Hegel vs PS Audio Stellar - Conclusion. Group Discussion

After each of us compared the 2 independently, we came together to discuss our findings, and our verdicts.
As always, our impressions are our own. There is no script, no party line, just our honest feedback
Hegel Rost is $3,500 CDN
PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC/Preamp + S300 amp is $4,698 CDN
Would love to hear your feedback. Please share!
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Check out our interviews with designers like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus faber and others.
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[@tritiumglo4699]

Now, this is interesting. The PS Audio vs Parasound. The PS Audio was referred to as bright. Here we refer to the PS Audio as warm. Warmer than Hegel. Hegel is often considered one of the warmest personalities in audio. I suspect a wide spectrum of variables are effecting the results with these comparisons.

[@spectralmeat]

I am the person that bought the demo H190 unit. Sorry I didn't know you wanted to use it for a comparison. I absolutely love the amp though. It's almost like it sounds better and better the more I use it. Thank you again Vilip and Adrian for the demo and help with this purchase

[@spectralmeat]

@@adrianlow2114 Yup, I am responsible hehe

[@labalo5]

H190 is a super integrated! Good choice. I have one on demo right now

[@bhoff19751]

Thank you guys. I appreciated this video.

[@CraigK80]

Let’s have the P30+H30 review guys! Keep up the Good work

[@ryaneickmeyer6191]

Great video, keep up the good work. I would love to hear you guys speak on the 'Musical Fidelity' brand - specifically their M6si integrated duel mono.

[@jpniemand7926]

@Ryan Eickmeyer, I own the same amp, and it out of this world.

[@cau8365]

Very informative! Can't wait for the next episode.

[@tigsmartpt]

Good review

[@johnkristian]

I have a H590 and has been curious about PS Audios products. Thnx for great videos

[@Quattro5081]

Hva slags høytalere forer du Hegeln med?

[@johnkristian]

@@Quattro5081 Dynaudio Confidence C2

[@jeffadams9699]

Without doubt John, you want the PS Audio! That 590 is garbage compared to Pas Audio. So I’ll be a Good Samaritan and take it off of your hands. Lol. In all seriousness, that 590 is the last amp you’ll ever need. I’ve heard one myself and it’s ridiculously great. I have a Rost right now, just ordered an H190 and one day I’ll make it to the 590 or whatever it is called by then.

[@IronCan88]

@@jeffadams9699 hi, in a way I feel h390 is better overall if 250w is enough for you. I personally have h390 and I like that all the inputs support MQA ...whereas the h590 only the usb supports MQA. Also h390 is newer in terms of release date.

[@fisch1139]

Audio is a lot clearer 👍🏼👍🏼 I see everyone has their own mike.

[@photorolensoman8101]

To much bass in the voices. Lower the bass, and the preamp gain and bring the microphones closer to you.

[@cliffordcostley9798]

I would have preferred to have the Parasound New Classic 275 V2 preamp paired with the New Classic 2125 V2 or 2250 V2 amps operating in their 2ohm range in this comparison.

[@AnimusInvidious]

i would use pink noise instead of a 1kHz tone for level matching. Otherwise, unless they both happen to have the exact same response at 1k, one will end up playing louder than the other.

[@jonuiuc]

Very cool, when you do the Hegal P90 and the Parasound NewClassic 200, can you let us know if they are able to properly handle the .7 and the 1.7i magnepans, I gather they are both fine for the LRS. (I'm not sure if the Magnepans power requirements increase depending on size or not, I know thats not always the case).

[@jonuiuc]

Not sure if your store carries the Parasound Halo Hint 6, but since its comparable in price to the Rost and the Stellar stack, was wondering how its character compares to these two.

[@BillLeigh2]

Thanks for putting your thoughts out there guys, it’s a shame the timing wouldn’t let you have either the H190 or the new H120. My take away is that the Röst is about 1400 cheaper than the PS audio combo, yet 2 of you prefer it and 1 sees it as a draw. I look after Hegel in the U.K. so I’m not surprised it was so close despite the cost difference. I’m not sure what source you used, but the digital side of the H120 is a big step up from the Röst so if you go in digital the H120 would be even stronger than the Röst. These things are not easy to do so well done, and I wish you success with the business.

