Hegel comparison


I have the opportunity to buy either a Hegel 390 or 590.  Pricing to be negotiated, and there are no dealerships anywhere in my region that would allow me to hear either one before making a decision.

Does anybody have an opinion, based on live auditioning, re: the relative sonic profiles of these two products?

Thanks for any opinions based on first-hand experience.

 

cundare2

Without question, go for the the far more powerful, detailed and transparent Hegel H590!!!  I've owned both and now own the H590.  I strongly believe that the H590 is superior to the H390 in every way.  I use an external DAC with my H590 to drive an inefficient pair of Revel Salon 2 speakers, in my smaller room, with incredible results.     

All these comments are very helpful -- thanks!

It seems like the decision is mutating into 590 v. 600.  I've heard nothing better than lukewarm comments about the 590's DAC, so maybe the decision is "590+outboard DAC" or 600...

Yeah, but by then my question will have morphed into: "How does the H600 compare to the H620?" 😉

But seriously, let’s say that I do go for a used $5500-7000 H590 plus outboard DAC. I’ve always like the HiFi Rose front-end, but, correct me if you think I’m off-base, I don’t think that any HFR DAC would be a significant upgrade from the Hegel integrated DAC. Any suggestions for a better fit in, I dunno, the $2-3000 range? I hate to spend a lot of money on a DAC b/c the technology is still improving every year.

And since DAC/streamers (like HFR) are now in the conversation, does anybody have first-hand feedback about the H590’s streaming capabilities (or lack of)? The only audio streaming services I ever use are Tidal & YouTube. My only functionality constraint is that I’d need to stream over 500Gbps+ Wifi. So any DAC purchase decision would primarily be a function of sonics & UI.