Luxman 509x vs Hegel H390


The shortlist is mainly coming down to these two genuinely great amps.

What sets them apart in SQ overall & how would you describe the sound signature for each one.

 

 

 

chaseton

I currently have a Hegal 390, Pass labs intergated 250( a beast) and a Mac MA 352 hybrid. I find the Hegal to be very musical in my set up. I was very surprised how good it sounds in my room. The mac with its tubes just sounds magical at times. The Pass has the superb midrange and finesse. Im thinking of adding a luxman to hear what all the fuss is about. 

The ML 585 is the second favorite integrated amp that I have heard and could afford to buy at that time. My favorite was the KRELL K-300i which I bought and sold to get a KRELL 175XD stereo amp. I just sold that XD amp to raise funds to buy another more powerful XD amp in the near future.

I preferred the ML 585 and the KRELL K-300i integrated to the Luxman 509x and the older Hegel 360. I was told by a ML dealer that the older ML 585 sounds better than the new ML 5000 series integrateds, though the new ones have a better internal DAC.

Been auditioning for a bit. It came down to Luxman and Krell. Or even Simaudio as an owner but move up. Having a hard time with Luxman leading but I sort of can’t shake the Krell at the same time. What an awesome sounding int.

How are the XD amps as not part of the INT. I see on the used market at around 50% or so. It’s a shame more haven’t auditioned the Krell stuff. I think it’s fantastic and their new monster amp is coming in a month or two. Love it even though just YouTube clip. Never got to hear the ML gear.

You are going for 300XD?

 

Maybe I am miss-reading your post but the K-300i was the very first XD amp. It was the gateway drug for me to move up 1 rung up on that lineup (175XD) and MAYBE I can afford to move to the top with the new KSA i400.

That amp maybe going up in price due to rising costs of the metal casework (some supplier bad faith going on there). Anyways, if it all works out, I will have KEF Blade 2 Meta with the KSA i400. Both the 300i integrated and 175XD stereo amp I sold need more power for the Blades in the room I will put them in.

BTW - There are 2 300XD on USAM for around $7K and under. This amp would work great for me, and I will get this if I cannot afford the i400.

 

 weare integrated  amp specialists 

we currently sell coda, Hegel anthem krell unison ta and we used to sell luxman

 

the coda csib and the krellwould outperform the luxman and the krells dac and streamer are amazing  and it would take a 5k external dac to beat the internal dac 

the coda is a bit more detailed then the krell but both are sensational the only product which beats all three is the  t+a 2500r 

 

Dave and Troy 

Audio intellect  nj

integrated  amp specialists