If you were using USB to connect to the amp, I’d say the H390 might be worth a try because it allows to control volume of the amp through USB. See here:
However, this is just about convenience and not about sound quality. Considering the price range you intend to invest in new speakers, I think you might gain more by buying an H190 and spend the remaining money on even better speakers. In my opinion, spending more money on the amp than on the speakers is usually not beneficial, meaning the H390 would be overkill for speakers around $4k a pair.
Exactly what I was thinking, and using the remote for volume doesn’t bother me. I’m currently using coaxial digital audio from the DigiOne Signature to my amp and it’s fine. The H190 is the right course of course. I don’t see much else in that range that interests me maybe outside of a Simaudio Moon.
I had the 390 with my KEF R3s and I really liked the way the amp made them sing. If I were you and can afford it, go for the 390. It’s not only the sweet spot of the Hegel integrates, it’s a superior amp to the 190 in practically every way and most importantly - it provides you the option to upgrade to ANY speaker down the line.
I moved away from Hegel for completely different reasons, but the pre- and amplification sections of the Hegels is indeed special and very good.
Clean, neutral, driving and well timed. One of the closest to “wire with gain” that I’ve heard from any sensibly priced amp.
Against my old luxman 505, the Hegel extended the top end and found more low end heft. It just sounded wider bandwidth. Yet controlled, smooth and clean.
This is what I keep hearing. That the 390 can easily punch above its weight with speakers. Looks like I’ll be laying down the extra 2k and getting the 390 and that’ll last me until I decide to make the jump to separate amp and preamp. Thanks!
H390 is definitely the sweet spot in the Hegel range. I upgraded from H190 to H390 with the same speakers and source, and there was a substantial jump in sound quality. I don’t use it but the DAC is also far superior to that in the H190. All that extra power really lets the speakers do their job. Absolutely worth the extra $. You will not regret it!
My first introduction to Hegel was the H190. Outperformed my (at the time) Luxman L-550AXI. Based on that bought the H390 unheard. Huge improvement over the H190. Also includes big-perfect DAC. Recently upgraded from H390 to H590. Huge gains again. The Hegel range scales really well - there isn’t really any fat in the model range.
OF COURSE I’m biased!
We sell Hegel BECAUSE of the above story I mentioned above. The question @John_Claude asked was real world experience between the two amplifiers. I have it - IN MY OWN Hi-Fi.
But I doubt my comments are going to net me a commission from Hegel or from the client whichever Hegel he buys (as we are probably thousands of miles away on different continents), so I’m curious what you see as the angle here? Actually, don’t answer, that was a rhetorical question - perhaps stick to the actual topic to hand in your contributions.
Hi! I play music from Roon via USB to my H390. After the last SW update from Roon, it is not possible to regulate the volume from the app. Has anyone experienced the same? Tips for solution?
I guess it shows that everyone with a stake in this thread had either given up on their Hegel Amp altogether or used an alternate solution to hook it into their Roon setup, given that no-one has commented here on the release of the Roon Ready firmware for the H120 and H190!
Can confirm that it is downloaded and working on my H120 - picked up as Roon Ready immediately after the update and so far works perfectly.
It does seem to be forcing upsampling though which seems odd and pointless…
The upsampling is there because that is how the dac is designed. There is a thread explaining why and how it works somewhere on the forum. However, the sound quality is good, but not as good as an external streamer/dac of good quality.
Fair enough. I have been using a Topping D70s with a Ropieee streamer anyway and will continue to do so even with this update!
Frankly the below all sounds a bit like Woowoo from Hegel - especially in light of how poorly their DACs measured in recent independent tests…
Attentive users will notice – by clicking on Signal Path – that whatever resolution the music file has, it will be resampled to 105.47 kHz before going into the amplifier’s DAC. A rather odd resolution, which we have actually never seen before. Hegel themselves explain in an email:
“Roon will show our, until now, top secret signal processing for these amplifiers. It has been one of several key points in how we have been able to make affordable but really good DACs. It can create some controversy, so we’ve made a special website about it. It’s a well-known issue among the very best DAC designers, so it’s not just something we came up with ourselves.”
Compared it to my Topping D90. Glad I didn’t wait. The Topping had better dynamics, better clarity and the timbre was just more real. The Hegel DAC just seemed veiled, in comparison.