McIntosh MA352 vs Hegel H390
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2020
- We compare 2 of the most successful integrated amplifiers in our store. As you can see, we disagreed, AGAIN!
The system was the Lumin T2 streamer streaming Tidal using Roon. Speakers were Wilson Audio Yvette. Cables were Audioquest
You can see a partial list of the recordings we used here:
• We share our secret de...
Additional titles are mentioned in the video.
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As always, we would love to hear from you, so please leave your comments and feedback below
Audio Excellence Inc. is a high end audio/video store in Markham, Ontario, Canada, a suburb of Toronto. We've been in business since 1991.
Check out our interviews with designers like Daryl Wilson of Wilson Audio, Paul McGowan of PS Audio, Paolo Tezzon of Sonus faber, Wendell Diller of Magnepan and others.
Our website is www.audioexcellence.ca
Contacts:
Adrian@audioexcellence.ca
Vilip@audioexcellence.ca
Jay@audioexcellence.ca
Thanks. This was one of the most intelligent, no-BS discussions of audio equipment I've ever watched. I was impressed with how specific each of you were while describing your reactions to the music. This is hard to do. And I also love the respect shown for differing opinions, which displayed a fundamental recognition of the fact that we all hear music differently and, in many cases, there is no right or wrong. Great job.
The best audio reviews on TH-cam! Great job guys!
The ability to impeccably describe in detail what each person hears or has heard is one of the main reasons why I love watching this channel!!! ☮️🖖🏽
No, in fact that is total nonsense. Science proves it beyond any doubt whatsoever. These subjective reviews have zero...strike that...negative value, because they delude people like you into thinking they mean something.
If you are interested in reality, you can go see what is done at audio science review site...and once you understand that...you will never listen to reviews like this one again.
@@plcamp1 Numpties like you should stick to the juvenile self-loving fest that ASR is :) Anyone who says ASR is what music is about is likely in the 1000 dollar Schiit and SMSL range. Be there.
Great review guys, always love these episodes, Big thumbs up.
This is perfect timing! These are my top two on my audition list. Now I will listen to what u have to say! Thanks
That gives me some ideas as to what to listen for. I love the looks of the McIntosh, but I think I will prefer the sound of the Hegel. Happy Birthday Jay!
Excellent review. Exactly what i was looking for. Happy Birthday Jay. 🎊
i watch your reports in Germany. you all do a very good job! Thanks and go on...
Its time to call-in their big brothers .... Hegel H590 vs McIntosh MA9000...... Thumbs up if you agree so they can make it happen. 👍👍
The h590 would rule. Superior product.
another great video my friends,stay safe in these challenging times !!
Thanks for the video guys!
You guys are the best reviewers!
One of the most helpful audio component presentations I've seen and heard. Thanks, guys. I'm considering replacing my very fine, but very old tube separates to power Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage speakers, and I strongly suspect that I'd prefer the MAC. Would love the opportunity to home audition both the 353 and the Hegel, but that presents certain, uh, logistical and financial challenges. :)
I love your content!!
love you guys talking great chemistry amongst you
One of my favorite audiophile discussions. Hearing the 3 of you guys compare emotional involvement based on music and gear selected is very interesting! Thanks for this video
Thanks to you guys I bought an MA352 and then an H390! I prefer the Hegel and it's only 5 days old so I expect that gap to widen. Much deeper soundstage and ability to convey nuance than the MA352.
Which one sounded warmer? I am guessing you are missing the tuby sound that comes from the MA352’s preamp?
Thansk
Which is more organic and
? warmer
Excellent detailed review as well... Thanks
Hi Guys, thanks for another fantastic review! Really enjoy your insightful comments. Was wondering if I can ask you a quick question.. I’m getting the Dynaudio Confidence 20 and would like some advice as to whether the Hegel 190 is sufficient to drive the speakers or should I upgrade to the 390. Sure would appreciate some pointers.. thanks!
I recently purchased the MA352 and really love it. Good match with the B&W 803 D3.
So, you hate music then?
😮huh?!
