Will the Hegel H390 overpower the Kef R3 Meta's?

[Purité Audio]

Purifi here ( March Audio) here ran a little cooler than the ( March Audio) Hypex , couldn’t tell any difference in SQ though, we had those two and the AHB2 on demonstration.
Keith

 

[fpitas]

@Matias your advice has been awesome. I’d love to ask a few more questions. I just want your opinion, I know some of this may be personal taste.

Both Boxem and Apollon look great. Any reason to choose one over the other quality wise? I’m not too concerned with price.

Is there any reason to choose Purifi vs. Hypex?

Is there anything to this class A or A/B snobbery? Like any reason a D class amp would be worse than those?

Any reason the Benchmark ABH2 would be better than these (just looking at all the buzz there) as it’s a bit pricier.

I really like the idea of saving a few bucks and getting high bang for buck, but will also probably get the best those companies offer.

Thanks for considering all of this

I'd love to parse it out for you, but the fact is all those amps are far better than strictly necessary. The SINAD and IM are well below what the best human ears can detect. The damping factor is far better than any real system will have after the effects of the speaker cable is accounted for.

 

[voodooless]

@MatiasBoth Boxem and Apollon look great. Any reason to choose one over the other quality wise? I’m not too concerned with price.

I don’t think so. If your in Europe the Boxem may be easier to get. It also has some nice automatic standby features.

Is there any reason to choose Purifi vs. Hypex?

Not really. On paper the Purifi is a tiny bit better

Is there anything to this class A or A/B snobbery? Like any reason a D class amp would be worse than those?

Don’t be classist. Just look at every amp as an individual amp with its own set of properties. There are good and bad examples of all classes.

Any reason the Benchmark ABH2 would be better than these (just looking at all the buzz there) as it’s a bit pricier.

It is a bit better on paper, cost more and has less power.

 

[Riva]

Thank you all, this has been a super great help.

 

[Matias]

@Matias your advice has been awesome. I’d love to ask a few more questions. I just want your opinion, I know some of this may be personal taste.

Both Boxem and Apollon look great. Any reason to choose one over the other quality wise? I’m not too concerned with price.

Is there any reason to choose Purifi vs. Hypex?

Is there anything to this class A or A/B snobbery? Like any reason a D class amp would be worse than those?

Any reason the Benchmark ABH2 would be better than these (just looking at all the buzz there) as it’s a bit pricier.

I really like the idea of saving a few bucks and getting high bang for buck, but will also probably get the best those companies offer.

Thanks for considering all of this

Apollon and Boxem are second to none in terms of build quality. Apollon has more options though. Chassis style is so personal, it's up to you.

Purifi probably edges out in a tiny less distortion but mostly inaudible, so NCOREx is competitive.

There is class D hate all over the internet and audiophile circles, most of them never heard one or heard an old design and condemned everything else. This can get very irrational with audiophiles...

Benchmark AHB2 is fine but kind of low power, unless you run a pair of them, each one in bridge mode. Price is kind of high (6k USD) and not as cool running as class D.

Having said all that, I think if I were buying a high end amp today, this one would be my choice. But really torn between it and the NCx500 to be honest.

Purifi 1ET7040SA DM Lux Dual Mono Amplifier | Apollon Audio

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Feet Choice - Black aluminium feet
Subtotal 2,895.00€

 

[MRC01]

I never heard of Hegel so I checked them out. Their site says this: A computer inside will sample what comes into the amplifier and compares it to what comes out. The computer subtracts the difference (distortion) and then add it into the music but in reverse phase. The result being that, without any time delay, the SoundEngine cancels out almost all errors made by the amplifier.

How can they patent that? It's negative feedback, invented in 1927.

 

[fpitas]

I never heard of Hegel so I checked them out. Their site says this: without any time delay, the SoundEngine cancels out almost all errors made by the amplifier.

How can they patent that? It's negative feedback, invented in 1927.

Good question, but I want to know their secret of instantaneous action.

 

[MRC01]

Good question, but I want to know their secret of instantaneous action.

I speculate that this comparison/correction process is in the digital domain and they are buffering data long enough to apply it, so the corrections apply "instantly" in the digital data, though at the price of buffering latency.
But, who knows?

 

[voodooless]

Good question, but I want to know their secret of instantaneous action.

