I just picked up the LS50s for my office and have the Hegel 80 hooked up to them, but have only listened for a few hours and will get into it more in the next few + weeks, so they are still breaking in.
My initial impressions are as follows and using Analysis Plus Oval 12 cable (may swap out with my Kimber 4TC later for an A/B speaker cable comparison);
The volume on the Hegel aparently goes to 99 (I never went up to that level). My low level hearing is not terribly good, but I can't hear much from 0 to 10, a little bit thereafter and at about 20 to 30, I hear more sound. When I raise the volume to 40 to 50 range, this is equivalent to a lower (1st quartile) volume setting on my home system of Harbeth Compact 7 ES-3, with Audio Research LS17 SE with a 200+ watt Anthem Amp.
At the 40 to 60 volume range on the Hegel (normal listening volume to me), all I can say is "wow". The Hegels give such a grip on the LS50's that it sounds like I have a subwoofer attached or a much more powerful amplifier. The background is the blackest I've sensed from anything I've every listed to, with sounds just emerging from all around. The sound is holographic and incredibly dynamic, and the combination of the LS50s with the Hegel is solid, incredibly clear, warmer to me (non-fatiguing) which I prefer, and just plain musical and beautiful.
I'll post again in a few months if my impressions change. However, based on my first impressions, I could not be happier with this combination and can only imagine going up higher on the Hegel food chain would only enhance the positive qualities that I've heard thus far.
My initial impressions are as follows and using Analysis Plus Oval 12 cable (may swap out with my Kimber 4TC later for an A/B speaker cable comparison);
The volume on the Hegel aparently goes to 99 (I never went up to that level). My low level hearing is not terribly good, but I can't hear much from 0 to 10, a little bit thereafter and at about 20 to 30, I hear more sound. When I raise the volume to 40 to 50 range, this is equivalent to a lower (1st quartile) volume setting on my home system of Harbeth Compact 7 ES-3, with Audio Research LS17 SE with a 200+ watt Anthem Amp.
At the 40 to 60 volume range on the Hegel (normal listening volume to me), all I can say is "wow". The Hegels give such a grip on the LS50's that it sounds like I have a subwoofer attached or a much more powerful amplifier. The background is the blackest I've sensed from anything I've every listed to, with sounds just emerging from all around. The sound is holographic and incredibly dynamic, and the combination of the LS50s with the Hegel is solid, incredibly clear, warmer to me (non-fatiguing) which I prefer, and just plain musical and beautiful.
I'll post again in a few months if my impressions change. However, based on my first impressions, I could not be happier with this combination and can only imagine going up higher on the Hegel food chain would only enhance the positive qualities that I've heard thus far.