The audio store I bought my system from in 1983 used Al Stewart's Year of the Cat as their demo record and I've played it at home more than any other album.
Good and deep reviews about the best hifi technology currently available. McIntosh means tradition, Hegel great innovation. Many thanks to all of you.
Tradition, innovation, etc mean nothing. What comes out of a device is all that matters. Hegel sounds great, Accuphase even better. Macintosh is for Americans.
I love these comparisons!
Do you have other Hegel Comparisons planned in the future?
Adrian Low I’d love to see the Hegel H590 vs PS Audio Directstream and BHK 250.
Really like the comparison video's. Also very curious about the Naim Supernait 3. Have seen the Naim Naim 5si vs Hegel H90, but a Supernait (with or without hicap) vs Hegel or Mcintosh would be nice :D
Great job, guys! I realize that this is outside the scope of this review of the 2 integrated amps, but how was the phono stage of the MA352? And Happy birthday Jay, from the further along the temporal spectrum of human existence. "I once was young and foolish. Now I'm old and foolish." [source of quotation no longer available from glitchy slushware]
Happy birthday Jay, grettings from Dublin. I've been reading different reviews, here is the thing, what if you plug a pair of Sonus Faber speakers? may be you can check that out? thanks for such great reviews fellas!
It is also interesting how would either Hegel H390 or H590 go against the MA 9000 Int
My Hegel H390 sounds really great, just what my Heritage Specials need, power and guidance ❤
Hi guys,really enjoy your videos.I was wondering if my speakers Paradigm Reference Studio 100 Series can be used . They are great speakers and I enjoy them.
Great video
This is a great comparison. I've been wondering about these 2 head to head.
Really nice work. There is such a difference in the look of the two amps I actually like the looks of the Hagel better it’s so unassuming. Looking to auditioning them sometime.
Happy Birthday Jay...
Jay you look 12...jejeje, great to see you guys, love these videos, happy birthday 12 year old !!
Although i don't know any 25 year old person that communicates so well like you specially in this materia, Congrats !!
Love McIntosh amps 🔈🔈🔊
This was great from both Vilip and Jay. Vilip's piece was a tough act to follow, but Jay had his own original thoughts articulated in his own words to add.
What about the MA252+Chord Qutest vs. the Hegel? I'm currently looking at as I want to upgrade from PS Audio Stellar + S300
Vilip, I liked the way you described and compared the two int amps, especially the Al Stewart example. I’ve realized lately that when someone describes a characteristic of space, depth, or forward/back presentation of the music and if I say I “kinda” or “I think” I hear that with my system, that it’s not really there at all. These elements should be obvious to a more than casual listener, otherwise they’re just not there. Anyone agree/disagree with that?
I've heard the 352 in person and it's amazing. If it weren't so ridiculously overpriced, it would be a super success!
First time I’ve heard Villip. He’s really good. I’d like to see more from him.
With this review I have made made my choice on which amplifier I going to have in my listing room. Thank Guys Jamile JAM Shaheen
I love your video reviews. And I watch the young one on his channel all the time. I have old Macintosh equipment C-2300 and two 2105’s. Mackintosh amplifiers do have a little base bloom. The C2300 recently back from a full rebuild it Macintosh is the champion of bass booming. Have to dial it back but it is a very engaging amplifier in spite of its many faults and I can drive magna pound speakers to ear bleeding levels. The 2105‘s are much more delicate, but still have that extra bit of bass the boys describe. I also have a Parasound Halo integrated amplifier. Very recently I tested all three of them back to back. The Parasound has an absolutely crystal-clear presentation and sounds very beautiful but when compared to the Macintosh equipment it comes off as a little bit dry and not quite fully alive. I believe what Mcintosh has always accomplished is making their equipment sound more human and lifelike. I enjoy your videos keep up the wonderful work. Someday when all this silliness is over with I would love to come up to your shop in Canada listen to some equipment.
