Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
These days, the inclusion of a DAC section is almost de rigueur for manufacturers of integrated amps. But Hegel Music Systems has been including DACs in their integrated amps for well over a decade—not just as an option, or only on certain models, but in nearly all of their designs. More recently, Hegel has introduced new integrated amplifiers with streaming functionality via ethernet. And unlike some manufacturers, they have continually improved upon their existing products by evolving them, rather than making radical changes to their circuit designs or even their cosmetics. So, it should come as no surprise that their latest integrated amp, the H150, is nearly identical in specifications and appearance to the model it replaces, the H120. Informally referred to as “the Prodigy” due to its high level of performance and versatility, this new integrated is priced at US$3600, CA$3800, £2750, or €2995, and offers several notable upgrades over its predecessor.
I have been employing the now-discontinued H120 for the past five years in a two-channel system incorporating a video display to watch television and the occasional movie, and also to stream music. It’s a great amp even after all this time, so I had high hopes for this latest Hegel component.
Prodigious . . . yet pragmatic
You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the new H150 and the H120 based on outward appearance. The layout of the large, legible text on the H150’s display is altered slightly, as are the vents on the top panel. But the biggest difference involves the back panel, which I will address a little later. Available in either black or white finishes, the clean, understated look and the high build quality make the H150 appear chic and substantial, and undeniably Hegel-like.
I love the slightly curved lines and chunky feel of Hegel amps. They are both modern and classic-looking, with gently rounded edges and corners, large knobs, and slightly convex faceplates. The knob to the left of the H150’s high-contrast central OLED display is used for input selection, and the one on the right is for volume adjustment. They have a light but positive feel. A 6.35mm (¼″) headphone jack is positioned next to the volume control. The other functions are accessed via Hegel’s small-but-functional RC11 remote control. Its slim profile and relatively large rubber buttons are preferable to the previous RC2 and RC8 remotes, which were larger and boxier, with very small plastic buttons. The menu system accessed via the remote allows control over sleep, auto digital input, display, volume, TV-remote volume, home-theater and DAC loops, and factory-reset functions. The only other control is the power button positioned at the front-center of the bottom plate, as is the case with other Hegel amps.
The back panel features multiple digital inputs, including two optical S/PDIF (TosLink) inputs, and one each of coaxial S/PDIF (RCA), USB‑A for local storage, USB‑B computer, and RJ45 ethernet. There are single pairs of analog XLR and RCA inputs, and both an RCA variable line-level output and a coaxial S/PDIF (RCA) output, along with RCA inputs and a grounding post for the MM phono stage. High-quality speaker binding posts and a standard IEC power inlet are also provided. Measuring 3.9″H × 17″W × 13.8″D and weighing 21.4 pounds, the H150 is relatively compact, but still quite weighty.
The optical S/PDIF inputs are limited to 24‑bit/96kHz, but USB‑B computer, USB‑A for local storage devices, coaxial S/PDIF, and network connections all support up to 24/192 PCM. Users have the ability to fix the volume level of most inputs for use as home-theater inputs, and the single RCA digital output can be used as part of a DAC loop to send digital signals to an external DAC and then back in through the XLR analog input. This allows users to continue to take advantage of the unit’s streaming capabilities when upgrading with a high-end external DAC. Supported file formats include MP3, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AAC, PCM, and Ogg.
Available for Android and iOS, the companion Hegel Control app works with newer Hegel components like the H150, in addition to the higher-end H400 and H600 amplifiers, previously reviewed by Philip Beaudette. The app’s interface is well laid out and provides intuitive and reliable control over input selection, playback—including access to files over the network and on local USB storage devices—network management, and firmware information and updates. Though it took a while for the app to index a large file library I had on a USB drive, once this was completed, navigation and playback were relatively snappy.
The H150 supports Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, and UPnP/DLNA. The Hegel Control app adds support for Airable internet radio and podcasts. Following a firmware update on December 15, 2025, the H150 received Roon Ready certification.
Hegel is relatively tight-lipped about the specifics of their DAC designs. They do not boast of having the latest and most expensive DAC chips, or the highest sampling rates and word lengths. Rather, they stress that the particular implementation of any DAC chip, and the associated digital and analog circuitry around it, are as important—if not more so—than the DAC chip itself. They don’t specify which chip is used in the H150, but Anders Ertzeid, longtime VP of sales and marketing for Hegel, indicated that it was different from the one used in the H120. He also pointed me to their website’s description of their Optimized Clock technology, which is meant to provide optimal performance for the implementation of each of their DACs. According to the signal-path information available in Roon, all of the incoming signals were resampled to 105.47kHz—what Hegel Optimized Clock has determined to be the optimal sampling frequency for the H150’s DAC architecture.
