Hegel H360 comparing to seperates?

But don't expect Hegel to back you up if you run into any problems. They are Nordic Neanderthals when it comes to customer service. Been there with them. Caveat emptor.

Please take it for what it is worth:

I heard both the H360 and the Hegel Reference separates - pre/amp/DAC with Blade IIs at the Los Angeles Audio Show. The demo used the H360 and its internal DAC vs. the separates and though there was a difference, I found it fairly small. There was much more of a difference between the Rost, their new integrated, and the H360 and to me the price spread between the two was very worth it. The H360 was able to control the Blades with finesse and sounded great. Maybe the Hegel DACs are just not to your liking since it seems that both the integrated line DAC and the reference sound pretty similar. I do not have a DAC recommendation, but I would also say I love MBL; I've heard most of their gear over the last 4-5 years and it got me thinking about building another system, it is that good to me. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Hegel DACs? You must be joking. Once you listen to the PS Audio DirectStream then Hegel is quickly despatched.

@sabai 

I've heard the DirectStream a number of times and in good-sounding systems. But I have not heard the Hegel on the same day in the same system. So, I have nothing to add there.

I have to say the H190 may sound a bit better than the h360 I bought friday. My speakers are current hungry and I baked a 200 wpc Krell int several times under warranty because it got so hot, that was my reasoning for stepping up to the h360 even tho' I was floored by the synergy in my room with the 190. My recommendation is the h190 at $4000 if 150 wpc 8 ohms and 250 into 4. I'm quite happy with my decision since I can push the salons to high spl's without the case getting more than slightly warm and the unit is sounding better the longer I listen to it. The h360 replaced a parasound a21  driven by a kav 300il pre out and the hegel just makes the music seem live.