[@JBOsurf]

Fonzie called. He wants his jacket back.

[@mikerdaniels1]

Have Jadis for many years. Thinking of replacing because of age. Are any of the new solid state (Hegel) amps to be considered?

[@MikeYoungeasytravel]

Hi, I would like you to compare the Hegel H30 to PS Audio Stellar M700.

[@shahidyt]

Does the Röst have a balanced circuit? Just wondering if I should switch from RCA to XLR between the Denafrips Ares2 and the Röst?

[@shahidyt]

Adrian Low yes, the Röst has 1 set of true balanced XLR input. I’ve ordered a XLR to XLR (The Chord Company Shawline inter-connector) as my local dealer had 20% off. I wanted to know whether it is worth dropping £200 for XLR to XLR rather than RCA to RCA. Guess I’ll find out soon! My query was whether the circuit was true balanced or not

[@joeythedime1838]

What's your thoughts about using the Hegel Rost to power a pair of Polk 705's? I had a NAD C 375BEE (2x150W) that bit the dust. The NAD did an ok job, just wonder if the Hegel's 2x75W is enough. My other thought is going to a Vincent SV-237MK.

[@andreasmoller9798]

I had that nad upgraded to Hegel h190 buge difference Hegel has better details deeper and better basscontrol i feel it can go louder without geting harsh, you get amazing dac and AirPlay/dlna

[@Ivy13276]

Love Hegel

[@scottkasper6378]

The middle guy can’t get through a 15 minute video without hydrating and swallowing into the mic every minute

Do any of these high end components sound better than another or just different?

[@IronCan88]

I have the Hegel h390....just realized it doesn't have a built in headphone out like the h190 I demoed. Do you know if there is anyway to add headphone out to the h390 via some sort of adapter/attachment? Thank you. Love the Hegel H390.

[@poetryonplastic]

You can easily run a separate headphone amp from the “fixed out” rca on the rear, that’s what I do on my 390. A separate headphone amp almost always going to sound better.

[@IronCan88]

@@poetryonplastic what model are you using as the headphone amp? Thanks

[@poetryonplastic]

@@IronCan88 I’m using an Icon Audio HP8 Signature with a pair of Focal Clears.

[@billwillard9410]

I’m liking the PS Audio GCD but I had the S300 and got rid of it because it didn’t sound as good to me in the lower registers as my refurbished McIntosh MC 2200 amp. Low piano notes had more texture, and overall seemed more dynamic than the S300. Haven’t tried the monoblocks.

[@GBukalders]

It would be interesting to compare Hegel H390/H590 with Ps Audio DirectStream DAC and BHK Signature Preamplifier and BHK Signature 250 Amplifier combo. Both would be their respective top of the line or second from the top of the line products.

[@labalo5]

Adrian Low the H390 and h590 would be a great comparison. Hoping you guys can put it together.

[@einarbk885]

The directstream is junk www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-dac.9100/

[@CaptainCrunch823]

Einar Ove B. Kvalsvik doesn’t measure well but sounds amazing. Go figure🤓

[@gennadius2638]

Please do a Review of Voxaktiv speakers pi or Seth

[@HoomanR17]

First let me start out by saying thanks for this comparison video. Its super, super helpful.. I'm one of those on the camp between Hegel and PSAudio.. Own a Hegel H80 and appreciate what PS Audio does and am currently looking for my next setup. Having said that, your video has left me somewhat confused and wanting more. Based on video one and two, it looks like all the comparative language you are using (forward sounding , recessed sounding, black background, etc) and all the ways in which you all describe what you like and don't like, prefer or not prefer, is more about the DAC portion of these two systems vs. the actual amp. In the first video Jay said that he made a mistake by using the analog output of the streamer and corrected it by using the USB/digital out. That tells me that in your comparisons from that point onward, you were testing the DACs (of course along with the amp).. Why do I care? The reason is that at least with Hegel, I'm interested in their sound engine, feed forward amplification which has nothing to do with its DAC so, I can see purchasing Hegel in the future and still using an external DAC. Having said that I wonder how you all would find the PSAudio and Hegel in their sound if you were using the same analog output from the streamer for your comparison? If that was not done, any change for doing that comparison?