The class‑AB power amplifier section features Hegel’s SoundEngine technology with feed-forward correction and is rated at 2 × 75W into 8 ohms @ 1kHz, 1% THD, with a minimum recommended load of 2 ohms and a damping factor of more than 2000. Hegel also rates the H150 with an SNR of more than 100dB, crosstalk of less than ‑100dB, and harmonic distortion less than 0.01% @ 50W, 8 ohms, 1kHz. There are two toroidal transformers for individual power supplies separating the input and voltage-gain stages from the current-output stages.
On paper, the specifications make the H150 seem nearly identical to the H120. However, in addition to the reworked DAC section, Ertzeid noted that the overall quality of the main power supply, internal signal routing, and shielding of sensitive components have all been substantially upgraded to provide improved performance.
Hegel amps may not be inexpensive, but they have always offered what I consider to be good value, and such is the case with the H150. It has upgraded circuitry and additional streaming and digital connectivity options compared to the H120, and perhaps most importantly to some, a built-in MM phono preamp. Its two-year warranty may be kind of mid, but otherwise I was very impressed with the overall package provided by this latest Hegel integrated amplifier.
Easy does it
Even though it has multiple connectivity options, including streaming capability, the H150 is quite straightforward to set up. Ethernet is the only network-connection option available, so there was no configuration required as with Wi-Fi connections. I actually prefer physical network connections, since they should be faster and more stable, although this should not really be a concern with audio-only signals. When I first connected the Hegel to my home network, Roon recognized the H150 as an output device via Chromecast and AirPlay 2, and later as a Roon Ready device after the requisite automatic firmware update. Although I didn’t utilize it for the review, I connected the USB-B input to my mini PC to ensure that this was functional, and it connected as a WASAPI device in Roon. Setting up the home-theater and DAC loops is accomplished by pressing the Select button on the remote for five seconds to access the menu system and then navigating to the appropriate submenus. I did not utilize this feature either, but found that navigating the menu system was simple and intuitive.
I first connected the H150 to a pair of Paradigm Monitor SE 8000Fs, replacing the H120 in a two-channel system in my smaller family room consisting of a Hisense U88N-series LCD television, Android cable box, Nvidia Shield TV Pro media player, and Reavon UBR‑X110 4K Ultra HD universal BD player. Later, I did much of my critical listening through a pair of MartinLogan Masterpiece Classic ESL 9 loudspeakers in my larger listening room, with the main source being a Beelink mini PC running Windows 11 and Roon, and streaming Tidal and locally stored ripped digital files. Other sources consisted of a Technics SL‑1500C turntable with Ortofon 2M Black cartridge and an Oppo Digital UDP‑205 4K Ultra HD universal BD player.
Accessories used with the system were Analysis Plus Chocolate Oval‑In interconnects and Chocolate 12/2 speaker cables, ESP MusicCord‑Pro ES power cables, generic Cat 6 and TosLink optical cables, and power products from Blue Circle Audio and Zerosurge.
Living up to the name
Watching an NFL broadcast on the Fox network with the Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F speakers, there was lifelike ambience from the stadium crowd as the voices of the play-by-play announcers cut through the nearly constant din of the boisterous fans. The H150 faithfully reproduced the crunching sounds of linemen crashing together at the line of scrimmage, their helmets and shoulder pads meeting in a cacophony of equipment and bodies colliding with great force, the reproduction heightening my enjoyment of the spectacle.
I later turned to Apple TV for a more cerebral, but no less visceral, television experience from one of their latest series, Pluribus. In a scene from episode 3 of the first season, just after the character of Carol Sturka, played by Rhea Seehorn, mistakenly detonates a hand grenade, the crackling sound of residual fires and the dialogue were finely delineated from the deep, foreboding soundtrack. And just as the music was creating an overwhelmingly dark tenor to the scene, a far-off siren signaled a faint sense of hope as it slowly grew louder, providing a welcome rush of relief.
When I cranked some music to volume levels higher than those required for watching television, the H150 responded by controlling the Paradigms with authority. The rapid drumbeat of “The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Extended Remaster Version #2)” from A‑ha’s Hunting High and Low (30th Anniversary Edition) (16‑bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Rhino / Warner Records / Tidal) was taut, yet deep and satisfying, filling every gap between the widely spaced synth and keyboards. Their live acoustic version of “Take on Me” from MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice (24/96 FLAC, ripped from Polydor Blu-ray Disc 0602557929584) sounded smooth and nuanced. Morten Harket’s measured vocal performance, 30 years after recording the studio version of this song, came across as softly lilting and beautiful in this pensive reimagining of the band’s iconic hit.