From the other side of the globe, here, I once listened to a high end system that was able to make me feel I was in Carnegie Hall (2,000 seats?) when in a listening room of about 5m x 15m and 3.5m high. Maybe 25 years ago. Not brands you sell, but certainly possible with some of the kit you sell. (Pete Seeger & The Weavers in a singalong with the audience recorded from the side of the stage where the band are all behind each other in the right channel). Not my kind of music, but impressively revealing.
I also listened to a system that seemed broken, compare to the silence you mention in "The year of the cat", but here both speakers produced audio. The soundstage simply was cut off along the right side of the right speaker cabinet. After cable swaps and experimentation, a CD-booklet photo of the recording session in the studio solved the problem. The grand piano in the small studio had been placed against the right wall of the studio and this was perfectly reproduced.
The recording of "The Year of the Cat" is likely a multi-track recording with the mastering (in post) placing the "voices" in the stereo soundstage (through the use of pan-pots (panorama potentiometers) ). Reproduction here totally depends on micro-dynamics, both in left-right and in front-back - the latter is actually a fault to our brain. The live stereo miked Carnegie Hal session, however, provides real phase front-back waveform information that our brains can process much better.
If you go back in the history of tube-tech, into studio and recording kit, you will find very "neutral" sound that has no "tube" character whatsoever. Try RCA Living Stereo recordings for that matter. The debate "tube versus solid state" is driven by lazy electrical engineering that ignores waveform and phase correctness by approaching everything as a sine wave approximation. Most audio designing electrical engineers do not understand the benefit of a frequency range beyond 20 kHz. Our ears are not single +/- wire microphones but complex waveform parsing systems that are much faster than our vision. As there are some neurons in the brain with electrical synapses (i.e. not chemical like the majority) we can safely assume these to play a role in waveform analysis and spatial clue parsing that we do in the 20Hz to 20kHz band (which likely only works in the 200Hz to a couple thousand Hz range) by throwing the lowest latency at these tasks.
Now tell me what "bandwidth" you need from amplification (or speakers), what absence of frequency variant phase and distortion faults, we need, to faithfully reproduce all the acoustic audio clues? An electrical engineer told me he had studied Fourier analysis and did not need a lot to reproduce a 200 or 2000 Hz block wave. I don't agree. True in theory, but no speaker, no crossover or amplifier can cut up a 200 Hz block wave into a pulse train of half sine waves that reconstruct the 200 Hz - impossible within the 20,000Hz limit. IMO. Look at the waveform of a clarinet, then a flute, a cello, a violin and piano - all at the piano's central A note of 440Hz. Imagine these to play about at the same time and we can disentangle them and place them in space. Talk about bandwidth and waveform.
My hypothesis is that vacuum tubes have more bandwidth than frequency range. If only the darned transformers, and capacitors for that matter, could be removed from the signal path (a simple transistor is a complex network already, by the way).
Why would one brand do a solid state pre-amp with more than 1 MHz bandwidth? Because they have figured this all out. All the "phase" or "time" attention in your WA speakers is because of this reasoning, too.
It's all relative. Long time ago, one day, I played a reference title in my music collection. My wife traversed the listening room and asked if I had changed something in my system. "Why do you ask?", I said. She answered "it sounds better than two days ago." My follow up question was, "is that important to you?" She answered, "no."
The change I made? Two uninterrupted AC lines - direct spurs - from the main mains panel to the wall outlets of pre and power amp. After all, what we listen to is alternating current "~rectified" (*) and modulated coming out of our speakers. The next improvement came when I phase-aligned all the components in my system - my national AC wall-outlet/plug standard allows phase/neutral to be plugged either way and that is impossible, e.g., with British and French (**) wall outlets (where you must hope that the electricians that connected the wall outlets to the cabling never made a mistake). (***)
None of this defines musicality, by the way, but it is on the critical path to experiencing life-like performance. And we should not forget that we took ages to learn to distinguish mother's voice from the noise floor of everyday sounds and other voices. That learning started already in the womb as soon as the hearing system has been formed and we are born with imprinted melodic lines of our language that we immediately can use to hold our parents emotionally hostage with well performed crying spurts. In order to be able to recognize musical instruments - distinguish them from each other - it helps to go to live concerts a lot so as to train the brain in recognizing all the instruments. Or, our ability to parse and judge music completely depends on the training our brains went through. OK, our physical hearing limitations are a bit important as well.
