Maybe the Journey is Over?........Well......

Has Hegel's integrated amp have a DAC which is superior to the outboard Dac's you've heard? Curious about that aspect of your journey.

@hilde45 I have not tried other DAC’s other than the DAC’s in a couple of CD players I have owned. I have been told and I have read that the DAC in the Hegel H390 is very good and competes with some expensive models. For that reason, I haven’t been in a rush to try anything else. I may try a few options if I can get them on loan and then the journey will continue......sigh.

Enjoy your system as is for a while or you'll never really know how content you can be with it. All that "what if" can empty your pockets at an alarming pace and not get you any further than where you presently are.

All the best,
Nonoise

@baclagg Very cool. I am not trying to send you down the upgrade path, but as many experienced audiophiles have told and shown me, the source is really critical in making or breaking a system. The Hegel’s all-in-one integrated is very nice, but at $6500 (new), it’s bound to have a good (not great) DAC, streamer, preamp, and amp. Some of those internals may be better than others (I’d expect the amp/preamp are superior) but even if they were all equal, you’re talking about components that are roughly at the $1600 mark, each. If you look for really good components that are separate -- and not ultra-hifi-- you would find yourself probably spending more on at least some of those separates. Especially the DAC.

Of course, nothing sounds better to anyone’s ears but yours.This is just how I’d think about it if I had your system.

How are you finding the GIK suggestions working out in terms of SQ? I also received recommendations from them, just haven't pulled the trigger yet