Ever since I ditched Guttenberg from my subscribers list (I subscribed at 44K) I have been looking for more authentic you tubers talking about audio. So I just subscribed here.
Too expensive for what it is. I'll agree that the DAC in this Hegel was what sets it apart from the rest? The interface within works smoothly and this box can drive difficult loads to speakers. Great video mate!
Have loved my H390 since I got it, tremendous. The Airplay compatibility is so good for when I've got friends over, party mode activated! This thing plays SO loud without clipping! DAC wise I *just* about compare the Qutest as a better sounding DAC in terms of lower end smoothness and how it presents notes. Hegel DAC sounds very 'on/off' with bass lines and percussion snappiness. Qutest just sounds a little better/natural with electronica. Someone recently said maybe Hegel have gone for a more reference sound and I'd tend to agree. Streaming wise it's maybe not quite as good as presenting layers of percussion when there's a lot going on compared to maybe a £2k streamer... But seriously you're already talking spending maybe £3.5k more just to get separates to accompany the amp which are at its level. Insane. Love it. Eats Naims for breakfast
Hmmmm You sure about that!... Naim amps are no nonsense approach pure analog barring the atom lifestyle amp, Hegel do great amps I'm sure for those that want it all in the 1 📦
I can say I almost fully agree with everything you have said :) The one thing to consider with the naim comment is that Naim separates truly are very nice sounding, although you need to go into a new price bracket for this. For me as a pure amplifier lets say H390 vs Supernait 3 (when utilised with my D7.2 system and Chord MS + TT2) the hegel shines with larger scale music and louder volumes but the supernait seemed to have my preference with some softer accoustic music
@@BelieveHiFi @nelsta77U.K , also I think the Naim supernait 3 does counter the H390 objectively by ditching the DAC , but also by incorporating a phono stage... So it's defo a better choice for an all in one analogue front end for roughly half the price of the Hegel amp plus matching V10 phono stage. You could argue the battle is the other way with Hegel looking to bring an integrated to Naims separates party...
Very useful review and very interesting comparison between H95 and H390. I wonder how decent speakers you need for the upgrade from H95 to H390 can be meaningful to do? I'm currently testing the H95 on my old DALI ikon 6, and this improved the sound significantly compared to my old NAD, it opens up the music significantly and I hear more of details even at lower volume, very pleasant to listen to. However, I can imagine that I could find it worth it to spend even more to get a significant improved step up of sound quality. I imagine that step would be 390 as 190 maybe not will give enough improvement for me... It would be interesting to know how much improvement I will get without also upgrading the speakers. Will I hear an amazing difference with my DALI ikon 6 which is not the most expensive and fairly easy to drive or would it be a ridiculous thing to do? I will eventually look to find other speakers, but I'm quite happy with how they sound and they seem to work well in the medium to small sized room I have now, and I will not go straight to H390 if I also have to upgrade speakers ...
I think the best avenue is always to find a speaker you love the sound of and then invest as heavily as you can to improve whats driving it. I had the PMC DB1 gold which is a relatievely cheap speaker but AMAZING for desktop use. For fun I put my best amplifier stack into it and wow it was able to scale really really well.
Great review, just subscribed - thanks for the tip on the Vermouth Black Pearl.... never heard of them. Okay, you posted this awhile back and being that I am very interested in either the H190 or H390 I found this review most excellent ... very informative. (and appreciated) .. Now, you refer to the speaker behind you. At first I thought it was a Harbeth ... methinks not (no tell-tale baffle screws). So, what brand is that speaker? Big thanks from Canada🇨🇦🤙
thanks Charles! The Spendor is behind me from their Classic range! It is a lovely speaker, definitely different sounding to the Harbeth. Also I feel tubes are important with the Classic Spendor range as they can sound a touch "dry" otherwise.
I see at your back , Spendor Classoc 2/3...!!! Very nice speakers... BUT what speakers do you prefer between , Spendor Classoc 2/3 & Spendor D7.2...!!! And why....???? Because i am interested to buy one of these pair of speakers.. I am John from Greece... Thank you..
I’m using the Hegel h390 with innuos Zenith , Roon, Tidal, Kef r900 speakers. For the money, it’s hard to beat unless you want to spend thousands more.
I would say you are 100% absolutely correct! See if you can borrow a good mains cable for the hegel and see if this provides a nice little extra bump of performance
@@BelieveHiFi I’ve already upgraded the mains cable to the Hegel, Russ Andrews powerkord 300. I’ve also upgraded the isolation feet to isoacoustics. Now I won’t have to upgrade anymore, unless I win the lottery. 👍
Hi there thank you for your review. I think you covered the topic very well and you also referenced it to previous systems, which is why I wanted to ask you a question. Currently I do own the H360 on a pair of C4 Dynaudio. I am considering the H390 but am not sure whether it is worth the money. Could you pls help me a little bit on that. I only do stream via a N130 and make use of the Hegel DAC. Thanx
The 390 has better control of your speakers, 4000 dumping factor which is unheard of in regular amps I believe the system you’re speaking about has 800 or 1000 damper thing factor
Thanks for your review on H 390. I have Spendor D7s and Chord Quetest DAC. Source is Apple Music. Thinking of getting H-190. What would you say is the advantage of going with H390 vs H190 when pairing it with this combo?
