““Nothing great in the world was accomplished without passion.“”

— One of the most famous quotes from the German Philosopher, Hegel.

Suffice to say, this Hegel HD600 feels solid, crafted, and with a meaty sound philosophy. Hegel has been on our radar here at Audio T Bristol for a while. Bill at Auden Distribution has been impressing the visitors to the Bristol Hi-Fi Show for many years.

We are really pleased to have Hegel here for our customers.

History

The story begins in 1988. Bent Holter, a student at the Technical University in Trondheim (NTNU), decided to do a thesis on the original design of the transistor used in amplifiers. He was aiming to cure the Hi-Fi world of distortion. No one can doubt the young Holter’s ambition. After many years, and R&D investment, the breakaway from classical amplifier design was completed and patented in the early 1990s with the SoundEngine Technology that still exists today. Like any self-respecting student looking to pull, increase street cred and get free beers, Holter was in a rock band — the name of which was Hegel.

Hegel HD600

HD600 is Hegel’s reference integrated amplifier — 303 watts in 8 ohms, a damping factor of 4000, and 2 ohms drive capability. The amplifier is a dual mono design, the preamplifier has a precise volume attenuator found in their reference P30A amplifier.

The onboard DAC is a bit-perfect design, with no upsampling or resampling. It has a large, dedicated power supply that ensures uncontaminated and stable performance. This design is then thoroughly shielded by a thick steel plate, so there is no interference from other electronics inside the amplifier.

The design is pure Nordic Noir, Scandi minimalism. At 22kg, this is quite a beast, with thick, pin-accurate machined panelling, perfectly finished. Obviously, having a power switch on the front would upset the aesthetic of two control knobs (input/menu select and volume), so it’s located underneath the front panel. A large lozenge affair, that gives a reassuring clunk when brought to life.

Round the back, left and right mono channels are about as far apart as you can get, without disappearing around the sides. There is huge spacing between connections and quite an array of digital and analogue inputs.

Specifications:

Analog inputs: 2 x Balanced (XLR), 2 x Unbalanced (RCA)

Digital outputs: 1 x Coaxial (BNC) S/PDIF - 24/192

Digital inputs: 1 x Coaxial (BNC) S/PDIF - 24/192, DSD64 (DoP), MQA 8x; 1 x Coaxial (RCA) S/PDIF - 24/192, DSD64 (DoP), MQA 8x; 3 x Optical S/PDIF - 24/96, MQA 8x; 1 x USB - 32/384, DSD256 (DoP), MQA 8x; 1 x Network - 24/192, DSD64, MQA 8x

Line level outputs: 1 x Unbalanced fixed (RCA), 1 x Unbalanced variable (RCA)

Streaming: Spotify Connect, AirPlay, Google Cast, Roon Ready, Tidal Connect, Airable Internet Radio and Podcast, UPnP, JPLAY Certified

Streaming formats: MP3, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, DSF, DFF, AAC, PCM, MQA, Ogg

The clever digital link ability allows for the connection of the Hegel D50 dedicated external DAC — outputting from the BNC and back into a selected input. A very significant feature and a great upgrade.

Setup

Sometimes it is quite refreshing to just plug in an integrated and hang a couple of speakers off it, knowing that the system has an amazing DAC, fully network connected with Roon, Qobuz Connect and other streaming services. The Hegel control app for iPad worked seamlessly and another lesson to others in minimalist true functionality.

This powerhouse of an amplifier can drive any speaker with confidence and ease. To begin with we tried the Acoustic Energy Coriniums, moving onto the ATC SCM40, SCM50. But a very interesting phenomenon developed. This amplifier really got into its stride powering the ATC SCM100. These beasts, with the active modules containing 350W, in passive crossover mode only the Hegel H600 could grab hold and really show what these speakers can do.

The ever-evolving Audio T Bristol Hi-Fi Experience Qobuz playlist got a real hammering this time, because the Hegel was able to really get hold of the most challenging tracks and still provided real energy and beauty without too much edginess.

Conclusion

The Hegel H600 is an exceptional integrated amplifier — effortless at any volume. The DAC can easily rival many excellent external DACs. The H600 isn’t cheap, but to find another combination of integrated amplifier and DAC, whether as one or two units, that could outperform it would be a very difficult task.

Hegel is a welcome addition here in Bristol and as always — book an audition and hear for yourself.

Thanks for reading!

Justin, Max & Paul - Audio T Bristol

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