Hegel H400 Streamliner – New stereo amplifier from Norway

Foto © Hegel Music Systems | Hegel H400 Streamliner

The new stereo amplifier from Hegel Music Systems, the Hegel H400 Streamliner, promises to be an outstanding performer.

The product line of stereo amplifiers from Hegel Music Systems is already well established and includes a variety of solutions for different requirements. Nevertheless, the Norwegian company is now expanding its product range with another stereo amplifier that is intended to be a particularly special solution, namely the new Hegel H400 Streamliner.

According to Hegel Music Systems, this stereo integrated amplifier is no less than a masterpiece, combining an elegant design with enormous power and impressive versatility. The new Hegel H400 Streamliner is thus just below the company’s flagship, the Hegel H600 Integrated Amplifier, from which it has inherited many features. The Hegel H400 Streamliner is set to replace the Hegel H390 Integrated Amplifier, as Hegel Music Systems has announced.

Designed for maximum efficiency – twice 250 watts

The most impressive feature of the new Hegel H400 Streamliner is actually its power, as it is a classic Class A/B amplifier that delivers a whopping 250 watts per channel to loudspeaker systems with an impedance of 8 ohms, and which, according to the manufacturer, is load-stable down to 2 ohms.

Why is that so impressive? Well, unlike other powerhouses, the new Hegel H400 Streamliner can deliver this power in a particularly elegant form, measuring no more than 43 cm in width, 44 cm in depth and 15 cm in height, and this is already including the solid feet. At least the weight is in line with the performance class, with the Hegel H400 Streamliner weighing a hefty 20 kg.

Dual Mono Construction and Hegel SoundEngine 2 Technology

The amplifier is designed in dual mono construction and with a symmetrical layout and, according to the manufacturer, is characterised by a particularly high damping factor of 4.000, thus offering perfect control over any loudspeaker system.

To ensure a distortion-free performance with the highest sound quality, the new Hegel H400 Streamliner also relies on the so-called Hegel SoundEngine 2 technology.

It goes without saying that the new Hegel H400 Streamliner relies solely on high-quality components, as the manufacturer states. The manufacturer also emphasises that the entire development took place at Hegel Music Systems, so that every aspect is under full control and not only the latest technologies can be used, but also a seamless quality control can be guaranteed.

Equipped for analogue and digital sources

As mentioned above, the new Hegel H400 Streamliner is designed to be highly flexible and equipped to meet a wide range of requirements. In particular, it offers numerous interfaces for analogue and digital sources.

The Hegel H400 Streamliner not only has two pairs of RCA sockets as unbalanced analogue inputs, but also an input designed as an XLR socket for balanced analogue sources.

For digital sources, the Hegel H400 Streamliner offers a coaxial and three optical S/PDIF interfaces, as well as a BNC and a USB port.

The coaxial S/PDIF and the BNC are equipped for signals in Linear PCM with up to 24 bits and 192 kHzm, and also for DSD, whereby DoP, i.e. DSD over PCM, is used. The optical S/PDIF is satisfied with Linear PCM at 24 bits and 96 kHz.

The full spectrum is of course available via USB, because if you connect a PC or Mac here, audio signals in Linear PCM with up to 32 bits and 384 kHz as well as DSD up to DSD 256 can be processed, but here too, as the data sheet reveals, DoP is used.

It should also be mentioned that the D/A converter of the new Hegel H400 Streamliner is also able to process content encoded in lossy MQA. In addition to an analogue output in the form of RCA sockets with variable level and another pair of RCA sockets with fixed level, the Hegel H400 Streamliner also features a digital output in the form of a BNC interface.

Streaming from UPnP to Roon

Of course, streaming is not to be missed out on in the new Hegel H400 Streamliner, with all the relevant standards being used to offer the user all the possibilities that modern networked High-end HiFi systems allow today.

Streaming via UPnP, which is the only real industry standard, is the simplest solution, the lowest common denominator, so to speak, and can also be used in conjunction with other systems.

In addition, streaming is also possible via Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Google Chromecast, Apple AirPlay 2 and airable by TuneIn. Hegel Music Systems also promises that the new Hegel H400 Streamliner will be certified as Roon-ready and can therefore be used directly with the help of software from Roon Labs LLC.

Hegel Control App

For the first time, a matching app is being presented for the new Hegel H400 Streamliner, namely the Hegel Control App, which allows you to control all the relevant functions of the stereo integrated amplifier and also enables streaming via UPnP in a convenient way.

Prices and availability

The new Hegel H400 Streamliner is expected to be available in specialist stores in the near future, with September 2024 being mentioned as a possible date. For the time being, the amplifier will only be available in black, but a white version may follow, although there is no information about this at the moment. The manufacturer’s recommended retail price is € 6.995,-.

Getting to the point

As a new solution in the already well-established product range of stereo integrated amplifiers, Hegel Music Systems is now presenting the new Hegel H400 Streamliner, which ranks just below the flagship Hegel H600 Integrated Amplifier and has inherited many of its features. Once again, the Norwegian High-end HiFi manufacturer presents a solution that can be categorised as “Just add speaker”, but which boasts a particularly impressive output of 250 watts per channel.