With the slim H 95, Hegel presents an accessible amplifier that can do a lot and yet is not overly complicated. Minimalistic in appearance, perhaps, but certainly not in terms of sound quality or possibilities. The recipe is recognizable from the high-end Hegel’s, but consistency is at the heart of the success of these smart Norwegians.

Hegel has recently come out with great amps that are nothing short of groundbreaking. The H590 , H 390 , H 190, Â H 120 Â and H 90 are all devices that leave little or no stitches and excel in sound quality in their quirky Norwegian way. But what if your budget does not allow for say 6. 15 euro to spend for a nice H 390? Or you simply don’t need such an immense power plant? Then there is now an update for the valued H 95, the cheapest of Hegel’s integrated amplifiers. Pay attention in the store, because it may not be noticeable at first. The appearance is completely the same and â ???? you don’t often experience that nowadays â ???? the introduction of a new generation is not accompanied by a price increase.

This new H 95 is thus again an amplifier with a relatively accessible almost 1. 700 – Euro price point that actually already provides ninety percent of the big boys’ Hegel experience. If you know the brand, you know exactly what it means. After all, Hegel believes in a clear story that is correct for all its devices, from entry-level to top model. Think how BMW retains its design language across all models â ???? but even more consistently. It is always clear what the Oslo brand stands for: interior-friendly minimalism, excellent sound quality delivered by its own Class AB technology and streaming options that are above all practical. In this case via a compact device that takes up little space and requires little attention in your living room.

Typically Hegel The H 95 is the smallest in the Hegel family of integrated amplifiers. Strictly speaking, that junior label is correct, but at the same time it is also a bit unfair. With its 2 x 60 Watt power (at 8 Ohm), this is really a serious hi-fi amplifier, equipped with the solid hardware platform of its big brothers and a substantial power supply that you need if you are going to play truly dynamic music. But to find out you would have to dive under the hood, because the nature of the beast is to convince with performance â ???? not to show off specifications or marketing blah.

Hegel has a contemporary take on hi-fi that differs from other high-end brands. You are given the choice. The Norwegians allow you to walk the high-end path and connect your own source devices to build an entire system. You can build a turret, if you wish. Or you can use the built-in streaming options â ???? and there are quite a few â ???? to listen in high quality without the need for many extras. That focus on ‘less is more’ has always been an important part of the Hegel philosophy, but with the H 95 the story is just a bit more true. This is really an amplifier that can gracefully stand in or on a TV cabinet, without necessarily wanting to be a design statement.

The slimmer housing finished in the characteristic matte powder coating and with a slightly curved front panel made of high-quality plastic, we feel it fits very well in a modern interior. Those are those Scandinavian roots, we think. A minimum of buttons â ???? two to be exact, volume and source selection â ???? and no led lights reinforce the humble approach. This also includes the centrally placed OLED display where things like the volume level and source are shown, with white letters on a black background. It has just enough information that you can easily read even from three to four meters.

The overall impression that you get from the H 95 is one of tranquility, not of technological brilliance. That means that this device also works well with a wall-mounted TV with very thin screen edges, for example. Just like a modern TV discards itself so that only the image is central, so wants the H 95 especially music. Blue VU meters or a large touchscreen with colorful album art are not part of that.

Not just streaming Integrated amplifiers are now with streaming built-in now not so uncommon either. Still, Hegel was one of the first to focus heavily on streaming and has now completely refined the all-in-one concept. In doing so, the company always made sure there was a choice between high-quality streaming and streaming options that were just usable for every family member. Not only the audiophile on duty wants to listen to music, after all. Hence the presence of AirPlay and Spotify Connect at the H 96, two options that other hi-fi brands often foresee, but still quickly portray as inferior. It may be (and you can argue about that), but the majority of people just listen through these two popular options; it is therefore interesting that the AirPlay function has also been tinkered with to make it sound a bit better than the standard implementations that are â ???? off the shelfâ ???? purchased and built in.

