first show for us as the official distributor of the brand. We have been very impressed with how this unit performs so it will be good to hear it with the Hegel and Amphion combination.
On display we will have the range of Hegel integrated amplifiers and the Amphion Argon range. You will also be able to get up close to the magnificent EgglestonWorks Viginti, alongside the Nico and OSO.
The weather is forecast to be warm so the space we have and the doors being open make the Bell suite a nice place to listen to some good music on a very good system.
This year we also have a bigger second dem space, room 121. There we have a first at a UK show combination. The CAAS audio pre and 2 mono amplifiers, beautifully made hand made in the UK these are very listenable electronics.

They will be driving the EgglestonWorks Emma EVO, the first time we have used these at a show in the UK. Last year we had the Viginti in the main system and the Emma EVO derives a lot from the technologies and techniques debuted on that model. Fed by a Rega P8/Apheta 3 via a Hegel V10 it will sound great.
Audiomica and MusicWorks provide the cables, power products, and isolation, as always.
With these 2 great sounding systems, we are looking forward to the show, and whilst we understand It can be difficult to pass through the bar, please do as it is definitely worth it!

V10 Hifi+ Review

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The latest issue of highly regarded HiFi+ magazine features a review of the Hegel V10 phono stage. This is the latest in a series of positive reviews for the product from many quarters, this one being from respected long term reviewer Jason Kennedy. You can read it via this link  V10 HIFI+192 Hegel_LR 

They should be arriving at the UK Hegel dealers at the end of February, you can find your nearest here .

Hegel gets into the groove

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Hegel have announced their latest product, the V10 phonostage.

Designed in house from the ground up rather than using off the shelf components, the V10 is pure Hegel and utilises some clever and bespoke technologies. Just as with the award-winning Hegel amplifiers, everything is designed and engineered to make the music sound as good as possible.

The chassis is divided into two compartments, physically separating the power supplies from the sensitive amplification circuitry, and there is simply no detectable interference between the two parts. For the best possible connection, the V10 is fitted with gold-plated terminals, balanced XLR outputs, and a solid custom grounding screw. On the all-important input stage, Hegel have used ultra-low-noise discrete JFET transistors for both the Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) input. Eliminating external noise is especially important when using sensitive low output MC cartridges, that is why they have fitted the MC input with four such transistors connected in parallel making the input completely silent and stopping any bias current feedback to the cartridge coil.

The input signal feeds into equally silent 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, this ensures an extremely accurate amplification of the input signal coming from the turntable. To make sure the V10 gets the best operating conditions, it is supplied with a linear, low noise, analog AC-power supply. This power supply features a large, custom design, E-core transformer, placed in its own housing to eliminate all possibility of interference.

The V10 is not designed only for vinyl elites but for everybody to enjoy, so out of the box it is configured as an excellent plug and play MM preamplifier. For many, this is exactly what they want and need, but some want even more so the V10 highly optimisable, catering to individual preferences and requirements in set up.

The V10 is adjustable for any MM and MC cartridge. When using a MM cartridge, you can freely increase the Capacitance between 100 and 467 pF and when using a MC cartridge, the impedance can be set freely between 33 and 550 ohms or fixed at 47 kohm. On both MM and MC, the gain can be increased by 5, 10 or 12 dB, matching the output of your other sources, the V10 even has a Subsonic Filter to remove unwanted low frequency noise. And at the end of the night, when the listening session takes you way past bedtime and you forget to turn off the V10, the adjustable auto standby function does that for you.

Look out for the reviews to appear soon, I’ll post links below as I get them. The reviews will make interesting reading as the V10 is a tremendous product. Shipping will begin mid-February but dealers are taking orders now.

Read more on the Hegel Website.

Hifi Pig Review

Hegel Video

 

H95 compared to H90

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Following the glowing reviews across lots of media since it was released a few days ago, we have been asked about the difference between the new Hegel H95 and the outgoing model. It is a logical question which Anders from Hegel answers in this video. Anders H95 H90 Video

New Hegel H95 and initial reviews

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Hegel have introduced the H95, a replacement for the successful entry level H90. Improvements include the addition of a much improved digital section along with Spotify connect and more stable upnp but despite these benefits the price point of the outgoing model has been maintained. The H95 has a UK retail of £1500 inc vat. you can read more about it on the Hegel website here.

The new model will be shipping early September and UK dealers are taking orders now.

There have been a number of online reviews published so far links are below

HiFi Pig – UK

Stereonet – UK

Soundstage – UK

Alpha Audio – Netherlands Eng translation available

Lyd and Bilde – Scandinavia

 

 

Hegel H95 on Stereonet

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David Price at Stereonet takes a listen to the new Hegel H95, you can read his thoughts here.

 

H95 New Hegel entry model impresses at HiFi Pig

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In one of the first published reviews of the new Hegel H95, Alan McIntosh on HiFi Pig is very impressed, you can read it here.

Shipping early September, dealers are now taking pre-orders. Hegel UK Dealerlist