When it sounds "tubey" it's not good. A neutral mid-range that is free of harsh distortions may come across as warm next to a system that is somewhat harsh in the mid-range, but it still is neutral.
(*) ~ as in ~= meaning "about equal". "Sort of".
(**) So I used these wall outlets in the music room in my house to prevent phase/neutral reversal using wall outlets with a lid on them that is closed when not in use. This prevents, by the way, plugging devices in that I do not want there, like vacuum cleaners.
(***) The phase is easily located in the wall or PDU outlet with the old screw driver electricity phase tester. The correct appliance phase should follow from its schematics and hopefully correct component connection inside ... An easy test, however, is with the in-wall electrical cable detection device you can by in the home DIY store. That device does not have to be able to detect studs and mass density differences. It should detect an electrical field.
Disconnect all devices from mains and each other. Connect one device to mains and switch on. From, say, 1.5m or 5 ft away, with the "electrical cable detector" switched on, move towards the device and measure at what distance the detector "sees a cable". Switch the audio device off, revers the plug so phase/neutral are swapped and measure distance again. The shortest distance is the correct phase/neutral orientation. When all devices are aligned, voltage differences disappear that otherwise exist between device grounds that connect via audio "ground" links (often in one of the two stereo interface links and more harmful in unbalanced connections). You can measure pretty high voltage differences between devices actually when phase/neutral do not align and this means dirty AC would live there. Not the same, but an interesting comparison is with links between digital components that have "floating" links where both ends of the digital link are like a transformer that relays the signal and not the noise carrying voltages.
WTH did you just do?!
Always been a McIntosh fan, listen to a lot of Japanese Jazz vinyl pressings that sound thin most of the time.
I’m thinking the MA352 might be the ticket. I’m currently running a 200 watt
MA 6600. Just love it but want to try
out tubes for a change. 😎
I have a 6600 and demoed a 352 and I found a marked difference - but I think I want more of an upgrade
I heard the same thing from the h390 through focal kanta3! How would you compare w the Parasound JC5 wa P6 pre? Great review.
Did a similar shoot out with guitars and found out that sound preference is very much age dependant..as our hearing ability degrades with time and our preferences changes as well.
Which would be a great pair for Kef Ref 5, Hegel H590 or Mcintosh MA 9000 and why? I like both amps though, I own H190, never listen to Macintosh before but knowing the legendary brand makes me like it already, btw wish to get your input though, Can Hegel H190 drive Kef Ref 5? Just sold my R11 and bought REF 5 that's why planning to upgrade the amp in not so near future though, thanks and hope to get your insights.
Add in a Processor, reset the Crossover, RTA, set the slope and DB, recalibrate the speakers. Stereophiles will not live w Processors, however, if it is well calibrated , any system can sound full, bold and expensive. Do note that source used during comparison, are crucial as well.
If I can ask would you say that McIntosh overall has a "sound signature"? It seems that Hegel does, etching out the soundstage, which I get, but I think Adrian's opinion was that emotionally he enjoyed and was engaged more with the McIntosh. Do you think that Adrian just wants less "sizzle" and enjoys a more relaxed yet still detailed presentation?
Excellent video as always, and this time, it has a double personal connection for me. The Wilson Audio Sophia's, the Yvette's predecessor, were my favorite speakers that I couldn't afford. One appealing feature was that they didn't need to be used with hyper expensive electronics, just like you are doing here.
Also, Year of the Cat is my all time favorite album, and I never use it to listen to equipment. I prefer listening to the MoFi vinyl, but even the mid 80's CD has excellent sound.
I picked up a H360 at a discount when the H390 was being released. Does the signature and experience differ a lot between the H360 and H390?
I just bought a Hegel 390 and pairing it with B&W 702S3’s. Did it blindly based purely on reviews, but I’m sure I’m going to love it. Listened to McIntosh 152 on the 702S2’s and it sounded phenomenal, so can’t wait to hear the Hegel on the newer S3!