It may also seem strange that Hegel continues to swear by DLNA / UPnP, a streaming technology that is a bit older. Not everyone is a fan of it, but with the right player app, it’s a great way to play your own music files. Some apps, such as BubbleUPnP on Android or mconnectPlayer on the iPhone / iPad, also allow streaming via DLNA from Tidal or Qobuz. Hegel itself does not provide an app to do this, because the Norwegians think that hi-fi companies that build apps often do this badly because it is simply not part of their core competencies. If you then look at what is already available in terms of apps, that is not bad. Which is 6, 99 euros for say mconnectPlayer HD ultimately a small investment, especially if you then get an app that works well. There are also apps that do it for free.

At the back the H 95 you will discover a very clean rear panel, with a central role for the large speaker terminals. On the left you will find two pairs of analog inputs (plus a line output for a power amp or a sub), on the right five digital inputs (1 x coaxial, three optical inputs and a USB class B). Hegel himself speaks of six digital inputs, because they count the Ethernet connection as an input. WiFi is not available, because Hegel founder Bent Holter thinks a wireless module is a potential source of interference. Bluetooth is present for the same reason; adding it is easy with a box like the Zen Blue from iFi Audio.

Major update The analog hatch of the H 95 is not very different from the H 90, that’s what Hegel says. After all, the H 90 was already equipped with SoundEngine2, the latest generation of Hegel’s proprietary feedforward technology to take distortion out of Class AB amplification. During a visit to Bent Holter’s Hegel offices in Oslo last year, we got an extensive explanation about this innovative technology, read it here if you want to know more or SoundEngine2 (and more). Also the damping factor of 2000: 1 is the same as before, providing immense control over the connected speakers. You can also discover more about this aspect in the article that we link above.

The big improvements on the H 95 are included with the DA converter part, which is derived from the much better DAC that in the H 590, H 390, H 190 and H120 is built around a chip from AKM. Hegel does not say which chip is correct, but we suspect that it is a model from the Velvet Sound series. That may explain in part why we love the tone of the recent Hegel amps.

Hi-res files can be can be delivered via all digital inputs, but there is a difference between the USB class B port and the other digital inputs. Over an optical or coaxial cable, PCM audio is up to 24 – bit / 192 KHz welcome , via USB the bar is slightly lower at 24-bit/96 KHz PCM. This is a major distinction from the more expensive integrated Hegels, which (in the case of the H 390 and above) can also handle DSD and MQA audio.

Made more sustainable The H 95 is Hegel’s last amplifier to a new platform is brought. That means several things, like the new DAC and the switch to SoundEngine2 (but as we already mentioned: SoundEngine2 was also there with the H 90). But another advantage is that this new Hegel generation has just become a bit more sustainable. Making updates is now much easier over the internet. With other types of CE devices (such as AV receivers) this has been normal for some time, but with hi-fi amplifiers the concept of a firmware update is still a rarity. This is understandable in some way, because an amplifier does not necessarily have to run software. However, that is different with an all-in-one device like this H 95. The many streaming options on board sometimes need an update to keep up with the latest evolutions. We understand that the AirPlay function in the H 95 will be brought to AirPlay 2 in this way. In terms of playback via the AirPlay technology that should not change much, but thanks to version 2 you will be able to group the Hegel amplifier during playback with other AirPlay speakers that â ???? for example â ???? in the kitchen and dining room. However, the upcoming Roon update for the higher Hegels will not be available for the H 95.

Against a black background For our test, we remove the KEF R3 speakers from the storage space. In terms of price point (799 these sturdy upright speakers fit with the innovative UniQ driver excellent at Hegel, but also in character. We also know this from a previous review of the Hegel H 190, when we also combined that higher model with the R3 speakers. Hegel is distributed in the Benelux by KEF / GP Acoustics, and that is no coincidence. The two brands match well, although other combinations are of course also possible. With a set of DALI Rubicon 2’s for example, which resulted in a slightly warmer but perhaps also a little less tight rendering. Oo I have listened to that combination with pleasure for a long time, to return to the KEFâ € ™ s with their beautiful integration of the middle and high.

