HEGEL P30A PREAMPLIFIER

P30A

The P30A is The Conductor. With poise and control, it conveys all the details, grandeur, feeling, and complexity of any piece of music. With precise timing and expert understanding of both the score and the musicians, The Conductor brings forth the music just as it was intended to sound. It handles low-key jazz, stadium rock, and everything in between. Nothing added and nothing subtracted, the P30A is the best conductor you will ever meet.

The P30A is our reference preamplifier. We have nicknamed it The Conductor because its job is to control the power amplifier with a signal that is as true to the music as possible. In our view, the preamplifier is the most critical component in a great-sounding system, and it is also the hardest to get right. The very low amplitude signals coming from the source are easily corrupted, so in-depth technical know-how and clever engineering are needed to ensure that the signal remains unchanged throughout the preamplifier. With the P30A, we have deployed all our skills to achieve just that.

First, we use a single pair of FET transistors that exhibit no higher-order harmonic distortion. Within any batch of transistors, there will always be slight measurement variations. While these may fall within the bounds of what is considered normal, for sensitive electronics like this, that simply isn't good enough. Therefore, Hegel's founder and chief engineer, Bent, measures and carefully matches transistors that have the exact same values. Having perfectly matched transistors is of paramount importance to the performance of the preamplifier, resulting in the P30A sounding very smooth and natural without compromising on detail.

Furthermore, the internal layout is designed to make the signal paths within the preamplifier as short as possible, reducing the possibility of distortion from electrical interference. To further minimize distortion, we also reduce the number of electrical components the signal passes through. In the P30A, the music signal only passes through two transistors and an ultra-low noise volume attenuator. The P30A also utilizes Hegel's patented SoundEngine technology, which actively monitors the music signal for corruptions and corrects intermodulation distortion using a feed-forward design. SoundEngine effectively removes distortion in real time as the signal is amplified.

All these steps contribute to a preamplifier that is very quiet and handles the sensitive low-amplitude music signal as delicately as possible. However, distortion can still occur, but the P30A has one more feature to address this. The P30A is fully balanced throughout, meaning there are two separate amplifiers, volume controls, and SoundEngine modules per channel. This design cancels out almost all remaining distortion, leaving a signal that is as close to the original source material as possible.

The P30A offers a wide array of inputs and outputs. It features 2 balanced (XLR) and 3 unbalanced (RCA) inputs, as well as a fixed-level Home Theatre input that allows you to integrate it into a Home Theatre system. This input can also be configured to function as a normal input. On the output side, there is one balanced (XLR) and two unbalanced (RCA) variable outputs, all active, allowing you to connect several devices simultaneously. One of the unbalanced RCA outputs can even be configured to be a fixed-volume output. The P30A also includes a 3.5mm IR-direct input and a 12V trigger output connector.

In summary, you get a highly versatile, extremely quiet, and natural-sounding preamplifier that can be the heart of any high-end audio system. The P30A is a truly brilliant conductor of all music.

Technical Specifications:

• Remote control: Volume, source, and mute
• Inputs: 2 x XLR balanced, 3 x RCA unbalanced, and Home Theatre input
• Outputs: 1 x XLR balanced and 2 x RCA unbalanced outputs
• Other connections: 3.5mm IR-direct jack, 3.5mm jack 12V trigger output
• Signal-to-noise ratio: More than 130 dB (balanced mode)
• Crosstalk: Less than -100 dB
• Distortion: Less than 0.005%
• Intermodulation: Less than 0.01% (19kHz + 20kHz)
• Finish: Black
• Dimensions/weight: 9.6 cm x 43 cm x 30 cm (HxWxD), 7.2 kg
• Dimensions/weight US: 3.8" x 17" x 12" (HxWxD), 15.9 lbs