The Hegel H590/H600 integrated amplifiers (used as amp/preamp only). Absolutely incredible!!! High current/damping factor that can drive anything with authority, beautiful fine detail and transparency, super dynamic, layering, air, sound staging, height, depth, width, neutral and natural sounding but doesn’t lack a degree of warmth. The H590/H600 are world class, reference caliber sounding pieces of high end audio kit and, IMHO, an unbelievable value . A couple years ago, I moved from a very large listing room to a smaller room in the house and space became an issue so I replaced my separates with a Hegel H590. The H590 made me forget all about the separates. I’ll probably never part with my H590 as it’s just absolutely phenomenal driving my Revel Salon 2 speakers. Happy listening.
Power Amplifier - Maximum Resolution & Detail!
I am assuming some of you have experienced the following.... All else being the same in the chain, you replaced a power amplifier and started hearing more resolution and detail, perhaps a lil more in a track that you have heard a thousand times.
Ime, the higher you go up in price doesn't necessarily guarantee that you could experience the above mentioned. It seems to come down to the nitty gritty of the circuits under consideration, i.e., the black art of power delivery and analog circuit design.
What is a power amp you may have experimented with that provided the maximum detail and resolution at any price? (Not just perceived changes in tonal balance, etc).
I am hoping to shortlist a power amp based on some suggestions here for a future purchase.
P.S. If you are an ASR type of guy who thinks all power amps sound the same, this may not the right thread for you, I suppose...
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@deep_333 It would seem there are as many great amps as there are members offering opinions. I assume many are recommending what they have in their own system. So I'll just give a +1 to Hegel amps. I've owned three, working my way up to the H30's in fully balanced mono blocks. I recently sent back a pair of $70,000 (CDN) BAT REX 3 Tube mono blocks as they provided not an iota of sound improvement over the H30s ($27,000 CDN for the pair). My manta has become "only shop where they have a 100% no questions asked return policy" Good luck with your quest. |
I was also a Benchmark AHB 2 owner for 3 years. Excellent amp for the price but I too found a slight hardness in the lower treble around 2k-3k Hz. Also the overall sound was not as relaxed and laid back as I liked. My goal in replacing it was for a musical and open sounding amp with refined highs, neutral midrange and solid bass. It came down to Bryston 4b3 and Accuphase P4600. Once I heard the Accuphase’s new amp I was sold. Beautifully musical, tight bass response, non fatiguing with a refined extended high end and enough detail to make the music sound real. |
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