I've had a few hours with the H160 amp in my system at home, and it's deeply impressive. I expected better control compared to the Roksan, a more extended and controlled bass, and it does do that, but what I had not expected was the step change in detail. Not only detail as in the sense of hearing more instruments, or ebing able to hear double tracked vocals more easily; but the detail that renders the soundstage much more solidly.
The change from the M2 is bigger than I recall from the ATC amp that I demo'd last week, the D18s in my room / system sound much better than the D20R in the demo room, the lack of bass and shoutiness that I was getting has gone. I think that the search for a new amp has for the time being been satisfied, but this process is as ever a continuing journey; and good as the D18s are, they are just not big enough for the room.
I've made a mental note to listen to a pair of ATC SCM40 soon, as I suspect that their transparency and dynamic drive are going to suit my tastes, but this is a stage for later this year, and given the subtle variations in speakers I'm planning to demo a bigger range. As well as the ATC, I really should listen to the newer Spendors, I have fond memories of the S5e that I used to own
Back to the Hegel, the headphone amp output is comparable to the MF M1 amp, and the biggest surprise is the quality of the onboard DAC. It's also very easy to set up - no need to visit a website to download drivers, they are uploaded and installed automatically when you first connect the unit to a PC. There is then a chpoice of output modes: Direct Sound, WASAPI and Kernel Streaming. I've only tried WASAPI so far, which works without any problems playing from J River or from Spotify. To try to quantify the sound improvements, Spotify now sounds better than any FLAC or Hi Res tracks via the M2 in the mid and upper treble, which is normally the most compromised range when using lossy compressed formats. Lossless FLAC off J River is clearly better, and it still amazes me the quality of audio that is available from a properly set up computer as a source. If only it was glitch free (the gizmo app doesn't always want to communicate with the software, but I think that's an Android/Samsung issue), and occasionally I get duplicated albums for no obvious reason.
One of the other big advantages is that it replaces 3 boxes, I don't have much space on my rack, with the DAC already relegated to sitting on the floor next to the rest of the units; so it gets a very positive domestic approval.
The change from the M2 is bigger than I recall from the ATC amp that I demo'd last week, the D18s in my room / system sound much better than the D20R in the demo room, the lack of bass and shoutiness that I was getting has gone. I think that the search for a new amp has for the time being been satisfied, but this process is as ever a continuing journey; and good as the D18s are, they are just not big enough for the room.
I've made a mental note to listen to a pair of ATC SCM40 soon, as I suspect that their transparency and dynamic drive are going to suit my tastes, but this is a stage for later this year, and given the subtle variations in speakers I'm planning to demo a bigger range. As well as the ATC, I really should listen to the newer Spendors, I have fond memories of the S5e that I used to own
Back to the Hegel, the headphone amp output is comparable to the MF M1 amp, and the biggest surprise is the quality of the onboard DAC. It's also very easy to set up - no need to visit a website to download drivers, they are uploaded and installed automatically when you first connect the unit to a PC. There is then a chpoice of output modes: Direct Sound, WASAPI and Kernel Streaming. I've only tried WASAPI so far, which works without any problems playing from J River or from Spotify. To try to quantify the sound improvements, Spotify now sounds better than any FLAC or Hi Res tracks via the M2 in the mid and upper treble, which is normally the most compromised range when using lossy compressed formats. Lossless FLAC off J River is clearly better, and it still amazes me the quality of audio that is available from a properly set up computer as a source. If only it was glitch free (the gizmo app doesn't always want to communicate with the software, but I think that's an Android/Samsung issue), and occasionally I get duplicated albums for no obvious reason.
One of the other big advantages is that it replaces 3 boxes, I don't have much space on my rack, with the DAC already relegated to sitting on the floor next to the rest of the units; so it gets a very positive domestic approval.
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