Hegel and Magico Compact System

Hegel The story begins in 1988. Bent Holter, a student at the Technical University in Trondheim (NTNU) decided to do a thesis under the original design of the transistor used in amplifiers, that would cure the problems of traditional hi-fi systems. Enemy number one was distortion. Holter somehow could not accept the fact that when we supply a simple signal to an amplifier, the output reproduces that signal plus something else; distortion produced by the electronics. Fighting distortion usually means deterioration of other parameters, including damping factor. Holter decided to break free from classic schematics and developed a project that became the basis of what we know today as SoundEngine Technology. And where does the name of the company come from? Well, during his spare time Bent played in a rock-metal band called The Hegel Band. When they needed amplifiers for concerts, he suggested building them himself. His ideas took on real shape, but it took lots of money to refine the technology. Help came from Telenor - one of the biggest players in the telecommunications industry. The early 90s were a period of initial prosperity for the brand. First, they ensured the patented solution known today as SoundEngine. Later a DAC was developed (1994) and the first CD Player came (1996). Over the next eight years, the company has steadily improved its product range and generated more profit year on year. When the financial crisis came, most companies immediately took a defensive strategy which meant cutting costs. Hegel played differently. He hired new engineers to design devices. Sometime later, brand new D/A converters were born. Today Hegel is one of the best-established brands on the Hi-Fi market. We produce integrated, pre and power amplifiers as well as CD players and some of the most modern and sophisticated D/A converters. SoundEngine Technology was just a start. Today there are six more original technical solutions in Hegel's portfolio. The company has dealers in 54 countries and its products are sold all over the world. Awards and press reviews speak for themselves

Magico Located in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. The new 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art campus in Hayward, CA. Magico employs highly trained craftsmen, technicians and machinists. These employees are highly specialised and dedicated to their specific craft, allowing them the capabilities of translating ideas and concepts into designs as well as fabricating prototypes, and manufacturing the whole product without outsourcing. The assembly area within the new campus. A considerably larger area with better work station layout dramatically improves work flow. Coupled with modern infrastructure, this optimises efficiency and improves quality control of all their products.

Resonances in the body of a musical instrument are an essential part of defining its nature and quality.

The opposite is true of a loudspeaker.

Cabinet panel resonances are a significant cause of sound coloration.

Heavy bracing of a typical MDF enclosure can help reduce enclosure flex but at the cost of increased energy storage and damping factor.

Although a welcome attribute for midrange outout, over damping is detrimental to bass performance (high energy storage, low wide Q and low resonances).

MAGICO has spent many years developing an enclosure system that successfully balances the 3 elements that constitute a proper loudspeaker enclosure: stiffness, mass, and internal damping.

Having pioneered the use of aluminum in loudspeakers design. They built their first aluminum enclosure back in 1994 and have never looked back. Extremely stiff yet easy to damp, a properly designed aluminum enclosure is the ideal platform for high-performance loudspeakers. So inert, the enclosures have no discernible coloration of their own-allowing the drivers to operate with the utmost clarity and dynamics. Though costly to implement, the use of aluminum in their enclosures plays a vital role in design philosophy.