I recently upgraded my system with the Hegel H80 and when I first listened to it, I was a bit underwhelmed. Talked to the store and they recommended that I upgrade my digital interconnect and speaker cables. On the digital interconnect side, I compared coaxial cables such as the Audioquest VDM 1, basic $10 cheap coax cable, SCA-D1M from Tributaries, and Optical Audioquest Cinnamon. The difference was hardly noticeable between any of them on A/B B/A direct comparison.
I then realized that a bigger issue may be coming from the speaker cables. My current cables were a bit muffled in mids and highs. Tried Clear Oval from Analysis Plus - clearer but lost a lot of bass. My dealer suggested Audioquest Go-4 but since I needed 12 feet on each side, it would have cost me more than $800 (with the connectors). I thought, what the heck, let me try Anticables Level 2 Performance speaker cables and I also purchased the Level 4.2 Reference plus digital interconnect. And then, WWOOOOWWWWW! The depth of stage, the tightness of the bass, the clarity of the mids and highs without harshness...Oh my God !!! It made my purchase of the Hegel really worth it, the whole system came alive. When you add 25 feet of speaker cables for $150 and the coax interconnect 4.2 with pure harmony plug at $185, with a 30 day trial period, how can you go wrong? Best Bang for the buck ever.
My Gear:
Hegel H80
Rega Appollo CD player
DynAudio A72 reference speakers
Anthem MRX 510 (main speakers driven by Hegel)
And now: Anticables interconnects Level 4.2 with Pure Harmony plug, Level speaker cables
