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Peachtree or Hegel Integrated?

I have a secondary two-channel system in my bedroom. It comprises a Marantz NR1403 HT receiver and Wharfedale Dentons connected to Samsung HDTV, cable box and a Sonos connect. The room measures 16x13 and the speakers are in open bookshelves (7-8" from the wall). I like the overall sound quality, finding the system musical and non-fatiguing. The only negative is it does not have the air and clarity in the upper-end like my LR system. I am not sure I should mess with it, though, since I like the overall sound. I should also note the system will remain with just two main speakers. A sub may be added at some point, but I actually like the Dentons without a sub.

My thought is to change the Marantz receiver (50 watts) in hope of elevating the Dentons. I enjoy their musical nature, but it would nice if there was a bit more transparency and air on the upper-end. It’s most notable on female voices which seem slightly veiled, but still sharper than my older B&Ws. My choices would be either a Peachtree Audio Nova65s or Hegel H-80. The Peachtree is about half the costs of the Hegel, while the Hegel seems to garner more consistent positive reviews. The 3rd option is getting a higher-end Marantz such as the SR7007 which would offer more power and room correction. It also adds bass management in case I decided to add a sub at some point.

The second aspect is possibly replacing the Wharfedales at some point with the Kef LS50s. The Kefs seem to get such praise for their transparency and musical nature. I think I would want to try them at some point and would want any replacement to be able to driving less efficient speakers. I have heard so may mixed comments on the Kefs' power needs I probably need to form my own opinion, albeit there are no local dealers. On that front, I have a local Peachtree dealer. There is also a Hegel dealer, but they don’t have a H-80 on display.

Given the above, can I expect…..
1) Is it reasonable to think a higher quality and more powerful amp will enhance the Dentons?
2) Would you expect the Hegel to outperform the Peachtree? If so, in what way? Would the Peachtree provide a warmer presentation?
3) Would your recommendation change if the speakers were the Kef LS50s instead of the Dentons?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Peachtree Nova65se
+ well reviewed with comments on being slight warm sounding
+ attractive physical design
+ comments about good service
+ efficiency of Class D design
- comments about noise floor issues
- they seem to change/upgrade models frequently

Hegel H-80
+ well reviewed with favorable comments on power & transparency
+ robust design according to reviews
+ low noise floor
- don’t seem widely known with smaller dealer network
- limited options to find dealer who stocks it
- not sure remote has discrete codes

Marantz SR7007
+ familiar with Marantz products
+ room correction & bass management
+ more power
- improvement might not be noticeable
macct
smrex13
645 posts
 
The Hegel is definitely a good sounding amp. However, it's interesting that Devilboy mentioned the finicky volume control on the Hegel H80. I had similar issues, and the problem was so significant that I ended up selling the Hegel.

The volume has a range of 0-99, but in my room the usable range was from about 42-46. That was it. Anything below that sounded muted and distant and anything above that was far too loud for my room. Even within this narrow margin, the volume was never "right." I was using 85db efficient speakers, and my room is hardly ideal (a bit live). Perhaps more efficient speakers in a well treated room would work better. Nevertheless, it was the only amp/integrated that I just couldn't make work well (and I've tried many). It is a very high quality amp, though.

Haven't heard the Peachtree, but I would audition the Hegel before buying as Devilboy is the second person to mention the volume control issue.

Best, Scott
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Scott, that's exactly what I encountered. For some reason I could never get the volume "right" and leave it there. I was always going up/down, up/down. Again, a real nice sounding piece of audio though.
bcgator's avatar
bcgator
355 posts
 
I've never heard the Hegel, but I do have the Peachtree Grand X-1, just a little up the food chain from the Nova. I'd like to check out the Hegel someday, just out of curiosity, because everyone seems to love them (this volume issue notwithstanding). Thinking about it objectively, I do think that the Hegel products seem to have more panache in the marketplace...people associate them as higher-end than Peachtree stuff, so maybe there's a bit of that feeling of not wanting to "settle" for a Peachtree with some buyers. It took me a while to finally pull the trigger on mine, to get over that feeling of "is it good enough?"

In my case, my main system is an Audio Research VSi55 into a pair of Proac D2 monitors, which sounds great. I got the Peachtree so I'd have something in the summer months when I didn't want to deal with tube heat here in Phoenix. That the Peachtree is just as musically pleasing as the Audio Research integrated, and I can swap them out without a thought, is the best compliment I can pay it.

I say this not to sell you on the Peachtree - you should buy what makes you happiest, since we're talking about a nice chunk of money - but instead to suggest giving the Peachtree a good listen without holding its affordability against it, just in case you've got some "I don't want to settle" doubts like I had.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Is it possible that the Hegel is telling you where the sweet spot for that recording is on that amp driving that speaker?
From 50 years of playing around with audio I find every recording sounds its best at one volume and that only.
devilboy
1,176 posts
 
Schubert, I understand what you're saying. I should have been more descriptive in my last post. What I meant by finicky volume is that I had to adjust the volume repeatedly DURING one song. I had to turn the volume down as the music got more dynamic, and up as it got softer. I never had this issue on another piece of equipment.

This issue was too annoying for me to keep it for the long haul, but once the volume was "right", it was nice to listen to.

However, after I heard the Clones, it was game over for the Hegel. The Clones just has more air, wider soundstage, blacker backgrounds, etc. It sounds more like a live listening experience and makes the Hegel sound like overpriced, exaggerated HiFi.
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