Good Luck Manuel!! I'll be joining you soon. I'll pair the 390 with my Focal 1028be and also Magnepan LRS +. Can't Wait!!
@@rightslot1 I love my LRS+'s w/Rogue Audio CM3
How is you hegel 390 with b&w 702s3...?
Amazing, I'm very pleased with the H390 after a year of ownership! Sounds blissful on the B&W 702S3's@@slawek6829
How has it been since you have had the set up for about a year?
Excellent job from you all, exept that big dude Who dis klipsch hehe. Klipsch is about feeling in The music for Me. Own hegel h360 with klipsch Rf7mk3 its so nice. Anyway keep up this good work!
How do you like sound of the H360 with your RF7iii’s? I’ve heard several reviewers say that Hegel is typically dry and clinical, which is very much the opposite of the Klipsch philosophy.
jstoli996c4s hi there . H360 is none of thoose things . Its more like organic with a full sound . Even Old records who i thought was thin is linstenable now . For me Hegel 360 is mostly neutral with a tad warmth and good full bass 👍👻
Micke 65 thank you for the clarification. A neutral-to-warm sound could pair well with Klipsch, which certainly don’t need any additional brightness, tweeter improvements aside. Powerful bass is also very important for the RF7’s, as they can rattle the walls 🔊 Thoughts on the H190 vs the H390? Thank you 🙏
Great review. Audio is such a personal preference. We all like different sound. I went from horn tweeters to soft dome tweeters as I got older. Great job guys! You work well together!
A shootout review like this can be improved by a blind A/B test in the presence of neutrals. Most of the time, we already decided how the equipment sounds like the moment we see the brand, model and price. To do even better, do a double blind test. Reviewers can be totally embarrassed in a BLIND test though
Would appreciate your input on a good 3/4 thousand dollar intergrated? Amp.
@Scott Roberts, and All...
Just a follow up. I have had the Magnepan LRS + for about a month now. They are indeed as fantastic as advertised! I am amazed that they so fill up the room with sound.
Prior to the Magnepan I had Focal 1028Be. And they were very very very good. But not good on the same level as the Magnepan. The Magnepan sound is coming from the rear as well as the front! It's glorious. I also made some changes on the bass side of things. I sold my REL T9X and replaced it with a pair of T7x's Smaller--but oh so nice! Maybe one last addition. I'm looking at a HIFI Rose RS250A as an external Streamer. The DAC chip is supposed to be quite good and the user interface seems very new millennium. I'll let you guys know how it works out.
Peculiar combination. Hegel H390 vs McIntosh MA5300 would be much more comparable (at least in feature set)
what do you guys think of the Mcintosh 7200 receiver?
Good, but need add more amp in one test: Naim Supernait, Musical Fidelity m8 or others in same price. Good luck to find Music!
Please review vtl it 85 tube amplifier
The tube front end will have a sound. Very good compare on these two.
Tell me about your sound diffusion...where can I get it?
Would you guys have the test playlist on tidal that can be shared
which would pair better with Klipsch cornwall 3s?
Hegel H120 or 190 vs mcintosh MA5300 please...
I am between Parasound P6 and A21+ versus Hegel H390. None are available for listening in Brazil.
Help me!
How would the MA352 do with some Bose 901 Series VI - I like classical, jazz, Dire straits, 70s music - I have a Miller Kreislet 1B dual core sub. Would love some feedback
OK... I've had the Hegel H390 since a couple days before this past Thanksgiving.
And believe it or not there really was a break in period. In addition to breaking in, it took a pretty good warm-up each time I turned it on for the day.
However, the other night everything seemed to come alive! I was playing Pat Metheny {To the end of the world}. And it was absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best I ever heard this cut. Toe tapping, shoulder moving, grooving music! It sounded so good it made me laugh out loud. So, the final test will be when I get the Magnepan LRS +. Then maybe I will see some of this 3-D magic.
But for now, I am really happy. And understand, I am coming from a Luxman 590AX--(1st version).
