Hertz HP4

A very good looking product in a more modern tip than the DLS A4. It features edge-cut fins along its lengthy sides, with the same cut finish to the tops of the letters comprising the HERTZ brand name on the top and there’s another small metal badge saying ‘HP4’ on it with a red background also adhered to the top plate near the brand label. There are two smoky transparent panels. One covers the HP Manager display that shows temperature in first Celsius then Fahrenheit (this would have been better as a choice as few folks use or think in both) and also the voltage that the amplifier’s innards are ‘seeing’. The next panel covers a very simple crossover array of high or lowpass choice with commensurate switch gear to activate or set for either Highpass or Lowpass as well as switches to set use in either stereo or bridged mode. Large and good looking with its black grainy-satin finish and with end castings that look functional for keeping the connections from getting a battering from any loose objects, the amplifier sits upon four fat rubbery feet for mechanical vibration isolation. For a product so obviously high end, the use of the edge-cut aluminium surface is a pity as this is now cheap enough to have been a bling-beats-sounds feature on so very many horrid pieces of crap and on an item of this quality looks like using flock wallpaper in a room with steel and glass decor! End castings are held on by Allen headed bolts.
– Class AB- 4 x 130w RMS @ 4 Ohms (CEA 2006 Compliant)
– 4 x 230w RMS @ 2 Ohms- 2 x 440w RMS @ 4 Ohms bridged
– Extruded Aluminium heatsink with cast end pieces and smoky top plate over crossovers, plus HP Manager panel and button.
– 3Ga. power terminals with Allen headed grub screw connection
– Dot matrix LCD display plus LEDS system called HP Manager showing Voltage and temperature in degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit plus protection status
– 4Ch RCA input, 2 RCA output plus high level input on supplied separate connection system
– 12dB per Octave Highpass/Lowpass crossovers 40Hz to 150Hz
– Input sensitivity: 300mV to 5V or 1.4V to 2.4V high level- Stereo & bridged operation
– Frequency response 4Hz to 70kHz +/-3dB
– Signal to Noise Ratio 94dB
– Channel separation not quoted
– Fuse Rating 30A x 4
– HxWxD(mm) 58 x 240 x 550mm
– Complete with four spare fuses, Allen keys and fixings and excellent manual
Review by Adam Rayner
I am lucky enough to have ended up reviewing high end loudspeakers in a paper magazine called Home Cinema Choice. (‘PAPER look! real paperrrr!’ What movie is that from? The next line spoken was about the piece of paper in question being a whole community’s wealth. I need movie title, lead star’s name and the accent used by the actor. Random bass CD as prize to first correct PM on the forum!) They have awards every year and a year or so ago the Best Speaker Over �1,000 award went to some Italian speakers made by Sonus Faber.
They looked fake and I said they looked like they were from Elvis Presley’s Hawaiian design era.
Thing is, they had genuine Walnut cheeks and black top grain leather coats bonded onto their surfaces. These two materials have been copied so often that Walnut wood makes me think of cheap expanding sliding doors and peeling ‘walnut’ look vinyl and the cheapest leatherette is always that black looks-like-top-grain-hide stuff.
But that doesn’t matter because the simple truth is that the Italians can easily claim to be the truly most civilised nation in all the world. Their cars are worshipped, their loudspeakers are often breathtakingly beautiful in all ways including sonic, they even make the most desirable and classy powerboats in the world. All wood built, they are made by Riva and any millionaire worth his salt needs to have one on Lake Como. While I’m still digressing like fury I can also tell you that the best polished wood veneers or lapped marble finishes and art made from glass, are of course all Italian. And that’s not to touch on the arts from opera to paint to sculpture
Like The Streets said spittin’, ‘I’m forty-fifth generation Roman.’
All of which adds up to an explanation as to why Hertz, a brand of the bloody fabulous Elettromedia company use some quite horrendously naff badging on the HP4 given the value and quality of the product inside.
I refer to the use of diamond-cut edge Aluminium. Yes it does look bling and Vibe alone use it well. They have almost made it their thing, along with crackle paint. But it became a cheap-enough-to-use option for some truly vile yuk kit in recent years (low end Vieta anyone?) with all sorts of quite utterly crap subwoofers floating around the car-parts shop market all bearing cool cut-Aluminium faces.
So ignore the naff Hertz badge and the only slightly piffly model badge and fire it up.
This has really serious sound, another ten in fact. Loads of super high frequency speed and detail, even better than the JL Audio 300/4v2. the pianoforte (and that’s an Italian term) is the most revealing instrument of anything for true HiFi buffs. That’s because when you hit one string with a felt covered hammer, all the other strings around it resonate with harmonics. It is a fabulously complex waveform and our ears are good at making a judgement of realism based on quite incredibly small variations. You can tell where a mosquito might be buzzing around your head to flap a hand to get rid of it and that’s milliseconds, or fractions of milliseconds’ differences and no difficulty to discern.
The true high end nature of the output of this amplifier shines through. You get a feel of the space a track was recorded in if it one of the live ones from Spirit of Sound #6, you get all the brushes on the high hat or the snare drum as a mass of individual brush sounds, not an undefined ‘pish’ sound. I found myself hearing and analysing the actual analogue recording hiss on some of the tracks, so high was the resolution of the signal through the amp and the fabby speakers I was using.
I also tried to see how loud it’d go and found that the surfboard dimensions are about headroom as it went a big 125.7dB without any nasties, which was huge. So although very powerful indeed, it is truly about sound quality, headroom and sheer ability under drive.
All the stuff about the badge-branding of the product at the start might seem silly but this is the entire cosmetic focus of a product so high end, so bloody fabulous that it will often find itself in competition cars. The same guys who will love the top display will hate the badge. They, as well as anyone who ever got a stiff nipple from sheer joy of possession knows exactly what I am on about. The badge on the top is not structural, so is easy to redesign and change for something better looking. Even if it added some cost to the amplifier, if the badge made you drool too, it’d change the whole feel of the product. If you really don’t get his than your strain of the mobile electronics infection is simply not as virulent as mine and I apologise for loading your brain with my odd views!
Meanwhile, the Hertz HP4 scored so well it earned itself a coveted Talk Audio Recommended award, even at the price.
This is a slice of Italianate electronic art.
Overall 9.2
Sound Quality 10
Power Output 9
Features 7
Build Quality 10
Value For Money 8