i am also a big hegel fan... i think they sound absolutely wonderful, not a hint of ss glare or hardness, deep dark background, spacious wide and deep sound stage, tremendous bass control
other top ss integrateds - by pass, luxman, naim, ayre, belles are all in the same (top) class of sq, but i have come to prefer hegels
i also agree that the focal be tweeter is very good, but can be easily teased into brightness, so smooooooth is the key word on source and amp selection, in which case, one must also not rule out good tube amps, i.e. from stalwarts arc and cj, and respected newcomers like rogue, primaluna etc etc