I can contribute that I have owned the H590 and found it a formidable amp. Plenty of power, a DAC that reviewers gush over, and Hegel's design philosophy that the amp should add nothing to the sound. It is smooth and neutral. I would look for one slightly used. Only sold it when I decided to move up to the H30.
Intg Amps: Hegel 590 vs NAD M33 Masters vs Gryphon Diablo 120
Hi All: I am getting an itch to upgrade my integrated amp from Hegel 190 to something more robust that facilitates future speaker swapping. And no, I'm not presently interested in separating components that much further (e.g. separate DAC; separate amp; clock; etc. etc). I mainly interested in the following 3 on a used basis:
Hegel 590 OR NAD Masters 33 OR Gryphon Diablo 120
Max budget is $7500 if I choose to go towards the Gryphon (used), but curious if it's really THAT much better. I'm particularly interested to hear from people that have had or auditioned at 2 out of 3. The room correction on NAD is very appealing but I quite like my Hegel and it's tight control, and so something nice about staying true.
Current Setup:
* Unideal Brooklyn Apartment living room into Kitchen
* Hegel 190
* Monitor Audio Silver 7G 500
* Pine Tree Audio Cables
* Dual 1216
* Schiit Mani 2 (though I hear the phono preamp on some of above may make this superfluous)
* Spotify/Tidal (main streaming source)
Showing 2 responses by bigtwin
@tvrgeek I'm not sure what your budget would be but the H590 can be had slightly used at very good prices. As an example: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649990562-hegel-h590/ I purchased the H590 from an original owner a few years back. You would never have known it wasn't brand new when I received it. As quality amps are built to last for decades, paying 50% or more extra just to get the "new car smell" has always made me ask why. Cheers. |