Seattle, al the way from Norway, that could be a thing … but…
i am pretty sure i do not want to dine with hegel, so i’ll pass 
1 Like
You can go and ask about broken promises.
1 Like
This would be delicious. In addition to Roon ask about their manufacturing location and how many components are Chinese. I’d totally go if I could.
1 Like
Yet more Hegel deception:
Hegel does not build it’s products in Norway. They’re MADE IN CHINA.
Hegel hides this everywhere they can. They imply Norway instead.
This is the second con Hegel has purposely orchestrated (the other is the Roon delay deception (now running on two years in my case).
Never trust Hegel. These ppl are crooks.
[/quote]
1 Like
Have you ever asked Apple the same question?
Why would one? They don’t cheat around this like Hegel do.
1 Like
I find Apple to be pretty transparent. They will tell you the truth.
2 Likes
Your post makes no sense.
The Chinese supply chain setup of apple is very well documented on the internet, including from Apple themselves. A very quick Google will tell you which Chinese parts suppliers and assembly lines support Apple product deliveries. Apple have also invested heavily in the qualification of the suppliers and the development of the QC regimes to ensure product conformity.
What about Hegel? They can wave their “designed in-house in Norway” flag all they like but if their units are then produced in a chicken farm it’s still a product from a chicken farm. Based on the lack of transparency to date from Hegel I guess we will never know if said chicken farm is battery or free range.
1 Like
I’m not really clear how we got from debates about transparency to amps made in chicken farms, but I can’t help feeling that this analogy rather lost its way. I’m not at all clear what/where you’re suggesting is a “chicken farm” and what would constitute “battery” vs “free range”?
I stand by my analogy.
But since you ask: Chicken farm in this instance would be a mass production facility queuing product on generic lines at the lowest cost to anyone who knocks on the door, including Hegel.
If the QC of the product is also executed at generic factory “standards” then it is a battery farm. Free range may include some Inspection & Test Planning / Intervention by Hegel or a 3rd Party appointed by Hegel to ensure QC standards are implemented.
Yes Apple scams, too. Apparently the US Govt won’t enforce it’s own rules on gigantic importers. At least word is out (partially) that Apple is Made in CHINA. Still, by avoiding “Made In CHINA” on all products and packaging, Apple confirms it’s something better to hide
Apple products are marked, “Designed by Apple in California.” It should continue… “Made with Slave Labor in CHINA”
2 Likes
Everyone knows Apple products are made in China.
1 Like
Fair enough, that’s your prerogative. However, whilst I accept that wild speculation is a legitimate use of a community forum, I’m just a bit confused by a debate on QC methodology. As far as I’m aware (and in fairness I haven’t searched), no one on the forum has reported any reliability issues with Hegel products? So presumably, until there’s evidence to the contrary, whatever they’re doing works?
2 Likes
There is a world beyond this forum and plenty of reported cases of QC issues on Hegel amps. Quality is just about failures and defects, it’s about the whole value chain from blank sheet of paper through to listening.
Hegel themselves on this forum have admitted that they have gone the cheap route on the DAC implementation - so if they “cheap out” once I’m sure the opportunity for other instances may exist elsewhere.
I have zero issues with HiFi manufactured in China. One example I own is a Primaluna which is also assembled in China. But it is also well documented how Van den Dungen sets the supply chain up to the point that when Primaluna amps are in production the facility has to remove all non Primaluna components from the facility - the facility becomes a Primaluna only production facility. On top of this Primaluna manage the full quality control process during production with rigorous QC measures put in place. This includes examples such as; the x-ray of sampled electronic parts to ensure they are as specified and supplied by Primaluna; damages levied if even a chasis screw is swapped out without authorization and the ability to move the entire operation elsewhere if issues do occur. Primaluna own the Quality.
You only have to look inside a Primaluna Amp to see that it is a thing of beauty. It has parts and point to point wiring of the highest standard and that’s why Primaluna are fully transparent on how they do it - they are proud of it and have every right to be.
Now, Hegel on the other hand only appear to offer shreds of transparency when they get called out on why their products don’t do as advertised.
Why is that?
Why do they cover the “Made in China” chasis marking with a Hegel of Norway sticker?
Does anybody know which factory actually makes Hegel amps?
Why design an Amp with a transformer that will hum and them blame it on everyone’s wiring system?
If Hegel put as much effort into being tranparent as they do blowing smoke up their own ass I might cut them some slack. I’ll wait.
1 Like
Let’s see those well documented and verified cases, please.
My 390 was humming and the dealer basically said “yeah, normal, Hegel does not recognize this as a quality issue, it’s normal”. It is true that from 4 meters away I can’t hear it, but still, a 6k amp with constant hum is not something you’d consider normal by any means.
Yes, it’s possible to fix it apparently with a DC blocker, but at some point I was so annoyed that I just sold it. I had to buy a separate DAC to compensate for the inferior one, I had to buy a separate streamer to compensate again and if I had to buy one more piece of equipment just to compensate for the engineering failures my wife would have killed me. I do not appreciate a product which is expensive (in my world) that I need to spend another few thousand of euros just to make it work as advertised.
3 Likes
This forum for a start - no Roon ready as advertised due to low quality DAC.
After that take a trip over to Hegel owners forum.
After that pop into ASR.
I could go on but the Hegel cult members will still stand by their expensive amp of undocumented origin.
All of these are arguably legitimate concerns. However, as far as I can see, none of them have anything to do with QC, or at least not as I understand the term. You seem to be conflating user/owner frustration with specific aspects of functionality or specification, with production line processes.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree the Roon Ready issue has been a farce and the sensitivity to DC offset is frustrating, indeed requiring additional expenditure. However, none of these issues relate to reliability, nor are they underpinned by a poor QC methodology in a Chinese factory, as far as I’m aware? FWIW, my view is that chucking this into the mix, without any clear basis or evidence, just serves to muddy the water. Of course, you’re free to disagree!
1 Like
Of course they are - its poor QC of the design phase and this is something Hegel own in-house.
Why do they allow the design to progress to the production phase with known functionality issues inherent to both the design and component selection?
This apparent lack of control in the Norway design phase allows valid questioning of how they control the actual production in China.
For a fun and easy reading - the official US Country of Origin marking regulation for imported products is available here:
The CBP website also contains contact information in case of end consumer questions and concerns
Re Apple - I am not US based - but all my Apple devices have „Assembled in China“ marked on the device itself.