The Viking Has Landed | Hegel Viking CD Player

In a world where music streaming and digital downloads dominate the audio landscape, it's easy to forget the pure joy of popping a CD into a player and immersing yourself in the crystalline sounds of your favorite tracks. Hegel takes an audiophile purist approach with the Viking, committed to getting the very last drop of musicality from your CD collection.

The Resurrection of a Legend

Several years ago, Hegel faced a significant challenge when they had to discontinue their highly acclaimed Mohican CD player. The reason? Key components crucial for its production were no longer available. Faced with this setback, Hegel's dedicated team embarked on a journey to develop a CD player that would not only replace the Mohican but surpass it in every way. The result of their relentless pursuit of perfection is the Hegel Viking – a CD player that has already captured an EISA award ahead of its launch.

Simplicity Meets Excellence

At first glance, the Viking may appear unassuming with its classic minimalist Norwegian design. But it’s precisely simplicity that sets it apart. Unlike versatile, all-in-one audio devices, the Viking focuses solely on being a faithful and excellent CD player. What's remarkable is that it refrains from upsampling or tampering with the signal in any way, allowing the exceptional DAC to perform at its absolute best. To that end, Hegel has engineered a high-quality AKM-based DAC stage and fully balanced analogue output, each fed by separate power supplies, while its proprietary SoundEngine technology also works to suppress digital jitter. 

Hegel's Master Clock system, featuring a low phase noise quartz crystal and patented SoundEngine technology, orchestrates the Viking's drive and DAC with perfect timing, reducing jitter to an absolute minimum. This meticulous control ensures that every note and nuance is faithfully rendered.

An Unparalleled Analog Stage

The Viking takes pride in its analog stage, designed exclusively for this model. It incorporates Hegel's analog low pass filter and Line Driver technology, ensuring a fully balanced and noise-free handling of the signal from the CD to your amplifier. It’s commitment to details like this that sets the Viking apart from other audiophile-grade CD players.

Design Elegance Meets Durability

The Viking's exterior mirrors the modern aesthetics of Hegel's P30A and H30A, ensuring a cohesive and visually pleasing audio system. However, the design isn't solely about aesthetics – it's a testament to quality and durability. Featuring a reliable slot-in drive and solid construction, the Viking is built to last, promising years of pristine playback.

Connectivity and Convenience

Hegel understands that versatility is essential. The Viking CD player offers one pair of balanced XLR outputs, one pair of unbalanced RCA outputs, and one BNC digital true 75 Ohm output. This flexibility makes it easy to integrate into any audio system. Additionally, the Viking includes an auto-standby feature for user convenience and comes with Hegel's solid aluminum RC8 remote, which can control all Hegel products, providing a seamless user experience.

Availability and Pricing

The Hegel Viking landed September 2023 and is available for $5,000

In a world filled with audio component options, the Hegel Viking CD player stands on its merits of uncompromising fidelity and simplicity. If your media vaults include racks of CDs, the award winning Hegel Viking needs to be on your list of components to consider.