very similar sonic profiles up the frequency range, smooth refined well detailed treble and silky yet textured voices and mids, both are holographic and well defined with soundstage/imaging -- hegel will have superb bass control (among the very best out there), ayre a touch looser, boomier in midbass, hegel will dig deeper into deep bass but the overall bass presentation will be a touch drier... so preferences and speaker/room choice will dictate what sounds better
Ayre v Hegel sound
My setup is comprised of a Roon-ready Ayre QX-5 Twenty DAC, Ayre DX-5 DSD disc player, Ayre KX-5 Twenty preamp and VX-5 Twenty amp driving a pair of KEF Reference 1s augmented below 80 Hz with s pair of acoustic room corrected Velodyne HGS-15s. The speakers are high-passed at 80 Hz by a Marchand filter. I've been mulling over the idea of replacing the DAC, preamp, and amp with a Hegel H390 integrated for simplicity and downsizing , but I have no idea what effect that might have on the sound. Anyone out there know or have an opinion?
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@dbphd "Anyone out there have an opinion?" That had me laughing. I have owned the H390 and found it a wonderful amp. Did everything and did it well. You don't indicate if you are looking at new or used equipment. If new, I would encourage you to look for a lightly used H590. Dollar for dollar the 390 is the much better deal, but the 590 is the better overall package. Used may bring the cost in line? |
- 18 posts total