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Hegel Amps with Thiels

Hi,

Has anyone listened to this combination?

I am home auditioning a Hegel H20 with Thiel CS5's, which dip down to one ohm, and am pleasantly surprised.

The H20 is rated at 200 watts into 8 ohms but does not double down into 4 ohms.

To my ears, the bass is just as good as a ML 533 or a Pass x350, which I recently auditioned. The H20 is also quite smooth with a lot of detail. Warmer than the ML but cooler than the Pass.

I think that Hegel may be on to something with their patented and laser trimmed SoundEngine modules design, which I am not sure I fully understand.

Dsper

dsper
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,580 posts
 
Accurate indeed, skfy57. There are many Thiel lovers here on the 'Gon.
Happy Listening!
dsper OP
663 posts
 
Hi,  Can anyone comment on McCormack amps with Thiels?
unsound
7,329 posts
 
^IMHO, the McCormack's are very nice amps, with tight rhythmic bass, and smooth liquid treble, unfortunately their somewhat forward nature can make them a bit shouty with Thiels. A lovely and near perfect match with Vandersteens.
dsper OP
663 posts
 

Hi Unsound,

I have listened to Vandersteen 3A's with Conrad Johnson amplification and thought that they sounded very good, if a bit polite.

I felt the same way about the Pass X350 with the Thiel CS5.

So while I very much understand your comment about McCormack's with Thiels, I wonder if your "bit shouty" could be my desire for "more presence"?

Gosh this is hard when you cannot listen to an amp before purchasing it!

Dsper

unsound
7,329 posts
 
^I can very well understand how you might feel about the above pairings. But, the Vandy's though sharing similar design paramters, are voiced differently than the Thiels, and the c-j's run in the same direction as the Vandys. Some of the McCormack amps have a very similar design to some c-j amps, but are again voiced differently. The McCormacks might just work for you, especially more so with the CS 5's, with their rather extreme load. I happen to like the X series Pass amps with Thiels, but can understand your misgivings. I hate to be so redundant, but the bipolar output Krells are in my mind the perfect match for the CS 5's, more so than the mosfet output competition. Maybe it's due the devices chosen or maybe not,  but the big Krells work better with the CS 5's than any other amps I've heard with them.
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