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Hegel found after careful listening that it did not make a difference.

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I’ve tried one or two Naim amps with these speakers and despite their internal neatness and the fact they where built in Wiltshire they where all inferior to the Hegel H190.

The day before I bought the Hegel I was offered a an ex demo Supernait 2 for a few hundred pound less but after I studied the internal layouts of both and agonised over the fact that the Hegel was built in China call me old fashioned but I went for the one that sounded better in my system I know how crazy is that?

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You’ll upset the fan boys!!

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All that matters is if your happy!! Your money your ears your happiness that’s what it’s all about! We are all hear because we love music and the joy of trying to find what we like best. So keep doing your thing!

Just to make it my clear my comment above were about the lawn mower engine and nothing to do with Bobs amp. I’ve only heard good things about Hegel stuff.

Those engine pictures were cool thanks for sharing

I don’t like the layout of the Naim amplifiers, especially in the heat management department. They are crammed into too small of an area and seem to use the whole case as a heat sink. The Nova has tiny little fins on the sides. The Supernait doesn’t even look like it has any kind of fins at all. I don’t know how these amps can handle full load for any period of time.

So you have problems with Naim amps overheating?

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There seems to be a few things you don’t like, feet, inside Naim amps. What’s next, hope you’re not intending to visit the pet threads. :rofl::rofl:

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The don’t “seem” to. They do. It is not a secret and the use of the case as a heatsink is a really elegant design. Because it is so thick and a uniform sleeve, for most products, it is sufficient without any additional heatsink mass. I’m not sure what the problem is here. They handle tough loads for prolonged periods with no problems.

Tales of 250s tripping the thermal cut out etc. are generally confined to driving really unsuitable loads in balmy summer conditions. The overwhelming majority of users have never experienced a cut out. I certainly have never heard of it outside of the context of the forum. Conversely, I have heard of plenty of cut outs on non Naim gear that that employed large heatsinks but were ultimately less effective that the total case approach.

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I live in Sydney it generally gets hot in summer and my 250 gets a serious workout at various levels and I’ve never had it clip. The cases can sometimes seem hot but it’s never effected their performance.

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Ah, that’s what I thought. Not a good design decision. So it cooks all the components on the inside. Capacitors don’t like that and it will shorten their life. So they hope the case can radiate enough heat to keep the transistors below their operating point. It makes it even worse in a tight Fraim rack.

Ha! I don’t look at that one because I can’t stands dogs! I’m pretty good with anything else.

Good thing this isn’t a food forum. There’s lots of things I don’t like in that department! :joy:

I suggest you sell that pile of badly design crap NDX/XPS then. You clearly know more than Naim.

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Not a fan of cats.

Hegel H160 amplifier

have a look at the speaker output wires touching the capacitors and other wiring going between the capacitors

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Hegel H80

Please note the yellow wire on the of the transformer.

Also the speaker output wires going between the capacitors

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This is an interesting video about the quality of the watts.

To get even more performance from those demanding old Dynaudio Contours…

There are full class D amplifiers which have more grunt than the Hegel H160 which will push the Dynaudios even louder, and better than Hegel in that particular room.

Hegel H160 power output
Power output spk: 150 w/pc into 8 Ohms, 250 w/pc into 4 Ohms

NAD M33 power output

  • 200 W into 8 ohms >380 W into 4 ohms

Since the old Dynaudio contour being used is rated at 4 ohms, 380 watts certainly should bring them to life a lot better than the Hegel.

Food for thought

The NAD M33 got many awards, and looks neat from inside. designed in Canada, and made in China. I will try to audition one soon. However I need a proper all analogue amplifier for my Chord Dave. Still fun to audition.

images-38

Last buy not least why not get more flexible speaker cable than A5 for usage with Hegel H160?

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Because Naim don’t use cheap bent tin as a box, they’re able to use the actual casework as a heatsink. Take the Supernait you mention as an example; the output devices are thermally bonded to the chassis and to the extruded sleeve case. Rather neat.

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The issue with all the " designed somewhere you know, built somewhere else" set up is simple.

Has the designer specified everything, including the important aspects of how it’s built? And if yes, how do they ensure it happens?

Even before covid, travel to some parts of the manufacturering world was hard. Even if due to distance. And even then, are you actually going to inspect prior to shipment into a 40 foot container?

Reality is a lot is placed in trust. But I’ve never seen trust used in any company quality manual/system.
Quality is about being fit for ( intended) use. Does it matter what it looks like inside if it does not affect the items intended use? Perhaps not, but if it looks like it’s designed it most likely is.

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