I’m not doubting what you say (the dealer is another matter though), but a couple things seem a little strange here. First, I don’t understand if the SMD was replaced why it would be any more difficult to replace it again (if needed). Second, since this seems pretty serious and the H160/190 are very popular models, why is this the first time I’m hearing of it? Frankly, I don’t recall seeing a post of anyone having a problem with any Hegel product ever. Maybe I’ve just missed it somehow, but it does leave me scratching my head a bit here. Something just doesn’t smell right, and I’d be contacting Hegel directly if it was me to get the straight poop directly from the source.
Hegel H160 and longevity
I had bought a Hegel in 2018 and recently had crackling noises in one of the channel. Had to send it over to the dealer who had mentioned that he had seen these issues across H160/H190 and seem to recur after few years again. He had also mentioned that there was an SMD that was replaced. However, if it happens again it would be difficult to replace the SMD and recommended that I upgrade the amp before it goes bad again in order to save myself from an entire motherboard replacement which is as expensive as getting a new amp entirely. Was curious if more hegel owners had similar issues for an amp costing 3.5K going bad in less than 5 years for less than moderate amount of usage is kind of baffling.