Hegel H200 Amplifier
A monumental Hegel H200 inspires respect, tremor and in some cases radiculitis: the amp weighs 25 kg! On a slightly arched front panel there are only a display, two hands, which are responsible for switching of inputs and volume, and a large mechanical power button. The body's facade is very neat that5 can be said about the finish quality of dural cover: I almost hurt myself on a grater of perforation hole. The assortment of terminals in the back also causes a certain perplexity. The designers provided at once two sets of outputs from pre-amp and one input for power amp, but left only three linear inputs, one of which is balanced. Finally, the remote control creates contradictory feelings - yes, it is metallic, but ... with tiny plastic buttons. However, all these little things recede into the background when it comes to analysis of amplification part. The power of 200W per channel at the loading of 8 Ohms and the stated damping factor of 1000 (!) units impress not less than a large 1000W transformer with capacitors, which have 90000 μF of total capacity in ripple filter. Two dozens of 15-amp transistors (150W each) answer for amplification. The layout of the stages inside the body is made symmetrical.
The fourth concert of Beethoven is performed so airy and lofty that you want to scream out "Bravo!" to virtual orchestra. Against the background of such an organized sound you don't immediately notice that Hegel H200 slightly keeps side-tones back, therefore the information about hall's volume is not complete. The stage is also specific - it reminds W letter, which lies by three vertices to a listener in the plane: back center is shaded. But after additional one hour warm-up the situation with positioning of sounds normalizes in some degree, but the feeling of hall to the full extent still doesn't appear. Nevertheless, it's a great pleasure to listen to Hegel H200! As they say, never too tight. There are only small strokes made by the Swede between music and you and the aura of composition does not suffer at all.
