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Hegel H390 or NAD M33 for Bowers and Wilkins 802D2 speakers?

I am looking for a one box amplifier, streamer, and Dac for my B&W 802 D2 speakers. My listening room is about 400 square feet with 18 foot ceilings.

I previously had a 200 watt Cambridge Audio 840W amplifier and 840 E pre-amplifier with a bluesound node 2 streamer DAC that I was pretty happy with but was looking for a step up in sound and a one box solution. I bought a NAD M10 six months ago but sold it after a few months because it didn’t seem to be as musical, rich, lively and dynamic as my previous Cambridge system. With the Dirac activated (standard version up to 500 HZ) on the NAD M10 the bass tightened up but the sound stage seemed to be pushed too far back in the room and the speakers seemed to have a veiled sound with the mids and highs toned down too much.

I think I have narrowed my replacement down to the Hegel H390 or the NAD M33. Both the Hegel H390 and NAD M33 are about $7,000 MSRP in Canada and both seem to be getting great reviews. I was leaning towards the Hegel H390 but the brand new NAD M33 seems to be getting some great reviews and as a bonus looks much better than the Hegel H390. My hesitation with the NAD M33 is my prior experience with the NAD M10 but perhaps the big brother newer M33 with Eigentakt technology has solved some of the issues I have had with the M10?

I will probably be only streaming Tidal and Spotify from my music system with no plans for vinyl. I am looking for a a warm, lively, dynamic sound and listen to everything from pop music, classical, jazz, vocals, and classic rock.Any suggestions on which of these 2 to buy? Unfortunately I probably won’t be able to take either of these home to try in my room with my speakers before I buy.

Thanks for any help offered!

spacemanrick
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@spacemanrick

just buy the nad... its ok... we hegel lovers won’t be offended in the least .... hahaha

many paths to musical happiness

enjoy the music
spacemanrick OP
25 posts
 
Just a quick bump to this thread. Both the NAD M33 and Hegel H390 are finally now in stock at my dealer and both are very close in price. I have a friend that is going to pick up one of these next Wednesday and drive it to my house (I don’t live near the dealer).
Up until 2 months ago when the NAD M33 was released I was planning on buying the Hegel H390 but from the few excellent reviews out there for the NAD M33 and from what my dealer suggested (dealer sells both) I am leaning towards the NAD.

My dealer said both the Hegel and NAD are great and the Hegel of course is a more traditional class A/B, has low distortion, and good coloration in mids. The dealer said that the NAD is more raw, accurate with an ultra low noise floor, with outstanding bass, is full bodied, musical, and blows my old NAD M10 away.

Any last words or suggested pick before I make the purchase on Wednesday?
yyzsantabarbara
4,581 posts
 
I was always suggesting to people to get the Hegel 390 last 2 years. However, today I would likely get the NAD M33 based on the Purifi module and that it should sound like the Benchmark AHB2. Both are super quiet, which has become a very high priority for me when selecting an amp.
spacemanrick OP
25 posts
 
I have had my NAD M33 for 2 days now and I am very impressed with the sound quality I am now getting with my 802D2 speakers! The NAD M33 just makes everything sound more musical and more like you are listening to the performers and not a recording. The sound is very clear and detailed with great stereo imaging across the room of all the vocals and instruments. There is also lots of power on tap and it never feels like the M33 is straining and there is lots of dynamic range from the dead quiet moments to full blown loud instruments.

I never heard the Hegel H390 with my speakers in my room but the NAD M33 blows away my previous NAD M10 with my speakers in my room. Of course the M33 bluesound operating system is also an added bonus because I can use the M33 with my bluesound powernode 2i in my dining room.

I just started playing with the Dirac this afternoon and setup a few different presets and the Dirac seems to nicely tighten up some of the bass reflections in my listening room.
cd45123
191 posts
 
Glad it’s working out. M33 and Purifi in general are very disruptive products. Looking forward to when DALI or another manufacturers starts making Purifi speakers.
I recently added a Purifi amp to my Hegel H90...maybe it’s just me, but it’s pretty close from what I can tell. Using an external DAC and Bluesound node, as well. The Hegel is really neutral to begin with, but the Purifi is just as neutral with a little more kick, detail. I’m running this on a pair of LS50 Metas.
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