For me, it's all about transparent, holographic soundstage. Timber and tone after that, then smooth, sparkly top end extension - above 20k, and certainly no mid bass emphasis. BTW, if you take the Mac to a desert island, you'll probably get sand in it...
Naim Uniti Atom vs Hegel H390 ? My preference is Uniti Atom with Klipsch RP 7 III
Is that because you dont know what you’re doing?
Haha...Vilip picked his choice Hegel whilst wearing McIntosh cap. Great discussion guys!
Thanks for this detailed review. I have Hegel H190 and wondering if I need to upgrade to H390? Please advise.
I also have a H190 and i want to know the same . So H190 vs H390 comparison video would be great!
I would say it depends on how loud you typically listen, the size of your room, and the sensitivity of your speakers.
Wondering if you have upgraded the from the h190 to the h390? I have h190 using the BW 803D3 on a mid size room. Wondering if I should upgrade. Anyone?
@@johnleonffu9946 How do you like the 190 with the B&W. Is the Bass articulate?
@@fredalmgren7211 I ended up upgrading to H390 and my B&W sounded much better. 190 is not powerful enough.
A five band equaliser, you mean like an Akai bookshelf stereo system?
How does the mac 352 react to difficult loads? I know the hegel has no problems with this...
How was the holographic imaging of the 252?
Adrian - you need to get Vilip a Hegel hat.
That was funny 😆
Love your reviews!! Would you guys do a review on the LUMIN t2 ?? Vs another streamer .
Why wouldn't you guys compare MA8900 vs Hegel 390?
Hello- Although I haven't heard the H-390 nor H-590 I honestly couldn't get past the mess "under the hood" of either. I'm using a YAMAHA A-S3200 Integrated AMP to power my KEF Speakers and I am extremely happy with the sound.
If you have a look under the cover of either HEGEL AMP and compare it to the YAMAHA, one looks like there was care and pride taken in design and assembly the other looks like it might not make it past burn-in. :) Although I realize time is spent LISTENING to Stereo Systems, it for me is the whole package... just my 2 cents.
Does the 3200 have a warm presentation with a wide soundstage? And how is the bass control? It has been criticized for lacking good bass control.Thank you
@Marcus Aurelius
The 3200 has a nuetral sound that leans toward warm, with my gear. It also produces a deep and wide soundstage. Burn in with a brand new unit for at least 200 hours is NEEDED and could be where some comments about light bass comes from. I have never felt the need to reach for the tone controls. Bass is tight, powerful and extended with great control. There is NO Bass hump, nor coloration in that region with my system. The 3200 just does it's job without making a fuss.
@@ronmiller6344 Thank you for the reply! What kind of KEF speakers have you paired the 3200 with?
@@marcusaurelius2988 Blade 2
I like your show enjoy it but if hegel is on it wins... and you are allowed your choices as we all should thanks for the effort
The Hegel integrated units always get good reviews, but personally I’m a little hesitant to spend $6k USD for an all-in-one unit, especially one that includes a DAC. I realize that you can add an external DAC later on, but then you’ve spent money on a feature that’s not being used. I dud not know that Hegel also makes preamp and amp separates, so I wonder how they perform against the integrated units.
If your birthday is 05/02 we got birthday the same day lol
Thanks for the comparrsion, I may not be able to afford this gear, but Its still great to be educated , I would just love to see you all review something vintage ! Like A Sansui -AU 111 or AU 20000 , I have heard and owned a lot of Integrated amps and those 2 integrated amps are crazy 🎼 today thats hard to find now days !
Sansui were master's
@@ManiVaas almost done finishing the Sansui G-8000 your not kidding , i have had it all apart for a super cleaning it set in a closet for 35 years so only cleaning the sound scales so large ! Guy wanted 1400.00 for it but i talked him down its built very good ! I been an audiophile for 33 years and yeah Sansui sound is just beautiful !
@@ManiVaas bet the owner of this shop would agree if he heard it just blows me away ! Best amp i ever owned was an Harmon Kardon HK990 and Sansui is much better
Hard to beat tubes
It sounds like you needed to have a blind test where you do not know which amp was being used when you are listening. The different emotional reactions described while listening could possible be attributed to knowing which amp was being played.
