So I just bought a Hegel H390 and
https://www.audiothesis.com/product-page/rosso-fiorentino-fiesole My pride was abruptly challenged when I put these Italian stand mount speakers up against my Lenehan Audio ML2 stand mounts that I built. These speakers are seriously highly resolving. They are $9k with stands, I called Skip to ask him, and he said the Hegel is a good pairing. Whatever you purchase, the Hegel is a great amplifier. I heard it in El Paso TX a few years ago, and I want to hear the H590 because of that amp. One thing in particular I like, is that, though it has a built in DAC, it's ability to accept an external DAC makes it even more versatile and future proof. Great purchase mate! |
A brand no one has mentioned is Aerial Acoustics. I demo’d the H590 in my house with mine and found the Hegel comparably neutral and powerful to my current Ayre K-5xe pre-amp/Levinson 250w/ch power amp combo. The Aerial Model 7T is slightly above your speaker budget, while the Model 6T is $2-3k below your budget depending on finish. The Aerial speakers are very musical and just slightly warmer than neutral. Well built speakers assembled in the USA, with outstanding cabinetry. They’re good for just about any kind of music. I demo’d the H590 at the dealer with a pair of Magico A3 speakers, another excellent combination as others have mentioned. They’re slightly above your budget, priced similar to the Aerial 7Ts. The latter have a fuller sound and better bass to my ears, but the Magico’s were clean and clear. I found the Harbeth speakers too warm for my taste, but others love them. You might also look for a pair of used Wilson speakers, also neutral to my ears. |
the hegel h390 and 590 are voiced a touch warmer than the lower hegel integrateds... different circuitry in the preamp section developed for those higher models shape the tonality a touch i would agree that most hegels, from the last gen h160 h300 h360 to current gen lower models up to the h190 are very very neutral (and that means no treble emphasis that many if not most other ’good’ solid state class ab amps still have...), but the h390 and h590 were built to offer the listener a bit more ’luxurious sound’ than their junior siblings many good speakers have been named, i won’t add further to the list... given op prefers to err on the slightly warm side rather than the bright side, i would lean towards harbeth, vandersteen, spendor classic, and lean away from focal, magico, spendor d series, top tier kefs... but given the basic neutrality of the hegels, it may well the source and the room the op uses that dictate where he lands on the warm vs cool spectrum in making the speaker selection wish the op good luck in auditioning and finding what works for him |
Good for you! I had the H190 which is really a fine sounding piece on its own, I wanted to get a little more oomph, so I went for the 390 which I received about 2 weeks ago, and it's a piece of magic, for sure. I'm driving the LS50 Metas for now. I have other speakers, but I'm more familiar with the KEF, so I'm getting to know the amp. Can't wait til it's broken in. It has a sound and dimension like I've never heard from anything I've ever owned before. The last Integrated I had was the Yamaha 2100 which is really a nice piece of electronics, but this piece just smokes it. I haven't messed with the network stuff yet, so nothing to report there. The 390 may be the last power piece I own. Even tho it was way out of my budget, once I had the 190, I knew I was on the right track. Have fun with your new toy! It's heavy, so watch your back. Anyway, that's what Wives are for! |
