I am looking to upgrade - looking for advice

Rules of thumb are good ways to begin extensive research of professional reviews and auditioning of audio equipment. I listen to equipment inside my circle of interest as well as outside the circle to verify the validity of any generalizations I have made on a search or made from my previous experience. If there are errors in my generalizations, then I start over.

From here I get serious about auditioning and comparing options. In more recent decades I have had the luxury of often auditioning in my home with the rest of my equipment. I have one main system, a high end headphone system, an office system and a “burn in / experimental system (mostly Schiit). So, I am connected to multiple levels of investment.

So, over the last fifty years I have developed my methodology and repeatedly used it for upgrades. None of it is fixed in concrete. Out of this experience I have noticed the end products of my searches have tended to end at some particular configuration. So, this is where I came up with my rules of thumb. And they are just that… starting places that do not replace lots of research and auditioning, but are helpful to guide folks to optimal solutions.

OP, amps and, preamps and integrateds do make a difference. When speakers get more complex and revealing they’re more likely to show the strengths and weaknesses of components,  The H390 has as much power as the A21 power amp and sounds more open and detailed without being bright and it holds together when the nova 300 starts getting grainy. Hegel’s 300 line is really the sweet spot from the company for the consumer. High power, competitive dac and quiet pre amp in a single box 

@ghdprentice There is a reason the masters of wine exam is done entirely blind (applicants are not told what wines they are drinking). Its impossible to not be influenced by what you read or know about a piece of gear or its manufacturer. If you really want to develop your listeners ear and provide real advice rather then encouragement, get a switcher and integrate blind testing into your process.

This video makes some great points -

@ghdprentice 

+1

To the OP; This is the best advice you will ever get.

So I got the H390 and the EverSolo streamer and I have been listening for 2 days. First the EverSolo: it has a nice display and a lot of options. However from a Bluetooth perspective its connectivity to my phone is inferior to my node. The EverSolo might be better through connectivity directly to internet. I don’t know yet since I have not done it. Right now I will continue to use the node. Now to the Hegel H390. Oh boy it is a jewel. At lower volumes, which I have mostly listened to since the wife is home, I can hear more detail and it is really clean. Have mostly been listening to classic because I am working. The sound is warmer than the Rotel which with the B&Ws is a good thing. I finally put on a blues song with a female vocalist and played it a little louder (probably 4 out of 10) and it was sublime. Just a beautiful thing. So much detail and a greater soundstage and so clean.