Set-up and installation

The Hegel H120 replaces a Ps Audio Stellar, Benchmark AHB2, Metrum Acoustics Onyx and Nad M50 in the system below:

Vienna Acoustics Haydn Jubilee monitors
Norstone Stylum 2 stands
Isoacoustics Aperta decouplers
Wiring: Dion Audio D75, Van Den Hul Optocoupler, Qed XT40

The Hegel H120 may have a hefty price tag at first sight, but when you consider what you get in return, it makes more sense. As you can see it’s mainly add speakers with the H120. The Hegel H120 replaces a 12000 dollar system and you also save some.

Because Roon still wasn’t available (come on Hegel!) we used M Connect an although that app is okay, it’s a step back from BluOS and Roon. That’s why after a while we connected the M50 via coax to make it easier to work. With a solid source you can achieve excellent results, just like with the Röst. In the small room we also optically connected our television to the H120. Because of the Vienna’s the intelligibility is very high and voices don’t sound sharp when watching movies and series. A good start.

Synergy

The more stuff we test, the better we get at hearing what works well together and what doesn’t. And so we’ve become quite critical in terms of synergy. With our Atc’s, for example, the ‘match’ was okay, but definately not perfect. The Atc’s need an H190 or H390 to really get going. With the Monitor Audio Gold 100 it was a lot better but with our Vienna’s we found it the most ‘musical’.

Norwegian purity

We start our playlist and immediately notice a number of things. There’s a lot of control in the bass. The H120 keeps the small drivers of the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Jubilee perfectly under control, giving us a full, controlled bass with impact and a lot of detail. A second observation is the incredible detail the dac shows. The signature of the dac is rather light but offers a perfect counterbalance to the full, round amplification. The stereo image is right in the middle and the music is nicely ‘detached’ from the speakers. This is also a rhythmic and quite fast amplifier that effortlessly follows the tempo of a track and the different layers in the music unravels