I totally understand your frustration, and can only say that we are taking our customers very seriously. We are, and have been, working really hard on this. There is light at the end of the tunnel now, and for once I don’t think it is a train coming towards me.
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Lets be honest here…
Would you rather a manufacturer spend your hard earned money on whats INSIDE the case or spend it ON the case…
I know where my money lies…
That is what my girlfriend says too. 
Jokes aside, Roon is something I personally have lost actual sleep over. It really means a lot to me, and I know it is the same for everyone else at Hegel, to keep our promises to our customers. It is absolutely fundamental and has to do with respecting people who trust us with their hard earned money. It is the difference between being a company with actual caring and passionate people in it versus being a faceless corporation.
I like to think we are the first of those two. We have screwed up. There is no denying that. But I am very certain that we are very close at this point. There are still places to stumble, but I am very certain that we are really close.
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Anders, I appreciate your continuing good humour and responsiveness in a sometime hostile environment.
I look forward to my 390 being a proper endpoint but I don’t need much reminding that everything is 99% absolutely fine with Roon running on a 2012 MacMini (retrofitted with SSD etc.) and a short, pricey USB cable to the 390 (all stashed away in a cupboard) and controlled from the sofa on an iPad. In 60+ years of listening, this is absolutely the best sound quality and best content ‘interface’ I have ever enjoyed. More choice, maximum quality. Let’s count our blessings.
If Roon certification ever arrives I will enjoy trying it out, and it would give me the option of moving the MacMini Roon server, but I’d be amazed if it improved SQ by anything noticeable. The main components of the overall experience - Roon interface, Hegel amp, sofa - remain the same.
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I agree, the hegel gear might be minimalist but it’s that dull kind of dark box minimalism that screams “don’t look at me!” . This is especially true on the bigger 390 / 590 ilk.
Of course, fanboys of hegel will tell you the design is on the inside (excluding Roon readiness of course).
But as with anything, each to their own.
Personally I like gear that not only sounds good, but also has a pleasing visual appeal. Big dark boxes don’t do that for me on a component or speaker level. Same as big white boxes.
Big dark boxes with blue lights on them are definitely not welcome in my house. Blue LED should be banned due to their offensive nature.
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Personally, I like the Hegel aesthetic. I think it will still look “clean” in a decade.
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Saw Guttenberg’s piece when I was getting ready for work this morning. I had assumed that Gato piece was 10K plus before today. $4700? I might consider that now. There are a few Roonies with this amp. Hopefully, we can learn a little from them about its sound signature.
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I will admit to this as well. I really like the minimalistic look. (And it’s another reason I gravitate toward an all-in-one integrated vs preamp + monoblocks + streamer + dac, etc…
I am not a panic-room audiophile, where amps and regenerators and cables and racks and whatnot can be the star of the show. If the gear has to live in my living room, I want as clean an arrangement as possible. I guess am tired of visual clutter. (When you’ve been prisoner in your house for a year, you think about these things.)
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Personally, given the margins at the $4000 to $6000 level, I’d like both looks and sound quality. I love attractive industrial design and want the amp to be a statement piece, if possible.
If the Danes can make Gato look so amazing, their ought be no genetic reasons Norway can’t put some thought into it.
I have the Magnepan LRS as well. They sound great, but also look like two black socks on a laundry rack 
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As an H360 owner, I actually agree with this - it could certainly look a lot more beautiful 
Fortunately the sound is fantastic. I spent quite a while looking for a more compact amp that I preferred at the time of purchase but failed to find anything in my ballpark (admittedly a cut-price H360) that matched the Hegel’s sound to my ears.
I think the newer displays are a significant improvement and, fwiw, I though the Rost looked great in white…just tricky to match to other gear.
The Gato does look fantastic - the Primary i35 was on my short list previously, and is rather prettier to my eyes, but I’m not sure where they’re at with Roon Ready.
On the plus side, in relation to firmware/Roon Ready, I imagine Hegel are glad not to be in Mytek’s subcontracting situation!
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When the day comes, you can count on the Roon Forums for bail money 
That Mytek situation is crazy to say the least.
Don’t leave the uninformed hanging like that, what mytek situation?
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The Magnepans were causing my H90 to run too hot. Scalding hot on the bottom. Have added an AC Infinity fan which has done a wonderful job of turning hot into surprisingly cool.
To the positive, the $119 fan in no way detracted from the H90’s aesthetic 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078PQJSRY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I’m with you on that one, for sure!
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Is this at all volumes? or only wall-of-sound levels?
As you well know, the Magnepans are current hungry. It depends on the recording, but for many recordings with lower levels, I have the H90 at volume level 90 in order to achieve listening peaks of 85 db, which is as loud as I want the peaks. I listen in the 70 db range normally.
Granted, the H90 is only about 90 watts into 4ohms. And it does sound excellent with the Maggies. Truly. I have an email into Hegel about how the H120 or H190 might effect the situation, waiting the hear back. But Hegel and Magnepan have a very nice synergy.
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I’d certainly look to the H190 - 250W into 4 ohms. Or a pre-loved and still great value H360 (420W into 4 ohms). You can rarely have too much power!
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I purchased a “pre-loved” H360 and its an awesome piece of gear. Sad is not Roon Ready, but you always can’t get what you want, but at the end you get what you need, quoting the Stones 
Peace,
Tony
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