Sloppy, muted bass response on Hegel h190

Friend

Take your Amplifier to an Audiophile store in your area to audition it with whatever brand loudspeakers they feature to begin the process of elimination.

At a minimum you can regain a smile on your face if you audition it on some good loudspeakers with Bela Fleck or Marcus Miller as source material and it performs well.

From there you can make note of the other pieces in that setup to begin your plan to acquire the associated gear over time.

You also build a great relationship with the salesman who will inform you when used gear at discount prices comes into the store.

Hegel manufactures all their products in China.
Hegel does not make mention of manufacture overseas. Hegel presents itself as a company steeped in Norwegian tradition.
Hegel writes on the back of all their products “Hegel, Oslo, Norway”.
Most high end audio products reserve this space to put where the item was manufactured.
My JBL 4367 loudspeakers say manufactured in Mexico.

The Hegel H590 has a list of 13.500 dollars. It is made in China.

If you have done this with two amps already it’s very likely that it’s the speakers. To give it a third test perhaps purchase a high watt mid fi amp from a big box store try it and return it? That should assure you it’s the speakers not the amp if the bass is the main problem. 

The only other thing I can think of is the high dampening on the Hegel somehow not matching the speakers profile. What was the other new amp? 

Hegel h190 has great bass normally. And it’s a super flexible amp that gives you a foundation to try many different types of speakers. 

In terms of things to check - the capacitors could be an issue, the crossover or the foams around the speaker. Is there any sign of rust or degradation at the speakers posts or in the transducers? These are highly regarded speakers so perhaps there are vintage kef specialists who can help. For what it’s worth I have a Hegel with rebuilt vintage tannoy hpds and its a great match. But they have a new cabibet, new foams etc. 

Kerp us posted. 

d2girls, and the point is? And how does that contribute to the conversation?

cut the problem in half.

Try another amplifier. ANY amplifier, surround sound receiver, 1978 Sony 30 watt integrated, anything at all....it does not matter.

The dividing line in the halves.... is the speaker/cable pairing vs the source/cable/amp pairing.

The perceived result will tell you which half of the equation contains the problem.

10g speaker cable is usually a bad fit anywhere, btw....