Integrated amp recommendations for harbeth 30.2 XD

I’ve been powering my 30.1 with a Hegel h160, and it works well. Many other Harbeth users are also reportedly happy with Hegel amps.

Having said that, though, as I am now using a (Denafrips) stand-alone DAC, I’ve decided to switch/upgrade to a GATO AMP-150. It is scheduled to be delivered soon, and I’ll give my impressions not long after.

@jjss49 

That is a bit unfair. Shaw has talked about why he likes Hegel:

My position on Hegel is abundantly clear. It is the only hifi amp I have ever measured in my lab that has what I consider to be a proper gain structure throughout.

In layman's language that means that with a 'hot' source pumping audio volts into the input channel it is practically impossible to clip or overload the input. That indicates to me a mature, pragmatic real-world approach to the circuit design in a market where far too many amps have input stage clipping evidenced by the ridiculously low setting of the volume control (typically 10 o'clock or lower) at which the output clips. Hence a hard, hard, grainy sound. Indeed, I'd suspect that the extreme sensitivity of the volume control (hardly on, really loud) is prima facie evidence of clipping.

I have been playing P3XD over the last days via one of my H390s and with the volume at about 60/99, I have lots of power reserve and a clean, loud, unclipped sound.

Very early days, but I am getting excellent results with the combination of my 30.1 and newly acquired GATO AMP-150.

@jjss49 

I will. It replaced a Hegel h160, which, while not of the current generation of Hegel amps, was really quite good. Darko was using a newer, more powerful Hegel.

Having only had the GATO for ~24 hours, I can safely say that to my ear it is better, at least in terms of sound reproduction. The Hegel was, in some respects, more convenient, and I have some minor quibbles with the GATO remote, and display.

Of course the sound is paramount, and I am cycling through some of my more familiar CDs in an attempt to refine my thoughts, before I articulate them online.

Sorry! No, I have used both through my relatively new Denafrips Pontus II DAC. So in that sense, the comparison is fair, as I was bypassing the Hegel DAC.

This is my first stand-alone DAC, and it has spurred the temptation to upgrade other components, at least to some extent. I am not a serial flipper, though, and when I am happy with a system, I usually stick with it for years.

the hegel h160 while a ’last gen’ piece at this point, would, imo, set a very high bar to beat in driving harbeths (it is last gen primarily in the dac section only, the amp section is still absolutely top notch)

Thanks for that, and I do agree that the h160 is excellent. I could have easily lived with it and been happy, but had an itch to try out the GATO.

It’s still very early, but I am tempted to say that the GATO is fleshing out some subtle details that I wasn’t hearing with the Hegel. It could well be bias at play, as I am not set up to A/B the two amps under controlled conditions, but I do seem to be hearing some differences.

I was listening last night to an excellent (live) Mary Stallings CD that I know well, and, among other things, Ron Blake’s tenor saxophone playing sounded more vivid in that I was picking up details from around his mouth.

I also want to say that I am picking up on what might be thought of as a more ’organic’ timbre from acoustic instruments, and that GATO has a better 'grip' on the bass.

I need more time, though, to arrive at any kind of confident conclusions.

@akg_ca 

Which Cardas Clear cable are you using? There are several variations.

Thanks.

Thanks!