After much consideration , carefully weighed with input from everyone here in mind.. The final nod went to the Luxman 509uxii . The more one looked at the Hegel , it became clear the aesthetic shortcomings not to mention the rather "heavy dense if not dour soiund" might pose issues in terms of long term ownership.
Paid via paypal on ebay , 30 days to try it out , seller pays for return shipping if there is anything amiss, will have an audio tech give it a thorough check. Ended up paying a little over $7.5k incl. tax for the new item. It was after one more listen last night to an audio clip with the 509uxii, then all was clear, get this amp. Should be here in less than two weeks. I am so looking forward to having it in my system.
