Hegel h200 low level listening

Donjr - I am in love with my Hegel H200. I bought it used early this year intending to use it as backup for Consonance Cyber 800SE tube mono blocks. Since installing it, it has not left the system. It drives Totem Forest speakers. I'm not 100% sure what constitutes low level listening for you. Using a R/S SPL meter I tend to listen at volumes in the upper 70s to mid 80s db range. The Totems seem to need a bit of volume to sound best. I'll make an effort to do some listening at mid-60s - 70s later and report back to you. I really like this amp. I posted comments about it on other threads here on A'gon. Don't wish to repeat myself here. One final comment I will make is that the Forests can be a bit harsh with certain (poorly recorded?) CDs. The Hegel seems to make even these sound great. Hope you get something that gives you many hours of fantastic listening.

Mechans - we can start another thread and trade stories about how the Cybers are set up. Seriously...I'd enjoy reading how you run yours and, in particular, with what speakers.

Donjr - hopefully you can get the Hegel AND keep the Rogue. Always nice to have something to switch off to from time to time. Cheaper than selling & buying all the time.

Don - listened to a couple of things tonight at (for me) very low levels. First, Diana Krall (SACD) "The Girl in the Other Room"; next, Crowded House (redbook CD) "Time on Earth". SPL (C weighted & Slow response) in the mid to upper 60s. I think it sounds OK. Much better clarity than I would have expected. Bass in particular is nicely articulated. Not my favorite way to listen, however. Don't know what your music tastes or expectations are. Things definitely sound better to me at a little higher volume for what I'd still consider "low level listening"...say low 70 db range while listening to the Crowded House CD. I'm thinking the answer to this sort of question might be very speaker dependent. OK. Good luck.

Hey Don - good luck with whatever you end up getting. That's too funny about the Hegel casework...personally, it doesn't bother me. FF poster is dating you...on the other hand, I might suggest Christie Brinkley from back in the day.

Congratulations. Hope you enjoy it very much.

Don - I was following your posts up to your decision to actually buy the Hegel.
Did not realize you had posted some early listening impressions. It's great to
hear you are enjoying it. What CDP do you use in your system? I think you have
Harbeth speakers? (are they full range or monitors?) I also use the H200 as an
alternative to tubes. Your comments on the Hegel pretty much match my
impressions. Bass is tighter and maybe a little deeper than the Cyber 800SEs.
Mid-range is nicely warm. This might be helped in part by a high end that is a
little rolled off in comparison to the Cybers. Detail and separation is excellent
though I note slightly less air and dimensionality in the overall presentation
(attributable to the rolled off treble, I think). The upside is that on hot
recordings and with Totem Forest speakers (metal dome tweeter) the top end is
tamer. Overall, listening with the Hegel is very, very enjoyable. I bought the
Hegel used and ran it from March of this year to just recently. Took it out in
August and went back to the tubes 'cause I was a little concerned about not
running that gear for a prolonged period. I really liked the Hegel and was
thinking I might be disappointed going back to the Cybers. Not the case,
however. I feel very fortunate that now I've got 2 great sounding modes of
amplification that are just different enough to liven things up when I feel the
need for a change. One helps me appreciate the other (if that makes any sense)
though neither leaves me feeling dissatisfied. Hope to hear from you on how
things are progressing. By the way - how are you finding low level listening?

Don - thanks for the reply...it's late now. I'll look at your cabling and CDP tomorrow (or should I say, later today). I'd been leaving the Hegel powered up 24/7 when I had it in the system. There's no mute that I can see on mine...I just turned the volume all the way down. Funny about the balanced XLR thing. I've been looking at possibly getting a new CDP and balanced out is on the list of features because of the Hegel. Curious how that will sound vs unbalanced RCAs.