Here's what we're hearing from Bristol.
Hegel tease The Raven - new highly specced DAC. Word is this is quite superb. We believe it will retail for £4,500 ish. Our man on the ground says -
"The new D50 DAC:
It is with - extreme - pleasure I can finally announce a brand new product from Hegel. The D50 DAC. Please find all relevant information in the attachment, including links to pictures etc.
Why am I particularly keyed up this time:
The reason I am particularly keyed up about this product is that it is something we designed out of pure passion for sound. In my, perhaps not so humble, opinion the resulting performance is just mind blowing for the price asked.
What is so special about it:
You can read about it in the paper, but as a "race horse" style product there are a couple of things that very much stands out.
1) A very special main power supply for minimal noise. It is not just good for the D50 itself, but just connect it to the mains in your room and the whole system sounds better.
2) Extremely short signal paths, where even the DAC chip is hovering over the main boards to minimize signal paths in the digital domain.
3) Particularly great care has been put in to all local power supplies and grounding related to digital circuitry. This ensures very precise switching in the circuits resulting in ultra low phase noise (ultimately jitter).
You got to hear it to believe it.
DAC-Loop:
The D50 isn't "just" a very good DAC that will complement almost any system on the market. It also represents an excellent upgrade path for owners of an H300, H360, H390, H590, H400 or even an H600. This is made possible by the DAC loop functionality built in to these amps.
Rega Launch new Brio
Information is still sketchy but we do know the new 7th generation Brio is 50 watts per channel and has a DAC built in. We estimate it will retail for £799.
More to follow