Connecting External DAC's and Pre-Amps to Hegel Integrated Amplifiers?


Can any of you Hegel owners provide me some guidance with the connection of an external DAC, and external Pre-amp to the Hegel H590 / H600 integrated amps???  

Please advise how I can connect the following to my H590 / H600:

1.  A Digital Player?  It appears I can connect the digital player via various interconnects - among others the following:  BNC interconnect cable, Coax interconnect cable, etc. to the respective input connections of the Hegel amps - correct???

2  An external tube DAC?   

Can I connect the external tube DAC via the following:  Coax interconnect cables, Balanced XLR cables, to the respective input terminals on the Hegal amps?  I assume that by-passes the internal DAC of the Hegel - correct?  

If not, is there anyway to bypass the internal DAC of the Hegel amps???

2.  An external tube pre-amp?

Can I connect the external tube pre-amp via the following:  Coax interconnect cables, Balanced XLR cables to the respective input terminals on the Hegel amps?  

Does that leave both pre-amps operating - the external and the internal Hegel pre-amp???

Will that connection bypass the internal pre-amp of the Hegal amps?  

If not, is there any way to bypass the internal pre-amp?  

I love the great sound of the Hegel amps with my Maggies and my Harbeths!  But... I'd like to try the above variations, if its possible to do so.  While it appears that its pretty simple to connect various digital sources - it appears that it's difficult or impossible to bypass the internal DAC and Pre-amp of the Hegel integrated amps.  

Thanks for your help...

bassdude

Showing 3 responses by jeffbij

@bassdue  

Maybe I should have done this first, I just Googled setting the Hegel into Home Theater mode and got a couple of different responses that are making me think I maybe not understanding what Hegel means by home theater input.  

Definitely check with Hegel on it first.

- Jeff

@bassdude  -  You are very close to what you want to setup.  You need to use the Hegel in Home Theater (HT) mode.  According to the manual you can configure it this way.  That way you are only using the Hegel's power amp side.

1.  Connect all your digital sources to the external Yggdrasil DAC

2.  Connect the external Yggdrasil DAC's output to the ARC preamp.  You will have to select/change between the digital inputs using the Yggdrasil DAC's selector.

3.  Connect any non-digital sources to the analog L/R connections on the ARC preamp.

4.  At this point, your ARC preamp is handling ALL source inputs.

5.  Connect the L/R outputs of the ARC preamp to the analog inputs on the Hegel (use either XLR's #1 or Analog #1)

6.  Configure the Hegel for Home Theater (HT) mode.  I believe all you have to do it select the input connection the ARC preamp is connected to and turn the volume knob to full output (i.e. max).  BUT CHECK WITH HEGEL THAT THIS IS ALL YOU NEED TO DO FOR HOME THEATER MODE.

7.  Use the ARC preamp to adjust the volume, etc.  And that should do it.  You are now using only the amp section of the Hegel.

 

- Jeff

 

@rick_n    -  "... something is going to blow", not necessarily.  There are a bunch of preamps and integrated amps out there that allow for Home Theater bypass.  I have two in my house right now.  (Parasound JC-2 BP and a PrimaLuna integrated)  It is going to depend on the design of the downstream integrated/preamp on the receiving side as well as the output levels of the upstream feed.  What I'm not sure of is if the downstream side would need somekind of gain suppression (???) to offset the overall feed to the amp. (If that makes any sense...)

What I will put to the OP, is it time to replace the Hegel integrated with a power amp, whether it be a Hegel or another brand?  The integrated is overly complicating the setup at this point.   You have a very good pre in the ARC unit and a good DAC in the Yggdrasil that are out performing the Hegel DAC/Pre.

- Jeff