![]() ![]() Once you’ve got the V10 configured it’s a one button operation. ![]() That’s how I ran the V10, which does not mean I left it on continuously. What? The “disabled” setting leaves the unit on until you turn it off. The “high sensitivity” setting will shut off the V10 “even though you are playing music”. That is, after a certain period of inactivity, the V10 shuts off. The default energy saving “on/off” setting is “normal sensitivity”. That cartridge had sat around for decades and played only occasionally. ![]() Among the cartridges were the Hana Umami, Ortofon Verismo and believe it or not an Adcom Crosscoil low output that had been rebuilt by the actual Garrott Brothers before their tragic demise. The V10 comes pre-configured for MM cartridges. I ran multiple MC cartridges into the V10 and ran it both singled ended and balanced out. I didn’t try either to find out what might happen. There are also switch settings for the subsonic filter and MC impedance ominously labeled in the instruction manual “do not use”. For most users the available gain and loading options will be more than sufficient. The instruction manual says it’s possible to set impedance “freely between 50 and 550 ohms” and add 6 addition dB of gain, but to do so contact your Hegel dealer for more information”. The DIP switches let you set MM or MC, MC loads of 100 or 300 ohms, MM capacitive choices of 220pF, 100pF or 47pF (the switches are additive so can total up to 367pF), subsonic filter on/off (-3dB -36dB at 5 Hz) (why two switches per channel are required to set the subsonic filter was not explained in the manual), as well as additional gain choices of +5dB, +10dB and +12dB beyond the default settings, which are 40dB for MM (balanced outputs, 34dB single-ended) and 60dB for MC (54dB single-ended). This too was done for signal path efficiency, but it also requires those doing the switching to pay careful attention, especially the spatially challenged ones like this reviewer. Two banks of rear panel mirror-paired DIP switches adjust everything, one for each channel. Never underestimate the utility of a thoughtfully designed ground lug! There’s no switch to toggle between MM and MC and Hegel warns against having both MM and MC inputs simultaneously connected. The rear panel features single-ended gold-plated RCA and balanced outputs as well as separate single-ended high-quality gold-plated RCA jacks for MM and MC cartridges and a properly large, useful ground lug placed for easy access. The amplification circuits for both the MM and MC gain stages feature low noise power supplies built using discrete bipolar transistors. Hegel claims the input is “completely silent” and that this configuration stops bias current from feeding back to the cartridge coil. The MC input uses 4 JFETs connected in parallel. The input stage uses ultra-low noise discrete JFET transistors for both the MM and MC inputs. I didn’t “pop the hood”, but clearly everything about the external layout indicates that the designer(s) intended short, efficient signal paths for everything. It separates the power supply board from the signal processing and amplification board. The power jack locations are ideally situated in the recess that creates two separate compartments within the chassis. Thus, the power connection is nowhere near signal carrying cables and it allows for a super-clean symmetrical rear panel layout. socket and connects to the main unit via a long “Y” cable that splits out to dual plugs inserted into a pair of jacks located in an underside chassis recess angled 90 degrees from the front and rear main chassis panels. The $1500 V10 is a relatively small unit, thanks in part to a generously sized outboard dual mono 2 X 18VAC/300mA power1 source featuring a custom-designed E-core transformer that plugs directly into an A.C. Therefore, we are constantly looking for ways to lower distortion and noise.” The resulting V10, “developed from the ground up” it says in the instruction manual was designed to “keep the music signal as close to the original recording as possible. More recently, with the vinyl resurgence in full swing, Hegel set its sights on designing a phono preamplifier. You can read more about the company on its website. The late ‘80s was the dawning of the commercial digital audio age and vinyl was going the way of the typewriter, the slide projector and the cassette. He’d built one for personal use, I recall him telling me a few years ago at an EISA convention. When in the late 1980s Bent Holter started Hegel-named after The Hegel Band, a rock band in which he played, which itself must have been named for the philosopher-designing a phono preamplifier would have been the last thing on his mind, if a phono preamplifier would have been at all on his mind-at least one to manufacture. ![]()
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