Stephen Mejias

Norway's Hegel Music Systems has made its way to the US market. I met Hegel and the company's charming founder, Bent Holter, at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show and then again in Las Vegas during the following year. On both occasions, I had a lot of fun listening to music and learning about Holter's designs. As I wrote last year, I was instantly attracted to the designer's combination of tech-talk and passion for music. The guy is at once serious and totally wacky.

Every time we meet, Holter tries to explain his patented SoundEngine technology. He draws diagrams and talks slowly and everything. I never really understand it, but it always seems pretty cool. "It's a dynamic real-time cancelling of error in the system," he told me. So? You've heard of feedback? Holter's technology uses "feed-forward." The result, he says, is reduced intermodulation distortion and an increased damping factor.

Is there a scientist in the house? I don't know what any of this means. Maybe JA knows.

SoundEngine Technology also utilizes a "threshold detector," which identifies, calculates, and eliminates error in the playback chain. And who wants error in their playback chain? Not this guy. Do you?

After all the technical stuff is put aside, Holter enjoys discovering new music. Sounds that had most people running away from me during hi-fi shows, had Holter jotting down band names and track titles. And my music sounded good through the few systems I heard that featured his gear. I remember being impressed by the speed, detail, and clarity.

So it's cool that Hegel has come to the US, I think. But isn't this a crazy time to enter a new market, with all the errors in the current economic playback chain, and whatnot? Holter says no. I'm taking this right off the press release now, FYI:

Many of today's "high-end" brands are OEM'd from a few common sources. Innovation has been supplanted by expedience. Over the past 20 years, Hegel has developed and patented breakthrough technology that sets us apart from our competitors. This innovation gives Hegel an identity and a distinct edge over brands whose products are often only distinguishable by their faceplate.

The current financial crisis benefits Hegel. Our combination of proprietary in-house technology, combined with locally out-sourced assembly, enables Hegel to deliver highly competitive prices in tough economic times.

So, what are those prices? Well, Hegel offers two CD players, two preamplifiers, two power amplifiers, two integrateds, and an S/PDIF-USB DAC (Holter apologizes for all the numbers and letters):

CDP2A CD player: ($2650)
CDP4A: ($4000)
P2A preamplifier: ($2150)
P4A: ($4600)
200Wpc H20 power amplifier: ($5750)
300Wpc H4A: ($8100)
100Wpc H100 integrated, with built-in USB DAC: ($3000)
200Wpc H200: ($4400)
HD10 S/PDIF-USB DAC: ($1200)

And all Hegel products are handsome and modest, with clean lines and quiet faceplates. I like that, and I do believe the physical appearance has something to do with the sound. For more information on Hegel's SoundEngine Technology, the tenuous relationship between caviar and sausage, and listening to naked music, visit the company's very nice website.