HEED THESIS LAMBDA PREAMPLIFIER AND GAMMA AMPLIFIER - REVIEW

Heed Thesis Lambda Preamplifier & Gamma Amplifier

Most audiophiles who desire to expand their horizons beyond integrated amplifiers at some point exhaust themselves searching for affordable, great sounding separates. This audiophile included. The price of many well received preamplifer and power amplifier combinations can seem out of reach to those entering this arena. 

One manufacturer, Heed Audio, may have what many seek: the Lambda remote controlled preamp and the matching Gamma power amp. Heed is located in Budapest, Hungary, and all their products are designed and manufactured in the EU.  Each unit is priced at $2500 and they are featured in the Thesis line, which also includes a CD transport, a phono stage, a DAC, mono block amps, and a power supply.

The Lambda and Gamma are very stylish in appearance, with a minimalist, modern flare. The build quality is terrific, and more than one would expect at these prices. In function, both units are beautifully simple as well.  The Lambda is adorned with two chunky knobs on the front panel, one to select input, and one for volume control. There is a full function remote control as well. There are five single ended inputs around the back, and, happily, a tape output. There is also a connector for an optional outboard power supply. The Gamma power amplifier, housed in a chassis identical to the Lambda, offers up 110 wpc, and is outfitted with high quality speaker binding posts and RCA stereo inputs. 

Set Up & Listening:

We situated the Heed duo in our den system, with sources including a Sonore microRendu streamer feeding a Marantz HD-DAC1, and a Rega Planar 3 turntable, with a Rega phono stage. The speakers were a pair of Spendor A2 floorstanders (review forthcoming). Cabling was all Audio Art Cable. Everything was plugged into an Audience power conditioner. No other special tweaks were used.

We started off streaming a ton of classic rock from our networked library, powered by ROON, and it honestly took very little time to understand the Heed electronics were exceptionally clean, open, and wonderfully transparent sounding. There was no particular coloration or tonal inequalities that we could detect.  We streamed mostly CD rips in the beginning and were pretty dazzled by how excellent plain old Redbook digital sounded.

We cued up a string of classic European progressive rock, leaning toward the off the beaten path and obscure artists for good measure. We enjoyed everything from Goblin, Banco De Mutuo Soccorso, Atoll, Pancake, Golden Earring, Circus, Walrus, and some more familiar bands like the great Renaissance. Not to overlook some of our favorites, we also mined the superb Fairport Convention seven disc archival box set, The First Ten Years.

Not much of this music has been released in high resolution, but all these CDs have been mastered with care, most as a labour of love, and without exception they all sounded very organic, with all of their analog goodness preserved. But most importantly, the Heed gear allowed the music to reveal itself out of the mist of time, and made one long for an era when there were real instruments and mysterious compositions to challenge the ear and provide an escape from the mundane.

We wanted to also listen to modern music, which we rabidly consume, so  we cued up recent albums from alt-J, Punch Brothers, Eddie Veddor, Big Thief, Josefine Lindstrand, Cate Le Bon, Wovenhand, Walker & Wylde, Lars Bygden, Erdogan Emir, and far too many more to mention. The majority of these albums are 24 bit downloads, and are well recorded. The Heed amplification allowed these new recordings to shine bright, and helped get to the heart of the artist’s intentions.

The Veddor album, Earthling, was a bit of a challenge, as it was produced like a “big” rock record, with more commercial sounding mixes than Veddor’s band Pearl Jam is known for.  Clearly, his voice is in superb form, and right up front in the mix. The Heed combo helped produce a coherent picture, with very controlled bass and a very wide soundstage fitting for some of the epic rockers on this album.

The Dream, alt-J’s latest work, is the sound of a band in full creative overdrive, with quirky time signatures, off beat vocal harmonies, and overall experimental spirit, but delivered in a tighter package, with enough left turns to dazzle. The 48 kHz download, with a bit of squashed dynamics, is still a great listen. 

Hell On Church Street, the new release from Punch Brothers, is a career highlight, with great, natural sounding production, and varied material, including songs by Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, and even Gordon Lightfoot. The interplay between Chris Thile’s mandolin and vocals, and the sympathetic arrangements were all served very well by the Heed and Spendor combo.

Meadow Argus, a recent Bandcamp discovery, are purveyors of “handcrafted psychedelia” in their own words. Their hazy, dreamy take on folk rock, Silvering, is their debut full length release after several EPs. It is quite simply a sonic trip with flanged and fuzzed out guitars, organ, mysterious melodies, and chanted choruses. The Heed stack made this 24 bit download come to life with three dimensional spacing between instruments, while the mind bending arrangements and fantastical lyrics and vocals, enhanced with plenty of reverb, were certainly far out.

We recently bought the Esoteric label  CD/DVD-A remasters of four titles by the legendary German progressive rock outfit, Van Der Graaf Generator. The DVD discs include both the original mixes and new stereo mixes of each album in 24/96 resolution. To say these were the definitive digital versions of these classic albums would be an understatement. Tracks from Still Life, Godbluff, and the others were given new life, making overlooked subtle instrumental and vocal passages easy to enjoy. This music is avant-garde even 40 years later. The Heed amplification made complete sense of vocalist Peter Hamill and company’s strange and wonderful musical vision.

We of course also connected our Rega turntable and phono stage to the Heed preamp and spun vinyl extensively. The recent Blue Note all analog reissue of McCoy Tyner’s opus, The Real McCoy, was a thrill in every way. The Lambda and Gamma managed to get the pacing, texture, and overall gestalt of this recording just right. Tyner’s piano was beautifully presented, with the wooden overtones and percussive attacks perfectly preserved. The same goes for the legendary band. Ron Carter’s bass, Elvin Jones’s drums, and Joe Henderson’s tenor sax all had their own position in the mix, but it all came together as a cohesive sonic tapestry.

Delving into more far flung territory, boutique label We Want Sounds has produced two excellent reissues of legendary Egyptian guitarist Omar Korshid’s With Love and Giant + Guitar. The music is transcendental, with belly dance rhythms anchoring both Western and North African instruments, creating a bubbling stew of exotica. The Lambda and Gamma produced startling realism, with Korshid’s stratocaster lines navigating their way through the intoxicating arrangements. These albums brought home the fact that the Heed duo just made music fun to listen to.

Conclusion:

The Budapest designed and made Heed Thesis Lambda and Gamma preamplifer and power amplifier are sonically pure no nonsense components. They are for purists who want analog inputs and a high quality volume control on their preamps, and crave honest, transparent and meaty sound from their power amps.  You get all that and more here. All in a nice tidy package, a manageable footprint, and built to a very high standard. Both Heed components ran cool to the touch, and the Lambda remote control was well laid out.  

We are hard pressed to think of separates at this price point that perform as well as the Heed Thesis components. The Gamma has more than enough power to drive the Spendor A2 speakers we used, and we loved the volume range available on the preamp. For those upgrading from an integrated amplifier and looking to delve into the world of separates, the Heed gets our highest recommendation! 

Manufacturer

HEED
heedaudio.com

Distributor

PROFUNDO
2051 Gattis School Rd.
Suite 540/123
Round Rock, TX 78664
510.375.8651
info@profundo.us