Besides some speaker cable to connect the speakers to the amplifier, you basically don’t need anything else to play music from the H 95 to get. After all, streaming is built in, remember? Nevertheless, we chose to connect a turntable (a Project X1) with the Primare R 15 – phono preamplifier as a helper in between and a Volumio Primo streamer that we connect to the USB class B port on the Hegel amplifier. This Italian-made box is a convenient way to supply the highest quality digital stream to the Hegel DA converter. Admittedly, in the end you will listen to one particular source very quickly during testing, but it is good to include all input types.

That you get far with a baby Hegel and that the Norwegian brand always delivers what it promises, we notice when our test playlist in Roon comes out at â ???? Hyper-Ballad (Family Tree Version )a???? from Björk (CD quality via AirPlay and Roon). The R3â € ™ s send those low bass tones into the room nice and fat, quite an achievement because they also effortlessly put down the voice of the Icelandic and the faster, higher beats. That can only be controlled as speakers tightly, something with this track but a little later with â ???? Manitoumaniâ ???? of French techno superstar -M- is clearly the case. That absolute control is what the Hegel amps always excel at, which will definitely appeal to electronics enthusiasts who love rousing tracks. Due to the perfectly timed playback on a totally silent background, the feeling of speed is always maintained, which is of course also nice with quiet electronics genres, such as the new â ???? Articulationâ ???? – album by the ambient lovers at Rival Consoles (24-bit/96 kHz via DLNA) where the H 95 in most tracks effortlessly playful synth melodyà Dance in a large space around an underlay of inexorable deep beats.

And completely different genres? They also benefit from the qualities of the H 96. The â ???? Overtureâ ???? from Maurice Jarre’s beautiful soundtrack to the David Lean film classic â ???? Lawrence of Arabiaâ ????, in 2011 re-recorded by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (CD quality via Qobuz and DLNA), is a kind of musical summary of the whole film and the life of the eccentric desert Briton. That makes it very dynamic, with rapid changes between romantic, slow pieces with an Arabic theme, bombastic explosions of orchestral sound in which timpani provide drama and even military marching music. Interesting to know: if this film is shown as intended by Lean, you will hear this Overture without a picture, in complete darkness. In our listening room, we leave the lights on anyway, and note that the Hegel amplifier always switches smoothly, no matter how difficult it gets. Despite its modest power, Jarre’s masterpiece is rendered grand and with a lot of impact, and not exactly at low volume. Which in turn strengthens our belief that a label like “baby-Hegel” ???? really does not fit with this small but potent amplifier.

It is of course a shame that there is no phono input on the H 95 is present, although this is a typical Hegel choice. You should not put a phono preamplifier in the housing, that seems to be the philosophy of the Norwegians. Fortunately, this can be solved quickly with a separate phono amplifier or with a record player with the necessary built-in. When the doorbell rings and the postman throws in the new album of Irish punk rockers DC Fontaines with perfect timing, we gladly take the opportunity to put the disc on the X1 immediately. The group is a bit of a hype phenomenon and you have to love that Dublin accent, but there is little criticism in terms of recording. The Pro-Ject with its own cartridge introduces a bit more warmth than when we stream this album, but that’s no problem. Since the Hegel’s naturally add little color, it is not as bad as a source does. Depending on your taste of course.

Conclusion De Hegel H 95 is a leader in its class, an Integrated amplifier with excellent streaming options, an excellent DAC section and a clean sounding amplifier hatch. It excels in control and power, so you can control quite a few speakers well with this interior-friendly entry-level model from Hegel. Do take your time to find a good match with speakers. Because the Hegel amplifier hardly adds any color, you get to hear the real character of your speakers.

Hegel H 95

1. 695 euro | Â www.hegel.no

Rating 4.5 out of 5