They claim it feed forward error correction, like Benchmark uses in the AHB2, only the Hegel one doesn’t seem to be very effective.

 

[mglobe]

All these are good comments on amplifier options, but from what I read, the H390 is an integrated amp, with a built in DAC, digital and analog in and out, and wireless connectivity. It looks like an (expensive) easy button. Some value that.

 

[Riva]

All these are good comments on amplifier options, but from what I read, the H390 is an integrated amp, with a built in DAC, digital and analog in and out, and wireless connectivity. It looks like an (expensive) easy button. Some value that.

Definitely I don’t mind a little extra work with separates, dacs, etc. but would want some bang for buck there. That’s why these conversations are helping. I wouldn’t want to overpay for something that sounded a lot worse. A lot of this is subjective of course, and will be based on listening. But I’m gaining a much better picture.

 

[Riva]

BTW I thought I would share this. As I looked into Purify class D, etc. of course the NAD M33 came up. There’s a comparison between that and the Hegel h390 which makes it hard to choose between the two, or at least, that the comparison is close. This reviewers sentiments seem to be shared by other reviewers.

Yes, these amps are an ez button (integrated), and you pay for it. But I found it interesting as I’m considering options, separates, classes, etc.

 

[mglobe]

BTW I thought I would share this. As I looked into Purify class D, etc. of course the NAD M33 came up. There’s a comparison between that and the Hegel h390 which makes it hard to choose between the two, or at least, that the comparison is close. This reviewers sentiments seem to be shared by other reviewers.

Yes, these amps are an ez button (integrated), and you pay for it. But I found it interesting as I’m considering options, separates, classes, etc.

I don’t have much patience for video reviews like that, particularly when they talk about soundstage depth and width from a piece of electronics (preamp, amp, dac,…). Amir did a review of the M33:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/nad-m33-streaming-amplifier-review.17302/

edit: I would consider the M33 having Dirac as a big plus. Not having digital USB in a minus, as in my config I run Roon direct from the Roon server to my DAC via USB. You’d have to jump through a minor hoop to do a USB to optical or coax conversion.

 

[CHenry]

Hello!

I am getting the Hegel H390 soon, and also a pair of Kef R3 Metas. The Metas are rated for 180W and the Hegel pumps out 250W. Am I going to break the Kefs with an overpowered amp?

Audio newb here, so thank you!

Oh my. That sounds like a nice combination.

 

[HoweSound]

$6,000 for the Hegel 390? You can buy Purifi or Hypex with at least as much clean power, plus a versatile preamp for much less. I'm listening with great enjoyment to my Hypex Nilai 500 stereo amp and Schiit Freya S - total outlay, about $2,100. A bit more if you buy the amp assembled.

 

[voodooless]

$ 6000 amp for $ 2000 speakers is madness anyway…

 

[Steven Holt]

All these are good comments on amplifier options, but from what I read, the H390 is an integrated amp, with a built in DAC, digital and analog in and out, and wireless connectivity. It looks like an (expensive) easy button. Some value that.

Uh, well, let's see.....have you heard of this little amp called the Yamaha AS-801??

 

[CHenry]

$ 6000 amp for $ 2000 speakers is madness anyway…

Depends. The 390 amp offers options for speaker upgrade if wanted later while providing excellent service now. An attractive alternative might be a preamp-DAC solution and a separate power amp. Something compact like the Pro-Ject Pre Box RS2 Digital and a Purifi amp like the NAD C298 would cost less and offer a better DAC design (dual ESS 9038Q2M) and a headphone amp and a selectable tube output stage, which the Hegel does not have. That would also offer balanced interconnects. Or if you are looking for an all-analog integrated option with your own separate DAC, the Yamaha A-S2200 or the Marantz 30, the former also fully balanced both interconnects and internally.

 

[mglobe]

Uh, well, let's see.....have you heard of this little amp called the Yamaha AS-801??

I mainly posted that because people were offering suggestions of power amps when the OP posted a power amp. The Yamaha looks nice, but the Hegel has more than twice the power, offers digital out, and is Roon Ready. I’m not pushing that product, but simply pointing out additional features.

 

[voodooless]

Depends. The amp offers options for speaker upgrade if wanted later while providing excellent service now.

What does this do that a sub $ 2000 amp doesn’t?