New to audiogon and first post. I'm planning on preordering the Hegel H590 soon. They'll be driving my KEF Reference 2's which should be a huge upgrade from my Denon AVR.
Anyone heard this integrated yet? Anyone heard an official ship date?
Op you may want to consider a few of the newer preamp/dac + amp options that may be similarily priced:
We have the Anthem STR amp and preamp which is an outstanding 400 watt per channel amp plus the new STR preamp state of the art dac + preamp with room correction both pieces are $10k no built in streamer though this package is $10k and it is really fantastic sounding one of the best sounding packages we have seen under $20k
There is the new Krell K300i at $8k this totally new Krell Ibias 150watt integrated was one of the highlights at Rocky Mountain where one of the reviewers Mike Trei said it was the best sound at the show, don't know haven't heard the piece yet but the buzz is very strong that this little integrated is pretty amazing.
You also have the new Mark Levinson 5000 series which are getting good buzz they have a new integrated at $7k.
The T+A gear is amazing they have one integrated amp the 2500R at $11k challenges way more expensive amps, very open, transparent, great soundstage but no built in dac.
The take away is that there are a lot of great packages you can put together. We are waiting to hear the 590 as well, as we might be brining in Hegel again.
Long story short there is a lot of great gear on the market right now that repesents stunning sound and good pricing.
Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Krell, T+A, Anthem, Coda dealers
+1 on contacting Mike at Suncoast. A straight shooter with a large selection of great integrated amps including the Hegel 590. Pass, Gryphon and T+A. Also a KEF dealer.
I contacted Hegel about hearing this in S. Cal but none of their dealers have bought one yet. I do know that the Suncoast dealer in Florida has the Hegel and a ton of other integrateds. You may want to give him a call and talk to him about it relative to the other great units he sells.
Congrats. I'm scared to order one because I just feel stupid ordering from Hegel based on their made in China pedigree and trying to hide it, the fact that another Chinese company is selling the exact same amp under a different brand/badge out the back door. I don't think Hegel even owns their own manufacturing factory, molds, etc, and I've read somewhere that the Chinese company that manufactures all the Hegel products has let their designs and molds slip into other factory hands, and there's actual counterfeit Hegel amps being made on the way to the market, using shoddy caps, etc. This is all in China, but the fact all this nonsense is happening has made me extremely wary of spending upwards of $5000 on a reference level amp by them. Hegel really needs to get their act together and start doing everything themself. I'd rather pay 2x and get actual made in Norway gear.
This is the 2nd company that I heard is doing a custom OS, ROON and Hegel.
When I heard that PS Audio is writing their own version of ROON I decided to not go for the DS DAC.
I am a software guy myself and cannot see an audio company doing software well. Though I think the ROON guys/gals can pull it off since they are a software company.
I work in software in Silicon Valley with the best programmers in the world. I can’t see why any reasonable engineer would make their own OS anymore. It’s so easy to customize Linux or Android, which are stable platforms and actively being improved, not to mention security updates.
I have the H360 driving my salon’2s and for the first time last night the display read HOT and output stopped! Red hot chili peppers at 75 lasted almost all the was thru "i’m with you". Oh well, maybe a 590 is in my future or a used h30 or an h20 to do the horizontal bop. thing is I love the sound of the h360 and when I compared it to the less powered int’s I really didn’t hear a difference, the h190 might have had a little more snap but I didn’t have them side by side to compare. oh yea I turned the h360 back on 10 minutes later and it played as if nothing happened, my +100 db was done for the evening tho.
I wouldn't just order one, we were Hegel dealers years ago, and their products are excellent, the real question will be how will the 590 stack up to any of the zillion other reference integrated amplifiers on the market, then how will it pair with your Kef's?
As mentioned on another post you have high end intergratreds from Bel Canto, there is the less expensive but also mindblowing Micromega M150 which adds room correction to the mix, then you have the Luxman products, T+A products, etc.
So if I were you I would wait and then borrow one and see how you like it and obviously compare it to the any of the other market contenders.
The Hegel sound is fast, clean, with a big soundstage, however,the Hegel sound tends to have less midrange bloom then a Naim or Micromega product.
Welcome to the forum Hugh! The H590 debuted at the Munich High End show, and I think one other show in Europe. Maybe a member here who visited Hegel's room at Munich might chime in.
Re: a release date, I watched some Youtube videos and checked around the Internet, but the best clue I could find was on Hegel's FB page from a few days ago which simply said "..It is coming soon", so only Company insiders know at this stage.
It looks like a very good amp for the money. It will be interesting to see how this amp compares to other good integrateds around that price point, incl: the Audio Analogue Maestro Anniversary, Rowland Continuum S2
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