Since 4 of my replies have been declined I would like to let posters know that I have not ignored their comments. |
Swampwalker,
Certainly not a trend. A rare but possible flaw. I have no indication of exactly what may be happening here and if these 2 cases are related. It just seems odd to me since the Hegel head office were not only dismissive but "me thinks he doth protest too much". What's the point if there is indeed nothing wrong? This sent out a warning flag, in my mind, that there may be something going on that is not being acknowledged. |
Onhwy61,
No hidden agenda at all. Just wanting to hear from folks about any similar problems.
Sorry it was not posted -- I stated the problem in an earlier post that was deleted. The problem was one channel producing distorted sound or no sound at all. Hegel first hung up on me calling my case "bulls**t". Then they agreed to talk to me to try to help "in whatever way we can". But after 45 minutes on the phone with their customer service manager they refused to help -- in any way.
I was astounded by Hegel's response. I have never had such an experience with any other audio company. In all the years of dealing with dozens of audio companies I have been thorough only one similar case. This was years ago with an AMR DAC. They finally admitted there were 2 design flaws and they stood behind their product 100%. |
Onhwy61,
With all due respect, I don't feel my question is loaded. It is simply a query.
I have a follow-up question. Has anyone had any experience dealing with Hegel customer service? |
Denon1,
Thanks for posting your story about Hegel. I find it interesting that this happened to you -- and that Hegel had an excuse not to back their product, as in my own case. You have confirmed something important here regarding Hegel, IMO.
Their excuse in my case: they insisted there was something wrong with my system -- that it was impossible there was a problem with their amp! They said I needed to dismantle my system to find out what was preventing the H20 from integrating with it. I found this very strange. In all the years, I have never had a single problem with "integrating" any component from any other company. And that means dozens of components from dozens of well-known companies. |
Knghifi,
I did not run the H20 in series.
Wolf_garcia,
I agree. I am astonished that Hegel did not make any attempt at all to help out. It perplexes me why they would simply walk away from their own product.
Ghosthouse,
I agree that "it's in Hegel's best business interests to quickly address such complaints". With all due respect, I believe I was clear about what happened. I stated in an earlier post, above, that "The flaw is one channel producing distorted sound or no sound at all." |
Onhwy61,
You're very welcome. You make a good point.
Ghosthouse,
No problem. Thank you very much, but I live overseas. I have been up up against the wall for months. With a defective unit and no help from Hegel I had to make a difficult decision. I have sold the H20 back to the dealer -- at a large loss. |
Knghifi and Ghosthouse,
I tried to work with Hegel and the dealer for months. They would not budge. Both insisted there must be something wrong with my system. They insisted I eliminate whatever was preventing the H20 from integrating with my system. The only problem is there is nothing wrong with my system. This was a Catch-22 for me. There was really only one possible decision. |
Abucktwoeighty,
It is certainly not the inconnects. I use Anti-Cables, Furutech, Shunyata and Elrod interconnnects. |
P59teitel,
I have just recently sold the H20 back to the dealer -- at a large loss.
Donjr,
Thank you for your sympathetic post. Your observation about the designer may explain a lot regarding how I was treated by two of Hegel's employees. |
Almarg,
The REL was connected to the speaker binding posts via the Synergistic Research REL cable.
My system is fully balanced from wall to speakers. |
Jon2020,
I live in a remote part of Asia. It was shipped to me here and I had no alternative but to ship it back and take what they would give me for it. They would not give the 30-day guarantee that is usually standard with Hegel dealers.
P59teitel,
The dealer did as much as he felt he could under the circumstances after claiming there was nothing wrong with the unit. I was between a rock and a very hard place. I really had no other choice but to take what he would give me.
Knghifi,
I tried bypassing the pre. No luck. I do not run ICs in series anymore. So that was not an issue.
The dealer claimed there was nothing wrong with the unit. He claimed there was something wrong with my system. Hegel claimed the same thing. The only difference here was that Hegel was abusive where he was never abusive. There is nothing wrong with my system. There has never been a single glitch with my system in all the years. It runs flawlessly.
