Hegel H300

Curious how the Hegel H300 and the Musical Fidelity M6500i going head to head, as to which one would be the better performer? Anyone have an opinion comparing the two?

Donjr..I read Hans Wetzel's reviews of the H300 and the M6 500i. No clear winner. The Hegel is more neutral and forward, and the MF is warmer and more laid back. Hans did have a problem with the remote control with the M6-500i when adjusting the volume. I previously owned the Musical Fidelity A308 Preamp back in 2004 and had the same problem. The remote would only work in a straight line in front of the Pre and would not work when sitting to the left or right. The remote for the MF M6-500i looks like a very cheap piece of plastic junk that comes with a home theater in a box system at Kmart. You would think after all these years later that Musical Fidelity would apply a little more class and provide a remote with much better build quality. Its just not a concern with them.

One positive point to note..A week ago Anders at Hegel denied in an email to me that silicon germanium transistors
are used in the H-300 integrated. He finally admitted in an email I received form him yesterday that they are used in the H-300 since I disclosed to him an article and review
in a French High End magazine from last year on the H-300 that silicon germanium transistors are in the Pre-amp
stage of the H-300. These same transistors are also in the flagship H-30 amplifier and the new P-20 Preamp.

Another Integrated amplifier that may be a better investment than the Hegel H-300 is the CODA CSIb which has better build quality than the Hegel with a larger power supply and a transformer twice as large as the one in the Hegel. WBT binding post and tiffany RCA inputs. 330 watts into 8ohms and 660 watts into 4ohms. Easily drive 1ohm loads. Very rich, warm tube like sound. Smooth as silk. Retails for $5800.00 Hand built in California with a ten year warranty. Weighs 55 pounds.

Back myself up? You betchum junior! The founding engineer's
at Coda are Eric Lauchli, Doug Dale, the President of the company, and Lorin Peterson. They are legendary. They were the designer's with Nelson Pass at Threshold back in the 80's. Threshold was a world class leader in soild state components. The build and sound quality of Threshold was outstanding. The Hegel H-300 uses a 1kVA transformer. The Coda CSIb uses a 2kVA transformer. Twice as large. The Hegel peaks at 120 amperes per channel. The Coda peaks at 150 amperes per channel. Coda only sells factory direct in the states. Over 80% of their sales are in Europe with France being their largest customer. They don't advertise in the states. Why? Very strong word of mouth reputation.
Their products sell themselves. Would Hegel be in business if they didn't advertise? I doubt it.

Just read the late April review of the H-300 in TAS by Chris Thomas. Very disappointing. Too short and too brief of a review. Chris describes the sound as a little soft but did not go into detail of all the performance aspects that are covered in more extensive reviews. He must've wrote the review while he was stuck in traffic.

Donjr..Thr Coda web address is Coda.cc

IMO, the CODA CSIb is a superior integrated compared to the Hegel H-300 for under $10K. Cost is $5800.00 and is better built than the Hegel and far more powerful. Much larger transformer and power output. Puts out 330 watts into 8ohms and 660 watts into 4ohms. Peaks at 150 amperes per channel. Much better build quality and a superior remote control. The Hegel has average quality RCA inputs you would find on the back of a A/V receiver. The CODA has heavy duty tiffany RCA inputs which are much better quality. Also, the Coda runs cooler and the top cover is solid so you don't have to worry about dust getting under the hood and onto the boards and chassis floor. And the CODA engineers have a more distinguished resume going back thirty years over Hegel.