As expected, the H150 was easily able to handle television programming and music-streaming sources through the Paradigm Monitor SE 8000Fs in my smaller family-room system. The bass might have been a tad tighter than it had been with the H120, but otherwise I was unable to discern much difference between the two Hegel amps. I was very satisfied with the performance of the H150 in this system and was in no particular hurry to move it into my larger main system while I completed reviews of other components there.
But after I inserted the H150 into my larger system with the MartinLogan Masterpiece Classic ESL 9 loudspeakers and began playing music, I immediately perked up. From the opening moments of Trevor Horn’s cover of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” from Horn’s Echoes: Ancient & Modern (24/192 FLAC, Deutsche Grammophon / Tidal), there was an exceptionally open sound with no evidence of strain. The plucking of the acoustic guitar was strikingly fast and clean amongst the more languid bowed strings, and Andrea Corr’s vocals were placed roughly within the same plane, but with plenty of air and space to their sides. As the strings and guitar gently vied for prominence in the mix, the bass guitar and drums slowly crept in and filled the remaining space between the speakers with rich low frequencies. The result was a lusciously smooth arrangement gently floating between my speakers.
Gabrielle Aplin’s wispy vocals from her cover of “Dancing in the Dark” from Trevor Horn Reimagines the Eighties (16/44.1 FLAC, BMG / Tidal) had significant presence and immediacy, as they were placed well in front of the wall of sound produced by the Sarm Orchestra. And even when the music surged and swelled, the vocals were clearly differentiated from the orchestra. The H150 excelled with both the relaxed, unforced sound of “White Wedding” and the additional dynamics and snappier tempo of “Dancing in the Dark.”
Control of deep bass is often cited as evidence of an amplifier’s ability to drive difficult speaker loads. The H150 was able to do this with the ESL 9s by filling my room with articulate and satisfying bass, but I was most impressed by its ability to reproduce dynamic vocals. You might not think that the late Eva Cassidy’s live acoustic performance at Blues Alley on Nightbird (16/44.1 FLAC, Blix Street Records / Tidal) would be a good test of an amplifier, but this extended and remastered recording, first released in 1996 as Live at Blues Alley, is stunning and dynamic. Her rendition of the title track, Doug MacLeod’s ”Nightbird,” slowly builds to a spectacular peak. There was a touch of hardness in her vocals when she hit the highest, loudest notes, but the H150 still exhibited exceptional composure for an amplifier in this price range. And the rest of the deeply sombre interpretation was so relaxed and open, with exceptional detail and depth, that it left me in awe of Eva’s performance and the Hegel’s reproduction of it.
Hegel chief designer Bent Holter describes the H150 as having “an excellent MM phono stage,” in addition to a very good DAC and a very capable streaming section. While its phono section won’t compete with high-quality separate phono preamplifiers, it did sound marvellous when matched with my Technics SL‑1500C turntable and Ortofon 2M Black cartridge. Vocals were free-flowing and convincing on “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” from Elvis Presley’s ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits (LP, RCA / Legacy 88875111961), and on “In the Ghetto,” the orchestra and backing vox were equally at ease. I was thoroughly enjoying how this amp suspended the aural images dreamily in front of me when everything snapped into sharp relief on a subsequent track, “Suspicious Minds.” The now-larger sound of the orchestra had real power behind it, and even though the instrumentation was more pronounced on this track, Elvis’s rich, lyrical baritone and the backing vocals were appropriately prominent. In combination with my vinyl rig, this LP sounded about as detailed through the Hegel amp as the 24/96 FLAC files ripped from the DVD‑Audio version of the album (DVD‑A, RCA 07863 65053‑9), but with a pleasing added touch of smoothness.
Deutsche Grammophon’s newly remastered The Original Source (TOS) pressing of their 1974 recording of Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik (LP, Deutsche Grammophon 486 5632) exhibited stellar dynamics. This record will challenge any system’s ability to reproduce very quiet passages. The opening of the second movement presented the distant, solitary snare shrouded in darkness, and provided a hauntingly echoing introduction to the gently plucked string sections. Later, the full-on assault of a fanfare of horns was jarring, but genuine. The H150’s ability to present these contrasts—from the very quietest moments to frighteningly loud peaks—with ease was astounding.
The headphone output of the H150 also comfortably drove my HiFiMan HE400se cans. The percussive beat of “La Femme Chinoise” from Yellow Magic Orchestra’s eponymous album (24/96 FLAC, Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. / Tidal) was tight and tuneful, although it didn’t quite have that last bit of articulation in the faint decay of each beat. Nonetheless, the sound quality was enjoyable and good for a built-in headphone output.
