In looking back over this review, I note how effusive I’ve been about the Hegel Music Systems H30A. I’m a little bit uncomfortable with all this praise because it’s part of my job to try to find something to bitch about. Well, other than the fact that I can’t afford to buy it right now, and it’s hard to move when I want to dust underneath it, the H30A hits all of my musts, wants, and needs. I can’t really find anything about this amplifier that’s even remotely unsatisfactory. This doesn’t happen very often.

The Hegel P30A/H30A preamplifier/power amplifier’s soundstaging is also excellent. It’s more a function of the loudspeakers and the recording than the amplifier. This means it has that wide of the speakers staging so many look for, and even has some valve-amp-like depth to the image. And of course, not only does it pass the Trentemøller test, it also ensures that everyone within a 20m radius gets to sit the same test; the level of bass depth and power on offer here is insane.

If you have the money, the space – and the back – to deal with the Hegel H30A, and with the P30A preamplifier in the line-up, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything else that manages the balance between playing delicately when you need to, while bringing out the big guns when you need to.