The versatile talent that was the Röst might appear to have left the building, but it hasn’t really. Its star quality lives on in the H120, upgraded and buffed for the digital delights of a new decade. It might sit in the lowly part of Hegel’s amplifier range, but the H120 delivers as much excellence as many will ever need.

Hegel’s H120 offers an excellent level of all-round ability, at its price. Others like the PrimaLuna and Naim mentioned above offer highly credible alternatives in terms of sound – depending on taste – but lack its flexibility and functionality, as well as its sheer loudspeaker driving power. What’s particularly pleasing is that its sophisticated sonic character matches the user experience – it’s satisfying yet easy to live with.

Despite some competitors in their own price range, perhaps it will be Hegel themselves who will steal the largest market share from the H120. Because for just 5,000 NOK more you can get the H190, which is even better. However, if there’s a shortage of space and you want the tight bass control that Hegel is known for, the H120 is a great choice.

At $3000, Hegel Music Systems’ H120 provides high qualities of amplification and digital-to-analog conversion, in addition to basic streaming capabilities, in a solidly built and well-executed design. While Hegel’s rock-star integrated-DAC, the H590, may deserve the many accolades it’s received, their middle child, the H120, should not be overlooked by anyone looking for a moderately priced, high-performing integrated-DAC. It only further solidifies my perception of Hegel as a premier manufacturer of integrated amplifier-DACs.

The great thing about the Hegel H120 is that this amplifier follows the commandment “do no harm”. It just receives the signal and makes it sound the way it should through the speakers. If the music is recorded well, the sound will be good. If the music is poorly recorded, it will still sound … fine.

Replacing Röst was always going to be an interesting act for Hegel. It broke new ground for the company, and with many ground-breaking products, that meant it didn’t sell quite as well as it deserved to. The H120 is different, as it retains everything good the Röst brought to the party and also continues and extends Hegel’s ‘giant-killer’ range of amps. This is the kind of amplifier that works well in context and can support some surprisingly high-end speakers. While that sounds like the stuff of absurd review kit-bashing, what it means in reality is you can build and upgrade a system around the H120 far further than usual at this price. You don’t have to use it with esoteric audio equipment, but it won’t mask their effects if you do. In short, it’s an all-round goody.

Granted, the H120 lacks Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. While its network streaming features aren’t as slick as those on streaming amplifiers from companies like Naim and NAD, it covers the basics well, with support for AirPlay, Spotify Connect, and UPnP/DLNA. And as noted, a forthcoming firmware update will make the H120 Roon Ready.