Great review, appreciate the in depth look at the circuit. I shopped based on where I stream from and landed on the NAD C388 so I could pull down from amazon. Little dated but man it punches hard and sounds great with the UB5 towers.

Gr8 review Jay! I love Hegel amps.

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

thank you !

Great review! Very detailed

Agree with Stuart Shuck. Hegel is amazing and I too love my Hegel h120. Use it with Monitor Gold 200 4g and the soundstage, the clarity, the base, the transparency....just fantastic.

@ToxiloGames

2 жыл бұрын

This is overpriced junk. Hegel got worse performance than some cheap chinese amps. Basically got slaughtered on audioscience-review. It did pretty ban on pretty much all measurments.

Thanks Jay. Very excited by this product. Was looking at the H120 but £ 1500 here in the UK for the H95 with the same DAC may be the one to go for (speakers are PMC Twenty 21s).

Thanks for the quick turnaround on a review of this product. I’ve been researching replacing my d7050, which is getting to be outdated, especially since it’s a frustrating early design attempt at a network friendly amp and have some basic flaws I’ve just had to live with. I also purchased this long before I upgraded from DALI bookshelf’s to my Elacs, which have a lot more demands from a power amp. Question 1: at only 60wpc do you think the H95 will run my Elac UB5 slims well? This amp ticks many boxes for me so that’s the only outstanding question I have before making the upgrade. Question 2; when you talk about the Apple TV 4K are you suggesting that you can run Apple Music natively using that input method, similar to how Spotify Connect devices will?

Hi! Jay, recently I was thinking about whether should I upgrade my integrated amp. I have the Marantz 6006PM integrates Amp to Hegel H95 or buy a pair of Rel T7i subwoofer. My speaker is Buchardt S300. I want to listen you advise. Thank you

Excellent review! A little observation. When reviewing the sound quality it is a unclear for me if you are evaluating the combination of DAC and amplifier or only the amplifier. This is quite important for many scandinavians because the h90 is half the price of the h95 at the moment. If you are already using an external DAC, the reduced price on the h90 might be a nice deal.

Good review, question is judging by Hegel's track record of the frequency of producing new models, will the Hegel H95 become an 'old' model in the near future..?

Just a bit of a correction. You can still use Roon, however with airplay as the endpoint/protocol. .Just not the RAAT protocol, which has many advantages over airplay.

@soundstagenetwork

3 жыл бұрын

That's true -- Roon will still work with it. But as you point out, and what's in both the video and written reviews, Roon won't see the H95 itself as an endpoint.

how does the H95 compare to the Schiit Ragnarok 2?

Correct me if I’m wrong but elsewhere I heard that the smaller T-Transformer is actually for holding the Amp while it is in ‘Eco’ mode (Standby) and not for the preamp + digital section.

Hey buddy, thanks for the great review. My question is, do you think the Hegel 95 will be able to drive the bookshelf ELAC Vela 403 to their full potential, or at least very close to that?

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

I think that the H120 will do a better job in a medium sized room but if you are in a relatively smaller room, the H95 can work as well.

How does the Hegel H90 or H95 compare to the Arcam SA-20 and SA-10. I have heard the Arcam SA-20 and thought it sounded very good for what it was, very punchy bass and well controlled, but I have never heard a Hegel product. If possible it would be great Jay to see a shoot out with different integrated amps as this is a market that a lot of people will find themselves in and if combined with the right speakers it isn’t a bad place to be. I have a Rotel RA-1572 integrated, the 1592 is the replacement in the bedroom system and actually it is quite competent and it is feature packed. I hate that Rotel didn’t see their network port for streaming, it’s just for software upgrades. The Hegel’s ability to be used as a streamer is a very smart one to get more people into streaming. Good review Jay and have you had the pleasure or anyone here of hearing Rotel’s highend line called the Michi?

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

I have listened to the arcam sa20 on a few different speakers and didn't like it at all. First built quality is very poor and it well documented online about numerous software issues on the sa30, arcam are now owned by Harmen and are definitely not the company they used to be. I found amplifier to be extremely bright on my ls50's. I now using a hegel h90 and this sounds so much better

Great info. Absolutely love my H120 if anyone is on the fence about going Hegel then honestly take the jump.

