Hi everyone, just a quick update for you all, over the weekend I placed my old equipment on for comparison( Magnum Power/ Nakamichi Pre/EE DAC) and to my amazement the old stuff was just so good I could barely tell the difference. I sat down and listened to a full album on the Hegel then transfered back to my old equipment, I repeated this many times with different music until I came up with a conclusion.
The conclusion is that the Hegel really is a very good amplifier, but I thought technology had moved on and I feel that it hasn't and that's just not fair.
Overall the Magnum combo had a clearer presentation and cleaner bass. The Hegels bass was very slightly deeper but if anything the bass was slightly cloudy which kinda interfered with the MIDs and uppers. I found a slight improvement on the Hegel when I used the EE DAC with the Hegel, it cleaned the bass up slightly.
I would say that I do prefer the Hegel overall but for £3400, its not for me. I believe company's need to focus on moving technology forward and I just don't think it going to happen.
I will be trying the Hegel vs Magnum again this weekend with a different set of speakers, it will be my final decision whether to send it back or not. It's such a shame because I like the convenience of the Hegel but for me sound quality for the right price come first for me.
P.S I nearly bought the H160 and if I did I feel it would have been two steps behind my Magnum.