Ah yes , 27 W . I found a review on Dagogo recently, it was specified 18 W . Maybe there were different Ongaku…. But no 8 watts apparently.
There’s Audionote uk and Audionote japan. Weirdly they both have a model called Ongaku, but looking different and one being integrated the other a power amplifier. One 27W, one 20…
I’m going for a demo of an SN3 with the two streamers on Friday. I heard a Hegel 190 at a dealer in the lockdown gap. It was fine, but the build reminded me of my old NAD 3020A.
I hope the SN3 is good, because I really like the look of the Gato 150. Shame I can’t hear one before I hand any money over. I really like the look of that.
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Glad I’m not alone in thinking that the Hegel units look cheap. I agree the Gato as shown in the picture above looks real solid and nice. I’m not sure how much does the Gato cost but it does look like a costly piece of kit. Similarly I like the way it looks. Also, from the photo the form appears to be petite.
Unfortunately I’m already fully settled down with the system but will still check the Gato out for curiosity sake.
The Gato 150 Amp is a full size unit.
They are buy direct from Denmark. Special offer for a while 3,795 Euro, which is about £3,260.
Like the look and the reviews I’ve seen all say how good it is, but too tough I think to buy without hearing one first. They do have a 30 day return scheme, so it is a possibility.
I’m sure the SN3 is a beast, with the ND5 or NDX2, but I keep coming back to the Gato page as it looks so good, (to me.)
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A friend of mine had one of these connected to some ELAC floorstanders. I heard them fed by a Marantz CD player and was highly impressed. He seems to be in a never-ending loop of buying, trying and then selling all sorts of hi-fi equipment. If I remember correctly, he regrets selling the amp and has it on his shortlist of possible end game components (if he ever manages to stop buying and selling in the endless quest for his hi-fi holy grail).
If you buy direct from Denmark, bear in mind that you will probably have to pay customs duty and have some fun sorting out the VAT when it enters the UK. That might make the 30-day return period a less attractive proposition.
This is correct @litemotiv and it was my experience and I stress MY EXPERIENCE (so no need for any twisted knickers) that the slightly boomy bass from my Dynaudio speakers when using several Naim amps has disappeared now I’m using a Hegel H190 that’s not to say that in another room the same Dynaudio, Naim combination would suffer the same boomy bass because quite clearly as stated by a number of forum members they do not.
Of course it’s swings and roundabouts as always with Hifi and my gains in one department more controlled bass extension and the ability to play loud are achieved at the cost of some Naim style drive but it’s a trade off I’m happy with.
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With the correct speakers of course a 1 watt amp can sound sublime.
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Maybe I’m lucky and perhaps I just like cheap looking amps because to my eyes the Hegel looks excellently built and is exceptionally sturdy and at 19kg it has to be and as for plasticky the casework on mine is made entirely of anodised aluminium.
But of course beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
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Rishi might want some monies too for EU products entering the UK market…
[quote=“Mike_S, post:65, topic:17147, full:true”]
This thread is beginning to give a cable thread a run for its money 
More Tower of Babel than Run of Cable
No way, that’s got to be against the rules! :0)
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I’ve heard the H390 recently against the SN3. I would not call it better. H390 has floppier, less controlled bass…with less slam, than SN3. SN3 imaged slightly better as well.
I don’t know how to reconcile this with what others are stating, but I’m confident in my observations.m
What I heard is also congruent with what Jay says about the SN3. His comments regarding bass performance begin at 7:45 where he compared the bass of the SN3 to the H390:
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Firstly @cb01 this post is not directed solely at you but to the forum in general.
Even though I feel I’m repeating myself for the hundredth time I’ll repeat myself anyway, there are many, many, many, variables when comparing Hifi especially amplifiers and speakers simply plugging two amps into the same set up doesn’t work so it’s impossible to say definitively that one comparable amp is better than another.
What you can say is that in this context or in this set up this amp is better than that amp this is why home demos are the best way to buy Hifi and shop demos are sometimes not helpful.
Trying to tell someone who has clearly heard the opposite to you when comparing an amp because of the variables is pointless and repeatedly and forcefully telling them a type of madness. On the old forum it became very common place to end a review or an opinion with the phrase in my system or at the demo but this seems to have been replaced in some quarters with a hammering technique sometimes in tandem with multiple other forum members who’s end result seems to be to convince the dissenter he’s or her own ears/eyes lied to them completely.
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I’m not trying to convince you. I just know what I heard.
You know what you heard. Which I also respect. I’m certainly not trying to change your mind or apply any type of Jedi mind trick here.
However, when presented with the information that is not congruent with multiple observations I’ve made (i.e. an H190 sounds better than an SN3 in a certain area of performance after I’ve heard the SN3 better that Hegel’s bigger brother by a noticeable margin), I find it difficult to reconcile those experiences.
I think it reasonable to provide a counterpoint. If that counterpoint is a commonly observed data point by members, then this could appear to be what you have called “hammering”. I am not sure how to respond to that as I have no ownership in that term. I’m independently relaying my observations here, as are you.
I also acknowledge that loudspeaker loads are complex and that rooms are all individual, with very few being even similar, much less the same.
But, I know what I heard. And I take no collective share in any other forum member’s actions. I am my own. I heard what I heard. I’m simply tendering those observations here.
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Look what I started!
In other news - a friend recapped a nait 1 for me.
Plaything that with the Totem Kin Minis and a $200 schiit dac, and it is running circles around the SN3 system with the p3esr. 
Now the hegels would not even be in the running.
No you didn’t start it. Kierkegaard already disagreed to Hegel in the 19th century.
I cant help but seeing this old dispute in this topic in many posts being repeated.
Opening a can of beer / worms …
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Learned something new today! Thanks.
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I honestly give up no more reading this thread it’s too tiresome.
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Just to add to the confusion… Hegel amps have had stellar reviews in the hifi press (Andrew Everard et al); reviewers can’t all be wrong.
Those reviews can be downloaded from the Hegel site.
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