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

Did you feel it was a big improvement over the H95?

@shuckylad

3 жыл бұрын

@@hclandscapes haven’t heard the h95, tho I did have the h90 on trial before the h120. I didn’t like the dac section in the h90, so I paid the extra, which was £1000 extra I might add. 😩If I didn’t need the dac then the h90 would of been a keeper. I’m sure the h95 is great also.

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

@@shuckylad i have had the H90 at home for a week with my kef ls50's and have been pretty happy with it but unfortunately one of the optical ports has broken so its gone back. So now i have the option of having the H95 for £1350 or H120 for £1950. One thing that I really dont like about the H90/H95 is that the front panel and dials are made from plastic, apart from that its only 15wpc difference between the H95 and H120, and now the H95 has a new dac there shouldn't be much difference in sound quality? Another thing i have read is that the H90/H95 are supposed to be warmer than the H120? Is there much more bass on the H120 and is it slightly cooler sounding than your H90?

@shuckylad

3 жыл бұрын

@@hclandscapes in my set up I actually found the h120 had a slightly warmer sound than the h90. I found no difference in power from 60wpc to 75wpc tho I don’t go really loud. The h95 sounds the best deal to me in terms of value.

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

@@shuckylad what speakers are you using, do you find the overall build quality better on the H120?

When i was shopping for a new amp I was sure I’d end up with a Hegel. I was hyped by the damping factor, the looks, and all the great things it can do. But after listening I found it really dull sounding (it’s the H160 I’m talking about). Maybe it was because of my speakers (MA Silver 300) but I was really bummed and ended up with something completely different.

@andreasmoller9798

3 жыл бұрын

Hegel dont sound dull in my opinion i have h190 with b&w 683 s2. The sound is open, detailed and with a big soundstage with this incrediable bass control best i ever heard. But it does need some volume to preform at its best, and boy that thing can play loud with good control

H95, CXA81, Ragnarok2, Roksan K3, or Moon 240i? I have a pair of proac DB3 speakers. Thanks!

@FlowithdaGo

3 жыл бұрын

None. You should go for Dan d'agostino Progression Integrated Amplifier. A bit pricier, but worth it. Just do it 👊🏼

Hi Jay, thanks for the review. You said the Hegel 95 amp could drive the Magnepan LRS. How about the 0.7?

Grerat review. In your Topping D90 review you said that the Hegel devices become more focused. Would you say that the h90 with a external DAC like the d90 comes close to the H95?

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

I wouldn't say that the H95 equals a performance of a seperate dac costing $1000 + H90, nor would I suggest H90 users to upgrade to H95. H120 or H190 would be a bigger upgrade. But I would say that the H95's digital section and analog section did improve and gives more reason to go with hegel for potential purchasers

@Xornal1

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jayiyagi thank you for the answer.

@gerard3797

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jayiyagi You also suggested that the H95 is closer to the H120 than it is to the H90. But the 15w extra is still a lot for more demanding speakers. Also I recalled from your H120 review that the H90 was tuned slightly warmer, whereas the H120 was the most neutral even compared to the H190.

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

@@Jayiyagi do you think theres a big difference in performance between the h90 and h120 when using KEF ls50's?

I'm building the css 2td currently, just curious if this would be a good match or a bit underpowered for the 2td?

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

for the 2td, I would suggest perhaps the H120 or even the H190

Hi Jay i recently demoed the Hegel H90 with my kef ls50's and i really liked the Hegel sound, im trying to decide between the H95 and the H120, Do you think the H120 is worth the extra money over the H95? You mentioned that the H95 is warmer sounding and the H120 is more cooler , i think i would prefer a warmer sound but does the extra 15wpc on the H120 make a lot of difference?