[@HoomanR17]

@@adrianlow2114 HI. I appreciate your reply and appreciate the videos you are all putting out. While I understand your original motivation and I don't wish to minimize what it takes to put this type of reviews together, I wish to convey that the title of this video as well as possibly the entirety of the review may be unintentionally misleading given that you are ultimately comparing the digital chain of these two system, their combined preamp, amp and their DAC together. I have a Hegel integrated myself and I don't see it as just a digital playback device. It has analog inputs that can be used for adding a phono preamp, adding a CD player, etc and even one would consider adding an external DAC in the future, again using the analog inputs. The analog portion of these two setups is 90% of what is physically there and the opportunity to compare that aspect unfortunately got lost.

[@ousi00]

I'm interested to see how you guys view the Pass Labs. I found the XA series to have a very dark background, especially the lower powered XA25

[@henriksrensen5958]

Are VTL amplifiers great?

[@ManuLeisure]

hummmmmm in one of those mike.......

[@oysteinsoreide4323]

that coffee drinking sound the first minutes should have just been muted away in post production here :p

[@Philear4124]

If they were close together, you would have a completely different result if you didn't use an electrostatic speaker.

[@paulomontero12]

Ha ha ha! What a laugh!

[@epi2045]

And yet the Hegel Rost is discontinued. Hmmm.

[@IronCan88]

There are newer models to replace the rost. I think the h120 is the upgrade to rost.

[@homeaudiobasics]

I know this video is a few years old. seriously never take a drink close to a microphone ever again.

[@aakar88]

Not understanding this? You are comparing a preamp to a power amp? Also 2 start out definitely for one but both conclude by saying each is good?

[@user-ed2rq3mb6x]

The BEST moment of PS Audio Strata ownership is the moment you sell it. Why? Because the built-in streamer is underdeveloped. There are no software updates, and the unit consistently crashes, and the Boulder guys are unresponsive. Save yourself the money and hassle and look elsewhere for an all-in-one unit.

[@tomscott4438]

How can audio guys not notice that obnoxious hum and do something about it?

[@mrspock9514]

This is kinda sick..there is millions of dollars here and my neighbor can't afford the rent !

[@johnmoser1162]

Jesus Christ ... it's like in a wine tasting. A lot of hot air.

[@burtonwhiteside1240]

Similar lol a 1000 dollars

[@harrybaque5502]

Dude slurping his coffee in the mic is annoying af...

[@mikelucey5035]

That swallowing bugs me. Turn up the music.

[@markclausson564]

Jay likes music Way more laid back than most people. In my opinion for that reason he should not be doing reviews. He is to biased. I have noticed that with just about everything he reviews.

[@dap777754]

Get that fellow in the middle a sack full of cheesburgers so we can listen to him eat as he slurps his coffee. Good thing he's wearing a hockey jersey blanket cause he's such an "in-shape" looking sort of guy.

[@gtrguyinaz]

Too much rambling and not enough facts..

[@AntonioPenja]

The guy in the middle irritates me, to say it mildly. But why make a comparison of something that doesn’t make alot of sence when you couldn’t do the comparison you wanted, the makes perfect sence? Don’t make a video just to do it.

[@normally624]

I also found the party in the middle irritating , in fact I had to get out of it after a few minutes because he was drinking coffee and given the excellent sound quality that was all I could hear in the end . This should be entertaining as well as informative , get professional for your own sakes .

[@plcamp1]

What value does a review absent of performance measurements actually provide? I could argue the value is negative, because is misleads people into thinking you can discern performance simply by listening. At Audio Science Review, there is objective measurement separating products. Without that I fear the only thing you are doing is misleading folks.

[@TheDanEdwards]

"I could argue the value is negative, because is misleads people into thinking you can discern performance simply by listening." - maybe you should read that last phrase out loud to yourself a couple of times, until you realize how silly your comment is.

[@cyphermote6857]

@@TheDanEdwards With AI in the picture, some "objective measurement separating products" are listening to and enjoying the music more than the people themselves.