Another Hegel H390 vs H590 Thread


Hey all, I know there have been a number of h390 v h590 posts so sorry for another, but I have what I think is a unique dilemma. 

I think the general consensus  is that while the 590 is marginally better, it isn’t worth $11,000, or nearly double the price of the 390 and that the 390 is the sweet spot. 

I was just about to make the purchase of a 390 for $6K when my dealer offered me a brand new 590 for $8500. Very tempting!  What do you guys think?  Worth the extra $2500?  

(In case it helps the rest of my system is:
Speakers: Duevel Venus (omnis - very inefficient) 
TT: EAT C-sharp w/ EAT Jo. 5 cartridge and EAT E-glo petit phono pre
Music server: Innuos Zen Mk III
Int. Amp I’m moving on from: Prima Luna Dialogue HP)

mikezuk

the 590 is better but it is not alot better I would go for the 590 at that price it is a no brainer

 

at this point h390s are hard to get right no hegel probably offered your dealer a better price on the 590

 

Dave and Troy

Audi9o intellect NJ

Hegel dealers

I'm just curious and a tad off your topic but why did you decide to move away from tubes..I did a few years ago and as it's said never looked back.

Thanks Audio Troy. That’s what I thought. He’s a new Hegel dealer (actually picked them up because I asked him if he could get Hegel). I think you’re right that  he got a better price and he also dropped a bit as well because he felt that the 590 simply wasn’t worth that much of a premium over the 390. Incidentally I’ve been lurking here for a while, and I just love your posts and your information. I think it was you that caused me to buy the Innuos Zan streamer last year. Love that thing. (But I am curious how it will compare to using the Hegel streaming capability. We’ll see. 

Hi Missioncoonery, I like the primaluna a lot but there are two reasons to move on: 

1. I just replaced my Maggies (1.7i) with Duevel Venus omnis. They work ok with the prima but need more power I think. They’re fairly inefficient. 
 

2. Tube amps can’t be left on all the time. This system is in a vacation house which gets a lot of use by my adult children. More than once I’ve come back after one of them has been up here to find the amp left on for several days or even as much as a week. Ugh. It’s bad for the amp and it’s using like 500 watts continuously just sitting there doing nothing.