Hegel’s integrated amplifiers, side by side. Here is the fully analogue A200 alongside the H150 and the connected H200 and their specifications, showing what your money buys and where the designs differ.

The A200 is Hegel’s fully analogue integrated amplifier, and a deliberate statement in a range that has spent years building streaming and DACs into single boxes. Hegel calls it The Classic, and it is the amplifier for the listener who has already chosen their sources, an external streamer, a DAC, a CD player, a turntable, and wants the amplifier to be exactly that: a powerful, focused amplifier with no digital circuitry to pay for or to date. It shares its 150-watt platform and its excellent phono stage with the connected H200, but where the H200 adds streaming and a DAC, the A200 keeps the signal path pure and adds a second balanced input in their place.

Brief product overview

A fully analogue integrated amplifier delivering 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms from a Class A/B output stage, stable into 2-ohm loads, with a damping factor above 4000 that gives it a very firm grip on demanding speakers, and Hegel’s SoundEngine2 distortion cancellation. There is no DAC, no streaming and no digital input; in their place the A200 offers expanded analogue connectivity: two balanced XLR inputs and two unbalanced RCA inputs, plus a moving-magnet phono input derived from the MM section of Hegel’s standalone V10 phono preamplifier, using hand-matched FET gain stages, so vinyl is taken seriously rather than as an afterthought. There is a fixed and a variable RCA line output, for a subwoofer or external amplifier, and a dedicated headphone amplifier. The chassis is Hegel’s minimalist steel-and-aluminium design, and it is made in Norway.

How it sounds

The A200 has Hegel’s clean, neutral, honest character delivered with real authority: 150 watts, 2-ohm stability and a damping factor over 4000 give it an iron grip on the bass and on difficult loads, so it drives demanding speakers with composure and scale. With no digital circuitry inside, its whole design is given over to amplification and to a dedicated analogue signal path, which is the argument for choosing it over the connected H200: not that analogue-only sounds automatically better, but that the amplifier does one job with total focus, while the source components are chosen, and upgraded, independently. The V10-derived phono stage is a genuine highlight, giving vinyl a detailed, low-noise, musical presentation. It is an amplifier for a considered system, which is why the two systems below pair it with a separate streamer for digital and a turntable for vinyl.

What we’d partner it with

The A200 has no DAC or streaming, so a digital source brings its own conversion, while a turntable connects to the built-in phono stage. For speakers, we suggest the Sonus faber Lumina V, the flagship of Sonus faber’s Lumina range, a three-way floorstander with the DAD tweeter and a warm, natural Italian voice; it is a 4-ohm speaker of high sensitivity that the A200’s 150 watts drive with ease and grace. Good alternatives from brands we carry are floorstanders and stand-mounts from Focal, Dynaudio, KEF and Wharfedale.

For digital, we suggest the Bluesound Node Icon, Bluesound’s flagship streamer and DAC, which streams Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and more over BluOS and, crucially for an all-analogue amplifier, feeds the A200 through its balanced XLR or RCA analogue outputs; an Aurender, HiFi Rose or EverSolo streamer does the same. For vinyl, the moving-magnet phono stage takes a turntable directly: we suggest the Pro-Ject RPM 5 Carbon fitted with the Nagaoka MP-150, a moving-magnet cartridge that connects straight into the phono input; a Rega or another Pro-Ject deck partners equally well.

On cabling, run the streamer to the A200 on balanced cables where you can, and use a well-made speaker cable of appropriate gauge for the run; AudioQuest and Chord are the cable brands we stock.

Who shouldn’t buy it

If you want streaming and a DAC built into the amplifier, the connected H200 is the same amplifier with those added, and the H190V and H150 also build them in. If you have no external DAC or streamer and no intention of adding one, one of those connected models will suit you better, since the A200 relies on separate sources for digital. And if you run a low-output moving-coil cartridge, note the phono stage is moving-magnet only, so an external step-up or moving-coil stage would be needed.

Setup notes: The A200 is a substantial full-width component and wants ventilation above and around it. Because it has no digital input, connect a streamer or DAC to one of its line inputs, on balanced XLR where you can, and set the streamer’s own volume to fixed or bypass so the A200 controls the volume. Place the Sonus faber Lumina V clear of the rear wall, though its down-firing port makes it forgiving of placement; its 4-ohm load is well within the A200’s abilities. To add vinyl, connect the turntable to the moving-magnet phono input and its ground to the phono earth post. The variable pre-out can feed a subwoofer.

Warranty & service: Hegel products carry a manufacturer’s warranty when bought from an authorised dealer; service is handled through the UK distributor.