@avanti1960
>the sound ranged from bland and lifeless to overly punchy and bass heavy to unrefined and overly detailed and bright.
Whoa! Is it even possible for one component to be flawed in ALL those ways?
I've never owned or heard Hegel gear, so I don't have a horse in this race. The Hegel integrateds are contenders for me b/c of their superb connectivity, generally excellent reputation for sound quality, and relatively light weight (300 wpc Class A/B, 49lbs). My integrated would have to fit into a complex-topology surround system, and laugh if you must, but 49 pounds for this much non-ClassD power makes a big difference to these old bones.
Your observations don't jibe with those of most Hegel owners I've spoken to. But, hey, maybe a corollary to the Anthropic Principle could be at play. People who own and love Hegel gear may just be self-selected from a subset of listeners who originally liked Hegel enough to buy it! So your comments, as a non-owner who has heard Hegel in a variety of systems, are certainly valuable.
But could you expand a bit on your comments? What other components were configured when the Hegels sounded lifeless, overly detailed, bass heavy, bright, etc.? I'm still trying to wrap my mind around those seemingly mutually-exclusive characteristics.
FWIW, as I mentioned above, Hegel and Ayre -- my two top contenders at the moment -- are both reputed to pair well with Harbeths. In fact, I've been told that Harbeth uses Hegel electronics in its show rooms.