Devialet or Hegel?

[Juperman]

Hi all

Its my first post here and I'm quite new to the hobby, but I´ll throw in my 50 cents.

I've had a Hegel H160 with Revel F206 speakers and sub for a few years, but now had some money left over and felt like looking for an improvement.

I got to try out the Devialet 220 pro for about a week in my home, and I was really surprised how much more the F206 speakers had to give with a better amp. With the Devialet 220 pro I felt that the soundstage got bigger and deeper and more airy. The separation was a lot better and somehow the music sounded and felt more "precise" then ever. Drums and bass had a lot more body, character and kind of roundness to them. Vocals felt very natural and present, like the singer was in the room.

16 bit 48khz and higher material sounded awesome, Spotify premium was ok, but streaming music through Sonos Connect sounded like shit. My family uses sonos for background music as it is easy to use and everyone has an account for Spotify, but this was the first time I noticed how bad it actually sounds. I think that is a statement to te quality of the Devialet compared to the Hegel 160.

Only downside I found was that the imaging (or what you call it) was at moments somehow confusing compared to the Hegel: If I could place the drums to a certain spot in the room, I would suddenly hear a cymbal from a random spot away from the drums. This was a bit weird and I never had that with the Hegel, I feel the 160 has been solid with the imaging.

Next I tested the Hegel 590, and as happy as I have been with the price/quality of the 160, this was a real disappointment. I could barely hear any difference compared to the 160. The sound got a little beefier and the soundstage a bit bigger but thats it. I felt that there was nothing more, new life or new feelings in the music with the 590 compared to the 160. Im sure the pairing means a lot and the F206 are not the best friends for the Hegel 590, but based on my experience I would never pay what they ask for the 590.

With the Devialet I stopped to listen and enjoy the music, have fun and hear new things in the music. I was really happy with it for thew whole week I had it, and now Im looking if I can find a good deal with a used one to go straight for a 440 pro (a lot for the F206s I know...). If I don't find a deal for used ones, I still like the fact that you can get one and later upgrade to monoblocks if you at any point get the chance and bigger speakers. With the Hegel 590, I returned it after testing it for just one night (and after getting convinced that it was not actually broken and was doing what it was supposed to).

Judging by the looks I assumed that with the Devialet you pay premium for the aesthetics, but I after testing it I must say that the build quality is very impressive, it sounds amazing and the features and configuration possibilities are from another planet than the Hegel. And it is cheaper!

The Devialet included remote is pretty much useless as it has no display and you can't see the amps own display from more than a meter or two away, but Devialet has a nice app that works as a remote from your smartphone.

So between these two, I was very impressed with the Devialet. Hope you get to try them both in your home with your speakers. Would like the hear your impressions on them.