Hegel country of origin

Ok, I’m in America. Hegel is acting ILLEGALLY in America.

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I was just joking about the fuse… LOL :joy:

That’s precisely why I said it’s pointless to put made in wherever on the box. It doesn’t sound like Hegel is the right company for you. I get that. Perhaps look into Macintosh. It sounds great and It’s made in the USA as far as I know. And thank you for supporting the work force in USA.

Perhaps report this to the law enforcement agency? Shame on Hegel for not complying with local law. Have you talk to Hegel’s customer service about this? I’m kind of curious what they’d say.

I can assure you that we are exporting to America as being assembled in China and thus paying the extra duties on import. Anything other than that would be very far from ok.

That said, as someone above has mentioned there is a difference between “made in China” and “assembled in China”. We are assembled in China. I am sure we could have done it in many different places too, and we did also consider the USA. Norway is absolutely not suitable as there are no real mid size factories that could build for us. We would have to build our own factory, which in modern times doesn’t make much sense. At least in my mind. Moving assembly sites is a gigantic risk, so we have simply stayed with what works. The products are really reliable. I’d like to think they are really good value for money. And we are really behind them. If something goes wrong we help. If we screw up we are honest about it.

As for Roon progress, I hope to get back with more info soon. We are 99,9% there but have been for some time, as you all may have put together by now.

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I think Thomas secretly love his H190 as do I.

Thank you for your reply. I really don’t care where Hegel makes its products. I care mightily, however, that Hegel hides this info:

Searching Hegel.com there is a single (buried) reference to “China.” Meanwhile, references to Norway abound. Why is this? It’s deception.

Neither are Hegel products or cartons marked “Made in China”? Again, it’s not the duties that concern me. It’s the intentional hiding of “Made in China.”

Concerning “Made in China” versus “Assembled in China” (neither phrase can be found on Hegel.com) that’s a mere parsing of words: you can’t make something unless you assemble it; you can’t assemble something unless you make it. And pray tell: what (tiny?) percentage of Hegel’s components are NOT made in China?

The country of origin matters. I will NEVER buy sound equipment made in China and I am hardly alone.
Hegel knows this, which surely explains why any references to “Made in China” are purposely hidden – both on their website and on their products. Shame on Hegel!!

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Beyond that they also hide this fact on the labeling on their products. No mention of China. The label on the back panels just say Oslo, Norway. It’s deceptive and a physical manifestation of the problem were also having with Roon Ready. The marketing says one thing and when you pull back the cover it’s the opposite underneath.

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Labeling their products “Oslo, Norway” and not CHINA – where they’re actually produced – is not only shameful, it’s illegal according to US Customs. Hegel may pay correct import duties but purposely mislabeling the Country of Origin should cost Hegel their import license. This needs to be revoked and their import bond forfeited.

Hegel also hides the Country of Origin (CHINA) on their own website while they imply Norway throughout. This is manifest malfeasance. Hegel is purposely misleading its customers. There should be a class-action lawsuit.

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You may want to add Hegel‘s questionable policy to mask the country of origin by, from what I saw, sticking some 'Hegel’ label on top of the ‘Made in China’ imprint on the rear.
I was more than close to get an amp from them, but went a different road. Today I wouldn’t consider to buy any Hegel product. I don’t question their SQ, that’s great. But I just cannot trust them.

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Yes for sure. Yet another example of lies and false advertising. It’s wrong.

Not only has Hegel been deceptive about their Roon-ready date – – I purchased my H190 two years ago on the promise they made to be ready “very soon.” Also:

Hegel is duplicitous and deceptive when they purposely hide the country of origin – – which is CHINA – – on their website. This is not a simple omission. Hegel products are also not marked, “Made in China”, which is entirely illegal here in the United States.

I am livid my dealer sold me a Chinese amp when I specifically told him, “Nothing from China.” I will never buy from him again. And I want Hegel to be hauled in front of the court for mislabeling their products.

Hegel are Crooks!!

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You are kidding if you think Spotify, Airplay or Chromecast have any SQ relationship to an internal DAC, which requires a dedicated streamer. So is Hegel ready to compensate me $1000 for the UltraRendu I had to purchase TWO YEARS AGO when they promised Roon-ready would be available, “very, very soon”?

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Not sure what you mean? By internal DAC I mean the DAC in the Hegel. With Chromecast audio, Spotify connect and Airplay the digital to analog conversion is done by the Hegel DAC, just as it would / will with Roon Readiness. My point is the only difference in SQ between those 3 options and Roon readiness is the bit quality delivered to the Hegel Dac. My point was that given the surprisingly small difference between Airplay over the Hegel DAC and my Lumin through analog out, I’m quite sure Roon readiness will not bring (noticeable) SQ improvement, only convenience (which is not nothing!).

I’m excited to hold them to account and not let them get away with their lies and marketing falsehoods. Why don’t they actually label their products as being manufactured in China despite laws against such practices? Why have they not addressed their Roon Ready disaster after four years? Why won’t they disclose what percentage or their products are made in China? Why do they delete and actively censor negative feedback on their social media groups? What are they hiding? What are they afraid of?

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I also believe they should be held accountable and multiple online discussions that are going strong for all these years are a testament to the fact that this is happening. However, judging by their responses, they are dealing with a design flaw that doesn’t seem to have a easy solution. A low memory buffer is not easily solvable software-wise. Tbh, I have seen quite negative opinions on their facebook group, not sure what you mean by deleting posts there. There’s quite a few threads in which people complain, however, they also tend to have a very strong and loyal fan base. I personally moved on a while ago but I have the feeling and hope they will learn a lot from this experience. In the end of the day, they DO produce very decent and capable hardware, I did enjoy the sound of the 390, so they need to roll up their sleeves and re-design the digital section in their next iteration of integrated amps.

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Nail on head right there. :+1:

Hegel act however they want as the ultras amongst the user group will see no wrong.

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If they wanted to fix the problem they could have after four years. They could have replaced these poor quality cards, they could have made some external device as an add on to do the Roon stuff, they could have offered a rebate, they could have been better negotiators with their chip suppliers and resolved this years ago. They have done nothing but tell us mountain climbing stories and add a nine to the completion estimates (99.9999…%). If you really want to see sparks fly ask them why they don’t publish where the parts of the amps are made? Why the amps don’t say that they’re made in China (because they are)? And what they are doing to fix the Roon Ready disaster today. Where is the timeline? Any competent professional can make a plan and execute it from a schedule. Why can’t Hegel do this?

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Take a chill pill Daniel, If you have an H390, I pray all your expectations will be met, in due time. I’m in the same boat, and being patient. I trust Hegel to follow through and maybe it’s too soon for full on prosecution. I know a few years is a long time, but it is already an awesome product with a bright future. Maybe I sound like an encouraging parent and yet that is a stance that I know can carry one through.

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This is clearly not about being “chill” and framing it as such is a running cover for Hegel and their misdeeds. This is about a company’s integrity, about their broken promises, about their marketing and ongoing obfuscation. The Roon Ready disaster is emblematic of a deeper rot at Hegel and the industry at large. There are limits to personal understanding from a customer towards a successful for-profit company.