@vintageprinciples

3 жыл бұрын

I demo’d both and didn’t hear any sound quality difference. Both were incredible. My speakers are the Wharfedale Lintons which are 90db and the h95 at 60-65% volume is as loud as I want to go. Never really checked the volume difference with the h120, but the 60w on the h95 is very gutsy. I think with the upgrades from the H90, the H95 is on Par with sound quality. Unless you have tough to drive speakers I would go that way

How about pairing it with KEF LS50 META ? Tnx

@DamianStyga

3 жыл бұрын

Wondering same.

awesome 👏

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

thank you !

KEF R3 + Hegel H95? Or need the extra power of the H120?

@snowrang3r657

3 жыл бұрын

@@hclandscapes The DAC in the H95/H120 is much better. Unless you plan to add an external DAC I'd spend the extra on one of those.

@robertrambaldi1066

2 жыл бұрын

I’d like to know the same - any thoughts?

This just got smashed on ASR !.

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

ASR promotes itself as an "objective" review site, so the people seem to base their opinions on the measurements produced there. Unfortunately, even with that slant, their measurements don't seem to be as comprehensive as what we produce. Not only did Jay Lee review this, Doug Schneider did too on SoundStageHiFi.com -- and the set of measurements that accompany that review sometimes align with the ASR review, but sometimes disagree. Plus, ours seem much more thorough and exhaustive. In a nutshell, from our information, we don't agree fully with what's being said there. Here's a link to our review and measurements so you can decide... www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1442-hegel-music-systems-h95-integrated-amplifier-dac

@aZebroadcast

2 жыл бұрын

@@soundstagenetwork Which measurements? I do not see any. Listening is not a measurement.

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

@@aZebroadcast If you go to our review, you'll find a link to measurements far more exhaustive than what AudioScienceReview.com provides. www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1442-hegel-music-systems-h95-integrated-amplifier-dac

@aZebroadcast

2 жыл бұрын

@@soundstagenetwork Thank you so much. I missed the link, the first time. Sorry about that.

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

@@aZebroadcast No problem at all!

You can currently by an H90 for $1399US. In your opinion do you think the H95 justifies paying $600 more?

@hclandscapes

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly my thoughts...

With H90 being 40% off here: H90 with Ares II/D90 vs H95?

@drewrobertson6286

3 жыл бұрын

Sune, where is here, I’d love to get one at 40% off especially since I would only use it as a streamer/pre amp!

@thepickyaudiophile

3 жыл бұрын

@@drewrobertson6286 Denmark and Sweden 😊 Sold by Hifi Klubben. Don't know if they sell internationally.

How does it compare to a cheaper CA CXA81 (also got an improved DAC)

@Miguelissimmo

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I would like to know how they compare too .. they are similar in terms of functionalities, but I think the H95 may have better transparency, control, speed than the CXA81 .. does it have a better DAC ?? Not sure, the ESS Sabre in the CXA81 seems to be a killer DAC chip .. And the headphone amp ? Yeah I do think the H95 has a really nice transparent, powerful one .. these are just expectations of course, I didn't have the chance to listen to them unfortunately .. I hope I will soon :)

Will the H95 be enough to power my Magnepan 1.7i

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

Hard to say. You'd have to try.

Where do I go to find your recommendations for a disc player that would match well with Hegel 90 or 95 and the Magnepan LRS?

Ditto: Great review.

@Jayiyagi

3 жыл бұрын

thank you !

I never thought the H90 was anything special. Maybe this one is better.

Good pair with KEF LS50 META ??

hey Jay, does the H95 decode mqa?

@siphonsnob

3 жыл бұрын

At 5:16 he said it does NOT.

I just got the h95 to drive a set of JBL L82s. Love the new amp. Lot of punch for the money. I stream through a Bluesound node. I'm not sure what the reviewer is talking about when he is describing streaming with just a phone and amp. Clarification please.

i want hegel to be a pure amplifier with no dac what so ever

My H90 has two transformers 🤔 Maybe a revision thing?

@HegelMusicSystem

3 жыл бұрын

That is correct. On some of the later ones we introduced a better standby functionality so it would consume lots less power in standby. The smaller extra transformer is actually there to help it start up again. Some of the things one would normally do to allow ultro low power standby could harm the sound performance.

Amir @ ASR has reviewed this product today ! Hegel has yet to respond ,....

