An excellent integrated amp!
I've been greatly enjoying my new Hegel H190v for about a month now. I wanted a high-end integrated with very good phono stage, DAC, and enough power to make my KEF ls50 metas sing. I had my eye of this one for a couple of months based on excellent online reviews, when it was previously priced at $4,600. Then several weeks ago I looked and saw it was on sale for $3,200 (!) That, and a helpful phone call with an Audio Advice rep, decided it. This amp delivers everything that I mentioned above, and more. For context, I upgraded from an Arcam A25, which itself is a very nice entry-level audiophile amp. However, the Hegel's extra power (150 watts per channel) vs. the 100 wpc for the Arcam makes a noticeable difference. The KEFs, not known for their low end, go noticeably lower. The dampening factor of 4000 is clearly helping here. Separation is better. I notice a very balanced presentation from lows through mids up to highs. Overall, I'd characterize sound as neutral to slightly warm, which is just fine with me. I listen mostly to jazz, acoustic, classical, solo instrumental, and classic rock. The phono stage is great as well, apparently using tech from Hegel's high-end reference phono amp. Overall, I'm very pleased and consider this an end-game product for my audio needs. The Audio Advice rep that I spoke with before the purchase was very friendly and informative.
