Would someone mind translating this Hegel H30a / P30a video?

My parents were from Norway and I have the same first name as the founder of Hegel, so of course I have some Hegel gear in my system (a P20 and a V10.) 😁

Following below is my translation. It is not super polished and some phrases are idiomatic and translate roughly. Also, I'm sure I missed some of the technical terms regarding the volume control and amplifier stage, so do not rely on this translation for detailed technical information.

SP is Stereo Plus interviewer, BH is Bent Holter.

SP - "What is 47 kg heavy, can spit out 1100 watts in mono, and costs 108k Norwegian Kroner? We hope it is the new top amplifier from Hegel. And they've come out with a new pre-amp as well. If you'd like, we'll make more videos like this one, so remember to hit like and follow us. Bent Holter, you have constructed and made this here. What have you done with these that was not in the previous models?"

BH - "There is a lot, so I don't know how much time we have, but I can give you the short version. In the P30a, which is the new preamp, there is a big difference in the volume control part. An entirely new volume control with 4 new solutions (?) with a much lower noise floor, with a more precise sound balance, so you get more dynamics and better pinpointing of the positioning of the instruments. And then we have the new H30a, which is the new amp, which can still be run mono or stereo. (Some technical details here I missed, maybe about one mosfet for the first stage and another for the power stage for the speakers.) Here we use complimentary mosfet transistors. Earlier have we used mosfet transistors in the amplifier stage in the H30. Previously we used really good transistors from Toshiba. Unfortunately these went out of production in 2008, and then we bought a pallet of transistors. I don't know exactly how many there were but there was tremendously many. And those we have used and used and used and there became fewer and fewer and now it was completely empty in the case, no more to be had."

SP - "So that was the reason you basically had to make a new amp."

BH - "We were forced to find a new solution for the reason that they were not produced any more. Yep."

SP - "When you sit and listen to the new amp set up against the old, what are the improvements generally?"

BH - "The biggest difference is basically that the noise floor has become lower, so that you get a different background in a way, with less background noise, so you have a bigger dynamic and better processing of the sound. What we have done is we found a siliconex mosfet, and because they have a slightly different character, we had to redo the whole amp, so it is entirely new. And that gave us the opportunity for increased dynamics and more detail without it becoming sharp or hard."

SP - "This is after all the top amplification system from Hegel. Is this also a cost-no-object amplifier set from Bent Holter? If you didn't have the market position determining the price, would you have done things differently?"

BH - "We could have done other things if the price didn't play a part. But the point is we believe that if we were to do something without consideration for the price we would have had to do something else with the design. Very expensive amplifiers need to have more bling and gold and this and that. And we don't think that's the way to go. So this is about as far as we can take it without beginning spend a bunch of money on decoration."

SP - "The previous amp could drive whatever, without problem. Have you made any changes with this one, or is it just as powerful?"

BH - "It is just as powerful as the previous one. So the drive character is the same."

SP - "You guys have focused on amps and digital converters (?) which have been your thing. And we understand that the H30 is going away because of an issue with parts. Are there any thoughts of a new DAC? Is it in your sights?"

BH - "'In our sights' is the word. I can't say much specifically about it, but we want to have a DAC in our assortment, but I can't say anything about when it will come. We would rather do a good job getting it as good as we can rather than promise that it is coming February 2023 or anything. So we are working on different projects, but I can't say any more than that."

SP - "But between us, you are playing around with some things."

BH - "We are sitting and measuring and testing samples of entirely new components (parts,) so yes, there are many exciting ideas in the works."

SP - "Is that some of the funnest part? When you are sitting there, changing out small parts here, changing out small parts there?"

BH - "That is of course the case, like the V10 project. People had been bugging us for 20 years to make a phono stage, and when I started to dig down into that project it was unbelievably fun. So that gave us a taste. So there are more exciting products coming, in due time."

SP - "So we can look forward to more?"

BH - "You can look forward to more."

SP - "This amplifier set is what we are first looking forward to, and we are going to be putting it to the test as StereoPlus, and we are looking forward to that."

--end

 

 

Thank you, lukemaximus. This is tremendously helpful. 🙏 🙂

Basically: I am very glad that I acquired the P30 and H30 before they are hard to get. Of course, most of our modern transistors are low noise, but the Toshiba ones are so euphonic. My previous Hegel was the H590 which I would characterize as ‘clean and dynamic with a low noise floor’ - typical ‘Hegel’.

But, with the H30 and P30 (and especially the P30), I find this system practically indistinguishable from one that has tubes except that I have (1) none of the disadvantages (like noise level, maintenance), and (2) pinpoint imaging and perhaps the best bass available in a preamp / amp combo less than $30k.

Here is a P30 review I found online. I agree with a lot of what he says but not all (for example: IMHO, there must be other preamps in this price range with better detail level):