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, some fundamental questions remain about their measurement process. On the other hand, we have a very comprehensive process that we believe documents the performance of the H95 better. See this link for access to the review and the measurements: www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1442-hegel-music-systems-h95-integrated-amplifier-dac

@BobFrostV

2 жыл бұрын

When the big guys are proven to be manufacturing and selling some of the worst performing products it sure makes me feel ill. I wonder which other big guys are also duping us. I hope Amir gets a hold of more big brand products. I'd be utterly furious if I had purchased any Hegel gear.

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

@@BobFrostV Unfortunately, we can't agree with you there. And we hope that in the future, people who measure amplifiers care more about characterizing the true objective performance that using it in ways that aren't indicative of how it would be used in a stereo system. For example, measuring the H95 as a standalone DAC, desiring a certain output, isn't indicative of the product. That said, we stand behind our review and our measurements, which are much more comprehensive if you look carefully at them and can understand what the various numbers and charts mean. Once again, you'll find the measurements through this link. Thank you. www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1442-hegel-music-systems-h95-integrated-amplifier-dac

@BobFrostV

2 жыл бұрын

@@soundstagenetwork I looked more into this now and I now know a lot more about the situation. Not trying to go off the deep end here but Hegel publishes what their product's performance should be on their website. Amir comprehensively measured everything like he has with hundreds of other audio gear products and Hegel's amp in comparison to other cheaper products is around average but their dac is terrible and exhibits some of the worst performance. I guess measuring their stuff the proper way is the wrong way. Maybe Hegel should tell us how we have to measure their product to see results that match their claimed performance. It's funny when Hegel basically says their volume knob isn't meant to be turned past 80% or it will clip causing faulty measurements that shouldn't be considered. Good thing Amir measured up to and through 80% volume.

@soundstagenetwork

2 жыл бұрын

@@BobFrostV When measuring a product, it's commonplace that if there are questions -- whether at the beginning, or say you run into an issue -- you contact the manufacturer to see what they say. It appears that ASR just measured the way they wanted to. But what's strange is that we had already measured that unit and, in fact, didn't contact Hegel, because we had no issue. Perhaps our measurement person has a lot more experience, but he saw an integrated amplifier with a DAC and measured it like an integrated amplifier with a DAC. One can assess from our measurements -- which are much more thorough that ASR's, BTW -- that the H95 has performance attributes that ranges from average to very good. That's all -- and no alarm bells went off. We're still mystified, honestly, why ASR's linearity test looks like it does, and the jitter test does as well. Our linearity was simply decent for an an entry-level product, and the jitter result was excellent. Paul Miller also measured the unit for Hi-Fi News and he knows what he's doing -- and he found no issues like Amir did. As a result, we think ASR should re-check what they did -- there's a good chance that measurement protocol might've been at fault.

The best allaround streamer with preamp, dac is Yamaha WTC 50 with cost just €350.. I think Hegel 95 still can’t beat the sound quality from WTC 50.. IMHO..

Nice video, but nothing about old fashioned music, those tactile items that people still have and use, whilst streaming is the new way of listening to music not everyone will jump on board and commit totally whilst the formats are being argued over, for some of us listening to music via LP and CD is what we enjoy. I have to say that the H95 and its big brother (or sister) the H120 are very very good adding nothing to the recording just letting the music flow. Please don't forget us dinosaurs. Thanks.

I don’t believe that the H95 is truly Airplay capable - at least not directly. The network cable must be connected in order to use Airplay, which kind of defeats the purpose of it.

@vintageprinciples

3 жыл бұрын

Just get a $30-40 wifi booster in a nearby outlet and off you go.

We from Hegel advice Hegel as we say in dutch

your soundstagehifi link is broken it keeps redirecting you you cant even read the Review on H95. very aggravating.I will check back in a few days if the link still has a Problem I wont use it again.

@soundstagenetwork

3 жыл бұрын

Hello. We are not sure why the link did not work for you. We just tested it by clicking on KZread and it worked for us. That said, here is the link here so you can see the written review: www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1442

@gene8933

3 жыл бұрын

@@soundstagenetwork ''Thank You this link works good. the other link when you close the Advertisement it keeps opening a new windows repeatedly.

