Audiophilepure

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/hegel-audio-systems-h390-integrated-amplifier/

“It had that effortless dynamic range and grip over the loudspeakers we have come to expect from Hegel, with a comprehensively good performance in all other aspects, and as I said that mild upper-frequency zing of its predecessor has been replaced with ear-opening neutrality and honesty. But most of all, it’s a fun thing; listening is a journey of musical discovery that is never dry or fusty. It’s got passion and energy in its output, and it expresses that on every loudspeaker I paired it with, even ones that normally wouldn’t get out of bed for a £4,900 amp. In fact, that little jaunt through any loudspeakers I had to hand was telling; the amp’s character was like musical smoke in all the right ways – aside from a universal grip over the bass units from its high damping factor and an innate sense of musical space and rhythm, descriptions of performance were loudspeaker-related, not amp-related. I would say that I can’t recall the last time an integrated amplifier did that, but I can… it was the Hegel H590. The H390 doesn’t quite get out of the way as much as the ‘straight wire with gain’ H590, but it gets damn close. “