I have replaced the Hegel H20 with my Atma-Sphere S-30 that was unavailable for a while. No problem with Ralph Karsten's great product. Ralph has always backed his product 100% and has always been a terrific gentleman -- in contrast with Hegel. When you pay that kind of money for a component you expect, at the very least, that the company will stand behind their product and that you will be treated well. |
Almarg,
I connected the REL and the H20 together. The ground wire was attached to the left channel. The problem was the sound coming out of the right speaker. So, the REL could not have caused this problem.
Even supposing the REL may have been the culprit in some hidden way, why would the dealer or Hegel not ask about sub connections and make appropriate suggestions instead of saying I needed to dismantle my system? Surely, this problem would have shown up earlier with thousands of Hegel products out there, some of which must surely be attached to REL subs. I think it is clear that the REL was a moot point. |
Almarg,
Thank you very much for this helpful suggestion. I will give it a try. |
Knghifi,
The Atma-Sphere S-30 drives the Raidho C1.1s with more than enough headroom thanks to Paul Speltz Zero-Autotransformers. |
Knghifi,
Ralph Karsten or Paul Speltz may want to chime in with a technical explanation. The fact is that without the Speltz Zeros the Raidho C1.1s are hard to drive. But with them the sound is stunning and there is loads of headroom. |
Knghifi,
You stated, "I auditioned Atma-Sphere M-60 with Paul Speltz Zero-Autotransformer driving Acoustic Zen Crescendo. It sounds fantastic on less demanding material but overall had trouble controlling the speaker."
There are 3 or 4 levels of adjustment with the Zero-Autotransformers. Perhaps the level was not the correct one. Is that possible? I am puzzled about your lack of success with the Speltz. How did this control problem manifest itself in terms of SQ? |
Knghifi,
With my system, SQ and transparency improved a lot with the S-30. I can think of 2 possibilities here -- the driver tubes and system synergy. It took me months to find the best tubes for the S-30. And it has taken years to optimize the S-30 with cables, tweaks and accessories. So, the reason for this happening in your case may not be apparent. |
Knghifi,
If you heard my system your posts would sound very hopeful! Lol. |
Knghifi,
I believe you may be confused about what the Zeros are all about vis a vis OTL amps. |
:
Post #1.
Rlwainwright,
Kindly note that I did not state or infer “conspiracy”. I stated “a rare but possible flaw”. Please read my post carefully. Also, please note that I am not protesting here. My OP is in the form of a simple question — “Hegel Design Flaw?”. And my text simply asks “Has anyone else had problems with Hegel?”
Peter_s,
I have no idea why this is under cables. An error somewhere, obviously. The flaw is one channel producing distorted sound or no sound at all. Kindly note that I did not say or infer a trend. I simply stated “a rare but possible flaw”. Please read my post carefully.
Post #2.
Xti16,
Your point is obvious. But that was not my question.
Post #3.
Xti16,
The surprise was that they refused to stand behind their product — with vehemence. Which led me to believe there may be something going on here. |
Mribob,
Whenever products work as expected then talking about not standing behind the product or not giving good customer service is a moot point. But when things go wrong that's when you may find out things you would rather not have found out.
You stated, "... occasionally some components fail on almost all manufacturers gear." I agree. As I stated earlier, what I am reporting must be a rare failure. But when it does happen -- as your post indicates, these things do happen with all manufacturers -- one would expect at least a modicum of courtesy, sympathy and respect from the manufacturer after paying many thousands of dollars for their product. One would also expect the manufacturer to stand behind their product. Before this case I had never seen any manufacturer who, when things turned bad, refused to take any responsibility and were abusive to the customer. These are the only points I am trying to make here. |
I notice a lot of Hegel products are up for sale lately -- no mention of a design flaw. Who would mention a design flaw when trying to sell an allegedly world-class product? Don’t expect any help at all from Hegel on this one. They will tell you there’s something wrong with your system. Your have to start with their world-class product and then rebuild your system around it. Never heard of such world-class nonsense in high end audio before -- complete with verbal abuse from the top people in this world-class audio company. My opinion is that you are entering the audio casino when you purchase Hegel. Maybe everything with be just fine -- but maybe not. |