Its such a Shame that this expensive amp performed so poorly in asr testing and The dac is one of The worst dacs.

I was in Bergen a couple of years ago and was shocked at what we are asked to pay in the UK for them. Normally things are much more expensive in Norway - you can pay £4 for a packet of biscuits over there. I also don't know why Hegel separate pre & power amps are so expensive compared to their integrated HiFi products. Hegel should be able to make affordable basic pre and power amps for sensible money with all their sound quality enhancing technology built in.

@christopherbrown842

3 жыл бұрын

Perhaps whatever it was was cheaper in Norway, was produced in Norway? (Dont know if Hegel ever did produce anything at home). Anyway, prices for Hegel products in dollars (of all kinds), euros, kroner (of all kinds) and pounds are now all on par as far as I can see.

The USB input is a disaster. Connect the music source as you like, but not via USB. In all other respects Hegel is excellent.

@keiron99

4 ай бұрын

It's pretty poor in almost every respect. Read the review on ASR. It's junk.

Wow this shirt does not play nice with KZread encoding.

I am amazed how expensive audio gear is nowadays. In the 70`s and early 80`s a great pair of headphones cost $75! A very high quality receiver or integrated amp cost $750! Speakers today costing $10,000.00 or $25,000.00 is totally unacceptable and HIGHWAY ROBBERY. There is no way in hell anyone can justify the cost of high quality gear today. Okay, rant is over!

@marcusm5127

3 жыл бұрын

Good quality has never been cheaper. State of the art has never been better or more expensive.

@ianjohnhorwood2605

3 жыл бұрын

@@marcusm5127 well the very best of the state of the art amplification from the late mid 90's and 2000's has not really been improved upon on no matter what anyone says so or tells you so. We just more expensive variations and varieties and flavours and power of ranges of amplification, but not improved upon by the best that already has been done and made already in analog amplification. I sure have not seen any improvement of signal detail retention and extraction with newer amplification, than what my best mid late 90's amplification can already do with a colourless clarity with extraction of signal detail information. My mid late 90's amplification tramps all over any new hegel amplifier products, and lots of other brands, as regards to be able to extract colourless signal detail information from source components through to the loudspeakers. As regards new amplifiers like hegel, they are just compromised convenience audio products for the masses, and not the best true amplification audio product for extraction of every last bit of signal detail from your source components to the loudspeakers. But of course hegel is just playing to the new young audio market of inexperienced new audiophiles, and not to the older demographic of audiophiles that know much more more about better audio products, including some better and older audio products, never even mind the myriads of new audio products. The new young demographic of young up and coming audiophiles have not a clue about some the best audio products of before they were probably born, and that will wipe the floor with audio components such as hegel, as reguards to signal detail retention to pass on to the loudspeakers. All the new audio products and review hype does no favours for educating the new young demographic of up and coming audiophiles about better audio products from the past and that attainable sometimes for less money than the new and more compromised audio components. Educate new young audiophiles when you can and get the chance to, then it is their choice as to whether they get face slapped by some inferior new more expensive audio products slammed in their face first.

@mrpositronia

3 жыл бұрын

I'm amazed how expensive expensive stuff is. There's no way anyone can justify spending money on expensive stuff. Unless they have the money and want to buy it. On a serious note, hi-fi equipment beats cars, watches, or anything else, really. So I'd be more than happy to spend the money, if I could. Also, cheaper gear has never sounded so good. Everyone's a winner.

@siphonsnob

3 жыл бұрын

Thankfully, I am not earning the same salary now as I did when I graduated from university in 1975.

@deputy3690

3 жыл бұрын

@@siphonsnob Thank god your earning $250.00/hr!

No MQA = I'm out. Too bad. I wanted to love this amp.

@1046C

6 ай бұрын

lol

The Hegel is one of the blandest sounding ampliers on the market. Bass has no slam, texture or depth so this so called high damping factor, it leaves me cold and amps like a Rega Brio outperform the Hegel making music come to life. The Hegel is the latest trendy must have brand but don't be fooled by this review or others, they are just promoting the brand.