Integrated Amplifiers

At little over half the price of Hegel's flagship H590 [HFN Oct '18], this new H390 really does look like it's 'robbing the rich to serve the poor (audiophile)'. On the other hand, £4900 is hardly a pouchful of loose groats, if you'll pardon the historical analogy, but for the outlay you do get a hugely capable amplifier. Clearly based on the H590, the H390 has the same 'SoundEngine 2' power amp, albeit with four rather than six pairs of devices per channel and a commensurately smaller toroidal-based linear PSU. So while the H590 pumps out 2x310W and 2x590W into 8 and 4ohm, respectively, the H390 is not so far behind with 2x270W/8ohm and 2x490W/4ohm with 279W, 544W and 1.04kW into 8, 4 and 2ohm loads under dynamic conditions. The H590 delivers 325W, 640W and 1.24kW into the same 8, 4 and 2ohm which, again, is less than 1dB more grunt for an additional £4000. The H590 reveals its true colours only into exceptionally low (1ohm) loads where its 2.285kW (47.8A) capacity dwarfs the H390's 1.16kW (34.1A). So, unless you are using a pair of insanely low impedance speakers, it looks more like the H390 will be robbing the limelight from Hegel's own H590! PM