Any experience with Audioquest power cables? Which AQ cable would be a good substitute to the stock one giving the H390 the same improvements as you described with the black pearl? Br:Kris
Yeah I have for sure, I just find the Vermouth $ to performance is non comparable. From my experience I find Vermouth compares with cables 4x the cost from the very well known brands.
Vinyl has been a tough thing for me to tackle now that I have moved to Malta during Covid. I had to pretty much sell everything. I am hesitant as building a collection will probably mean selling that collection if I move back to Aus
Am curious to see if you get the chance to hear a Rega Aethos with those Spendors? I’ve heard and love the H390 but give the much cheaper Aethos a listen, i think you’ll be surprised….
I think the biggest strength of the Hegel H390 is also it's weakest point. You pay for a lot of features that you don't use when you start upgrading. That's why a lot of owners also sell them in the end, once they go the separate. It is the entry component for people with decent budget, same as the NAD M33. I agree that investing into amplification is important, but these days there are also options like the Kinki Studio B7 mono blocks which at 3.5k are a steal. If you pair those up with the Holo Audio "stuff" like their Serene preamp and Spring/May dac you will have a giant killer system that is more versatile in the long run. The Kinki studio B7's run so "cool" you can easily put them away in your TV cabinet, unlike the Hegel H390 which is a pretty large lumpy box.
separates are almost always going to win. Both my hegel seperate and naim seperates are ahead of this ofcourse. PAired with TT2+MS stack for the dac and innuos for the source.
@@erikjohansson1488 Thanks. Why did you prefer it and with which speakers? What do you have now :)? Is still am very happy with my blocks and the Serene DAC/preamp.
@@gerard3797 at the time I had sonus faber maxima amator. The amps was quite similar but an little edge to h390 this was a time ago but I kept the Hegel. Sold the Hegel to try something else like the sugden ia-4 thivan labs 211, purifi based stuff and more but missed the h390. Have at the moment an order on a 390 and this time it will stay.
@@erikjohansson1488 Thanks for sharing. I also am interested in the Hegel H390, maybe will try it in a few years when prices have come down. One advantage of the monoblocks is that I can put them in my cabinet and only have the Holo Audio Serene preamp on my furniture. The H390 is a pretty lumpy box. But than again I think it is much more fool proof, due to it's integrated and noise cancelation technology. I need to invest a lot more in my power supply to reduce noise and get the most out of my mono blocks. They are excellent amplifiers, but don't have the tech of the Hegel.
Dear Theo , First of all nice review. If I buy Node POWERNODE 2021 or Innuos streamer how can I use it with Hegel H390? I need to avoid node 2021 Dac and use Hegel Dac. At the same time I need to connect my Oppo 105D with my H390, to listen to cd's and sacd's still want to avoid Oppo and use H390 dac. Please advice me. Thanking you 🙏
Use coaxial to connect the Powernode to the Hegel H390. That way you bypass the Powernode’s Dac and you’ll be using the Hegel Dac instead. I do this with my Hegel 120 and Bluesound Node 2i.
SO how much should the power cord be relative to the price of the amp / component? This hobby can get insane as power cords can range from 0.99 to $8,000. There has to be some "not insane" figure or percentage. lol
I have the Chord M Scaler / Qutest combo into the H390. How much better would the M Scaler / TT2 be into the H390 than this? Would appreciate your opinion/ experience on this. Thanks.
to be honesty mate it really heavily depends on the type of music you listen to frequently. If you play a track like Welcome to the Machine, you're going to definitely notice a significant change in the sound staging and detail in the lower octave textures. BUT if its my money id rather spend that money on a source or an amp upgrade rather than a dac upgrade. Or acoustic treatment probably even more
I advise you not to borrow a tt2+mscaler for not even a day, I did… I owned a qutest, but that one day borrowing cost me a lot of money, I ended up buying the damn tt2+mscaler, it is mind blowing good!😂. You like the qutest, the tt2 combo takes everything from the qutest and lifts that to a whole another level, more detail, more stage, more everything
Speaking with Hegel the 20 combo is about on par with the 590, some people prefer the 590 and others prefer the 20 combo. I have heard the 30 combo and it was VERY good, I hadnt heard such a holographic and tangible image from a non tube system until I head that
The classic 2/3 and the Monitor 30? If this is what you are referring to, then I would say the Spendor is a better all-rounder, whereas the harbeth is a little bit looser in some ways but has a bit more magic in the mid range.
I'm in Aussieland :) Great video! I've been considering the H390, or whether to go separates. Currently using the entry level Primare i15 with Prisma. Pretty similar product to the H95. Would be cool to see you review a Primare product as they don't get enough love from youtube reviewers. Though their top integrated is more on the level of Hegel's H190 than the H390 or 590.
@@BelieveHiFi I will not buy an amp without a balance control, which the Hegel lacks. We don’t all have equal hearing in both ears. I’ve been through the problems of buying gear without tone control, and will never make that mistake again. So either the amp needs tone control or I need to include an equaliser in the system.
@@BelieveHiFi Great reply. Put a smile on my face. Own an H390 and your video that I just re-watched was one of many viewed before buying. Had an H200 (bought as a well-used demo or maybe that should be ill-used). It had certainly been through the wars but never any issues. Loved the sound which made it easy to stay with Hegel and upgrade to their newer tech in the H390. For me, their amps have a way of making even less than stellar recordings very listenable. Enjoy the music more. Enjoy more music. Should be their company slogan. FWIW using the Hegel with a pair of Totem Forest speakers.
