Yes. Normally audio gear is supposed to be plug and play without the consumer having to know such intricate details of amplifiers and pre-amps. Here you better check.
Also note that even if you have a sensitive power amp, the DAC has too high a noise to be a good source for it. It degrades the performance of the internal amplifier already so will do the same to external one.
Actually, under the "right" circumstances, the owner of the H95 would be worse off than not being able to use a more powerful amplifier. One of the audio products that has shown quite well at ASR (and other science oriented sites) are active speakers. There are so many excellent active speakers that would have been great to pair with a unit such as the H95 (i.e. all-in-one), but Hegel's engineering "decision" would limit its viability for many buyers (although clearly not to many others). It would have been nice if its performance approached the OPPO Sonica DAC....Tests like this hopefully is a forcing function so that future designs don't suffer the same. As it is, there is no way to use an external more powerful amplifier.
Heard one of these at a dealer with the smaller KEF Blade$$$ and pretty quickly said it sounded WAAAAY inferior to my old LS-50's driven with a March 452. Now I know why. Thanks Amirm.Oh, but Hegel + KEF = MAGIC! Or that's what I've read at least 100 times. ; )
You heard a H95 driving KEF Blades at a dealer?Heard one of these at a dealer with the smaller KEF Blade$$$ and pretty quickly said it sounded WAAAAY inferior to my old LS-50's driven with a March 452. Now I know why. Thanks Amirm.
The damping ratio figures quoted in the posting are direct from https://www.hegel.com/.Soundstage measured an average damping factor of ~400 for the H95 and max ~700 for the H590.
It follows the same order for all integrated amp reviews.This mediocre product does not need additional beating by the reviewer but it was delivered to it anyway. Why?
"DAC measurements", as worst set of results, was put first in the review, although it is much more Line Out driven into clipping measurements. Is that main function of this device?
I was gonna say it follows all products with a DAC, but the account has been around long enough to know that, I assumed.It follows the same order for all integrated amp reviews.
I purchased a H95 about 3 months ago. Auditioned in store on the same speakers I have at home (PMC Twenty5.22) and across the 3 amplifiers I was comparing it was my preference. I brought it home, hooked it up and was disappointed. The bass (which was lovely and full in store) seemed absent. I hooked up a Marantz Slimline AVR and it sounded better. Decided to give it some time and it improved massively and reached a point where I was very happy with it. In fact I now love it. I was always skeptical about burn in, but in this case it made a big difference. Since then it's had a lot of use and I've spent many an evening chilling out and thoroughly enjoying it.its clear now that Tarun is paid for his "reviews" by manufacturers so ive unsubscribed from his you Tube channel and that danny darko prick as well
Or if it was your ears that got used to the sound and over time burn-in?I was always skeptical about burn in, but in this case it made a big difference. Since then it's had a lot of use and I've spent many an evening chilling out and thoroughly enjoying it.
This is a good point and something Hegel should have taken into account. The development of better and cheaper class-D amplifiers and the relative ease of adding digital streaming capability to Your product have lead to increased interest in offering active speakers to consumers. This trend will likely continue, meaning that the ability to run Your integrated amplifier as a good pre-amp will be important to a larger client segment.Actually, under the "right" circumstances, the owner of the H95 would be worse off than not being able to use a more powerful amplifier. One of the audio products that has shown quite well at ASR (and other science oriented sites) are active speakers. There are so many excellent active speakers that would have been great to pair with a unit such as the H95 (i.e. all-in-one), but Hegel's engineering "decision" would limit its viability for many buyers (although clearly not to many others). It would have been nice if its performance approached the OPPO Sonica DAC.
You would not be able to hear any differences. The amplifier has awful 82db SINAD which means that any dac over 90db SINAD would be degraded into the same mess. That includes anything from 9$ dongles.I connected at least 5 different external DACs to my H120, e.g. the Denafrips Ares II and the Allo Boss2 Player. I could hear practically no differences. However, if I had found this forum 2 years ago, I would not have bought a Hegel amplifier...
To be honest I'll never know for sure. However I can say with reasonable certainty that after unboxing bass was lacking when compared to the Marantz AVR. Night and day difference. Comparing to the Marantz again several weeks later it did not exhibit the same issue. Speakers in the exact same position, same room etc. I'm not talking about impressions about tonality, soundstage etc, simply the presence of bass.Or if it was your ears that got used to the sound and over time burn-in?
Did you experience the same thing with your speakers, period of burn-in?
So to your logic H95 82 "awful" SINAD is not good enough for 800$ DAC and 120 000$ Simaudio Moon 888 (just an example out of many from the list)) with its 72 SINAD is good for an uber-expensive DACs that one would expect to pair with such an expensive amp? or you think you should connect Apple dongle to it as 72 should deserve according to you? Per Stereophile.com, it is a Class A amp with its 72 sinad, why all of a sudden 82 is "awful" for an entry level H95?You would not be able to hear any differences. The amplifier has awful 82db SINAD which means that any dac over 90db SINAD would be degraded into the same mess. That includes anything from 9$ dongles.
I do agree that DAC measurements at 2V do not mean a lot regarding H95 performance. Yet it is a valid measurement.
But Amir also measured 80db DAC before clipping levels which combined with the amplifier performance explains that 72db horrible performance with digital input.
If you experience it that way, you experience it that way. I do not take this experience away from you. However, I am a little skeptical that this would be the case. I think it's more about what I mentioned in my previous post.To be honest I'll never know for sure. However I can say with reasonable certainty that after unboxing bass was lacking when compared to the Marantz AVR. Night and day difference. Comparing to the Marantz again several weeks later it did not exhibit the same issue. Speakers in the exact same position, same room etc. I'm not talking about impressions about tonality, soundstage etc, simply the presence of bass.
As for the speakers I am the second owner and they had plenty of hours on them beforehand.
Subpar gear is subpar gear regardless of price.So to your logic H95 82 "awful" SINAD is not good enough for 800$ DAC and 120 000$ Simaudio Moon 888 (just an example out of many from the list)) with its 72 SINAD is good for an uber-expensive DACs that one would expect to pair with such an expensive amp? or you think you should connect Apple dongle to it as 72 should deserve according to you? Per Stereophile.com, it is a Class A amp with its 72 sinad, why all of a sudden 82 is "awful" for an entry level H95?
source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZlTOYxmPs938gqHjtDABkWS-MApu7uJjzIGnJ2Elm6Y/edit#gid=0
Also per this list, Amazon Link Amp with its 84 sinad seems to beat Hegel let alone Gryphon, Luxman, and many other great brands?
you are not serious, right? did you take a look at the many amps on that list that are "subpar"? Apple Dongle will not solve all your (and many others on this group as I can see) problems.Subpar gear is subpar gear regardless of price.
I'm not talking about impressions about tonality, soundstage etc, simply the presence of bass.