Vincent (08-01-2020)
"could possible be" but not likely. I suspect the reactions would be identical.
Hegel H390 or Parasound JC5 which one is better?
2 speak from the heart - 1 speaks from the vallet.
Jay, being so young I would expect you to like the Hegel better. 30 years aging and a high frequency hearing loss will make you like the McIntosh better. Do you think the Hegel 390 is better balance than the Hegel 590?
H590 is head and shoulders better in every way.
Before watching this video I was certain that my choice would be the Hegel H390. I did a lot of investigation in to the Hegel and other brands like the Accuphase E480. Funny, but McIntosh was never a consideration for me. Listening to Adrian, however, my attention turned to the McIntosh MA352. One of the promises I made myself was that when I retired I would treat myself to a hi-end music system. I am beginning to find that choosing the right radio is not easy. It will take time.
Happy Birthday Jay.personally im siding with Adrian on this one.
I'm running a Hegel H190 with Kef LS50 Meta and KC62 sub.
Sound is fine, detailed and smooth with accoustic and non complex music, but when I play demanding rock like Iron Maiden, it sounds super thin and hollow. The bass guitar is almost non existent, with no body. On the other hand, any accoustic bass, like the drums, are well defined and impactful.
Not sure if the issue could be just my speakers, lacking any mid-bass body, but I also feel that something has to do with the Hegel as well.
It is like if the music was far away in another room and you want to turn the volume up to feel it closely and more realistic, but that never happens, even at annoyingly loud volume.
I also feel like part of the Hegel trick to sound so black and clean is to remove part of the music when it gets compex.
I just cannot get engaged by the music. It sounds accurate and smooth, but doesn't sound natural or life like.
I think this is actually the opposite where Iron Maiden and in general, 80's and early nineties metal wasn't very dynamic and was mastered quite thin sounding. Something like classical will really highlight how well your system can handle dynamics. If any amp is going to push low end drivers well its a Hegel, however you might benefit from a warmer mid range sounding amp like a McIntosh if your primarily listening to metal or hard rock which lacks that mid bass punch your looking for.
It’s probably the recording. But heavy hard rock isn’t Kef’s best thing I guess.
I find LS50's have a similar midbase sound at 140 hz. I had to Eq them because I couldn't stand it. I ruled out the amp because I tried with multiple amps and had the same 140hz sound. Once I flattened out that sound, the sound became much more neutral and a little less muddy.
Physical differences in age may be part of the reason your preferences are differences.
This is pretty common among McIntosh owners, avg age is prob +20 that of those that prefer other brands.
Matrix Neo Picking up the bullets in the air.
Appreciate the video. However, peeking inside the Hegel will leave most unimpressed (when factoring the cost). Also, take a look at the used equipment market to see which one will be worth something in 10 years. This is a non-comparison in my opinion since most McIntosh buyers will not consider the Hegel.
And vice versa
Btw why would I sell my Hegel H390 after 10 years unless I want to upgrade to H990 which will have been released by Hegel by then.
Now this is what I’m talking about. Bring in some heavy weights. My h390 serves me well. Though I wouldn’t mind owning the Mc for a secondary system if I was crazy enough. I mentally went back and forth with these two. I just had a better opportunity to Demo the Hegels. Good discussion here for people on the same boat. No losers at all. Just important to listen as Adrian said but most importantly enjoy the chance to demo.
Both are fine amps. But to really be objective an a to b blind test using same db loudness and same equipment might tell a difference or surprise these reviewers, with their final results. They might draw the same conclusion or not the same using these more objective methods. Subjectivity and seeing what you're reviewing can shade the analysis and opinion more. The old reviewers of magazines decades ago tested their results with the lab equipment after they reviewed their equipment to see if what they concluded or heard was confirmed or deferred with the electronic test results given. Good review.
I've owned the MA352 for 2 years. Its customizability & hybrid design trumps other equipment w/ similar
power output regardless of your loudspeaker.