Sibling rivalry and more
As mentioned, I didn’t notice much difference in performance between the H150 and the older Hegel H120 (discontinued; US$3300 when available, US$1995 for remaining stock) when used with the modestly priced Paradigm Monitor SE 8000Fs. But it was quite a different experience when driving the larger, more expensive, and more demanding MartinLogan Masterpiece ESL 9 hybrid electrostatic loudspeakers. I did most of my listening to the H150 through the MLs and was extremely satisfied, and I felt rather surprised that an amplifier in this price range could drive these speakers so well.
Mitsou’s “Bye Bye Mon Cowboy (Pettibone’s long version)” from her debut album, El Mundo (16/44.1 FLAC, Isba / Tidal), has the wide-open and commanding soundstage of a well-mixed dance track. With the H150, the comical-sounding bullet ricochet that opens the track extended further to the outsides of the speakers than it did through the H120; so did the accompanying cowbell and washboard-like effect. As the multitude of drumbeats bounced around the soundstage, their image outlines were drawn more precisely and placed more distinctly from one another with the H150. Using the H120, I initially thought that the bass was a tad louder and deeper, but after switching back to the H150, it became apparent that the H120 was a little less controlled, resulting in more diffuse but larger images that merely gave the impression of more deep bass. The low frequencies of the H150 were punchier and faster, providing more pace to the upbeat tempo and impeccably complementing Mitsou’s buoyant vocals, which remained more composed and lucid at high volumes. I can’t remember ever having as much fun with an amplifier in this price range as I did with the H150.
In many ways, the H150 reminded me of the Cambridge Audio EXA100 (US$2399, CA$3299, £1999, €2199), which also punched way above its weight class. While I haven’t had the Cambridge in my system for a while, I recall that it sounded bigger and weightier than the H120, but a touch less refined. Like the Cambridge, the H150 had a powerful sound. However, it also improved upon the precise and sophisticated character of the H120 as described above, reaching a whole other level of performance and distinguishing itself from those two amps.
While the H150 is a wonderful amp, it still won’t challenge NAD’s fantastic Masters M33, with its transparent-sounding Purifi Eigentakt amplification technology and Dirac Live room-correction system. However, the current V2 version of the M33 is priced at US$7199, double the price of the H150. Even something like the non-streaming version of the very solid Roksan Caspian 4G, with its excellent phono stage, now retails for US$6000.
Fulfilling the prophecy
Not only does the Hegel H150 provide a significant overall boost in performance over its predecessor in addition to adding a truly fine phono stage, it adds native support for many streaming protocols and compatibility with the well-executed Hegel Control app. Its price is also well below that of most of its competition. In fact, the H150 provides much of the performance and many features found in some integrated amplifier–DACs costing significantly more. With the steadily rising cost of high-end audio, the H150 offers class-leading performance and class-leading value.
. . . Roger Kanno
rogerk@soundstagenetwork.com
Note: for the full suite of measurements from the SoundStage! Audio-Electronics Lab, click here.
Associated Equipment:
- Loudspeakers: MartinLogan Masterpiece Classic ESL 9, Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F
- Headphones: HiFiMan HE400se
- Preamplifier: Lyngdorf Audio MP‑40 2.1 audio/video processor
- Power amplifier: Lyngdorf Audio MXA‑8400 multichannel power amplifier
- Integrated amplifier: Hegel Music Systems H120
- Digital sources: Beelink mini PC running Windows 11, Roon, and Tidal; Nvidia Shield TV Pro, Oppo Digital UDP‑205 4K Ultra HD universal BD player
- Phono preamplifier–ADC: miniDSP ADept
- Analog source: Technics SL-1500C turntable with Ortofon 2M Black cartridge
- Speaker cables: Analysis Plus Chocolate Oval 12/2, Shunyata Research Venom-X
- RCA and XLR interconnects: Analysis Plus Chocolate Oval-In, Shunyata Research Venom-X
- USB link: Analysis Plus Purple Plus
- Power cords: Essential Sound Products MusicCord-Pro ES, Clarus Aqua
- Power conditioners: Blue Circle Audio PLC Thingee FX-2 with X0e low-frequency filter module, ZeroSurge 1MOD15WI
Hegel Music Systems H150 streaming integrated amplifier
Price: US$3600, CA$3800, £2750, €2995
Warranty: Two years, parts and labor
Hegel Music Systems
PB26, Blindern
0314 Oslo, Norway
Phone: +47 22-60-56-60
Fax: +47 22-69-91-56
Email: info@hegel.com
Website: www.hegel.com
Hegel America Inc.
Fairfield, IA
Phone: (413) 224-2480
Email: usa@hegel.com