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Some Strange Behavior From a Hegel 360

OK, here’s a strange one- please jump in. Just purchased a Hegel 360 to power my Revel 228s. Upper bass was excellent. Lower bass strangely lacking.   With the same recordings a good friend was getting much better bass with his Kinke Studio EX-M1 and 1.7 Maggies which aren’t known for their deep low end.  We ran his amp through my system and the bass was robust but clearly defined as it should have been- so no problem with cables, other components or speakers. Double checked all connections with the 360- everything was fine. My friend suggested we switch polarity via a speaker connection. The difference was rather amazing. Bass was now there and overall sound improved significantly- almost the opposite of what you’d expect. Any thoughts? On a related note, I’ve contacted Hegel a number of times about this issue- no response. The only support link I can find is the general info@Hegel link on the Hegel website. Any thoughts on Hegel tech support or ideas on reaching them? Thanks for your thoughts...


easterna
easterna OP
3 posts
 
Appreciate all the responses... Compared to many folks on these forums my tech chops are somewhat limited; but, I've been told that switching cables on both speakers will simply take me back to a situation of "correct" polarity.  Good advice about not trying to fix it- that's pretty much where I'm at.  Such a puzzle though- really would like an explanation.  I'd also like to know why Hegel's support has been non-existent.  That may bother me more than the amp's behavior.
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luxmancl38
580 posts
 
My CJ ET3 SE mentioned that you had to reverse polarity on the speakers. If this was normal procedure in the Hegel I would assume it would be in the instruction book that accompanies the Hegel.
jetter
3,033 posts
 
easterna, it would really help in understanding your problem and solution if you would answer mboldda's question above.  Thanks
easterna OP
3 posts
 
Hello all, thanks for weighing in...
I'm changing only one speaker connection.  Somewhat disconcerting that a person assembling a $6k amp would be so careless or disinterested in properly putting it together.  Did I worry a bit that these are coming out of China instead of Norway- maybe a bit.  I'm not happy that Hegel isn't more transparent about its Chinese connection; but I know some very good stuff is coming out of China including my DAC. For those who've wondered, there's nary a mention of reversed polarity in anything Hegel's put out.  For what it's worth, my latest listening was very rewarding- with reversed polarity.  My system was doing all I'd expect out of it.  A good night of tunes... Again, thanks to all for their thoughts.
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