Nad M33 vs Hegel H390... old question with a bit of a twist (ethernet and headphones)

Just wanted to jump in as someone who has actually heard the M33 and I have serious doubts that the Hegel H190 is any better.  Sure some folks on here will wax poetic about Class D sound, but until you hear what the M33 can do I would not sell it short--and this is coming from a guy who has a bunch of class a/b stuff in the house, that currently includes amps by Linear Tube Audio, Naim & Manley.

I've been looking for something to drive a new pair of Studio Electric M4s and am looking for a one-box streaming/amplifier solutions and have been really blown away by the NAD.  As a pairing with the M4s, it's much better than the Naim Uniti Atom, which I own, and also better than my Naim Supernait 3, which on most music is dark with those speakers.  There is a difference in tone between the Supernait and the NAD and there are some songs in which the Naim seems fuller.  But plenty of others were it is not.  What the NAD does better than the Naim is the size of the soundstage, the detail retrieval, and the iron grip on the bass.  It's not particularly close.  For my speakers, the only other one-box I would consider is the Gold Note IS-1000 but it's lack of an HDMI input is a strike against it as this unit is going into my family room and I would like to use it with the TV.  I have not directly compared it with the Hegel, but have heard the Hegels a whole lot at my dealers, I don't think it's the slam dunk others seem to sound wise, and as far as the feature set the Hegel is like a Norwegian grandmother compared to the M33.

naim does not sound like hegel does not sound like nad

https://youtu.be/Of8OQej7i9o

https://youtu.be/4el12XInqnM

these guys properly compare and try to be objective... they state their preferences, but more importantly they are articulate in describing the different voicings and strengths/weaknesses

what they articulate is also quite consistent with my own findings

I agree with your assertion that none of these amps really sound like the others.  I think that delta grows, even more, depending on speaker choices and that the amplifier/speaker match is what's really important here.

As far as the videos, the Audio Excellence crew have always been more or less Hegel fanboys to some extent.  I get it, the Hegels are excellent amplifiers and AE sells a ton of them.  I hear them all the time and enjoy them as well. 

I don't think you can draw anything from their discussion about the M10, however.  The M10 has a Hypex nCore amplification stage while the M33's Eigentakt amplification stage is just at a completely different animal.  At some point, I'll borrow my local dealer's H390 to compare with the M33 but based on what I've already heard I would be very surprised if the Hegel throws a larger soundstage than the M33, just to pick one of the points they made about the M10 in the video.

I've already mentioned that the M33 drives my Studio Electric M4s as well as anything I've heard, equal to the giant Bryston that I first heard them with, but it's also light years ahead of the Hegel in both feature set and appearance.  The NAD M33 won Stereophile Product of the Year for 2020 so you might surmise a lot of other people with a lot of experience listening to gear also think that the M33 is pretty special, so I'd be careful with assumptions about how NAD's digital amps sound because this one is quite a bit different. 

no doubt the m33 > m10 due to the new amp module used - as i said in an earlier post here, the wide chasm sq gap relative to hegel has closed some for sure with nad moving to purifi and better voicing

ae in toronto like hegel for a reason, leave aside they sell it, they sell naim and nad too (and parasound and ps audio) ... they have plenty of time to listen and assess and on excellent ancillary gear, with proper set up in proper rooms ... but of course, everyone’s taste is different so this is not at all knocking the m33 -- it is a very good piece for sure, esp. when factoring in all the features like dirac etc etc... does stuff that hegels just do not do

now, as for stereophile product of year... ok... i am sure that accolade makes it sound even better to many, good investment by nad in ad dollars without a doubt 🤫

many paths to musical happiness... hegel > nad on sound quality, but all gear is on a spectrum - amps out there better than hegel too...

@badgerdms and @jjss49 funny you should mention AE because I do watch their videos and have no doubt been influenced. When I rang my dealer in Vancouver yesterday to tell him that I want to listen to the M33, he was hesitant and told me that I would be happier with either the H190 or H390. But I am certain that I want to listen to the M33 as well. Partly based on the excellent review of Hans Beekhuyzen.
I have actually not heard my new speakers and neither has the dealer as the KLH model 5 (new not vintage) literally just shipped. But I am confident that they are fairly neutral and do not have a party sound anyway. What I wanted to get away from - in my price range - was the sound of JBL 100s. 
I honestly am not attracted by the Dirac feature as it is just an extra piece of fiddly electronics. I can move the speakers around the room and listen...