Anything close to Hegel H360 but smaller/lighter?


So, I’m living in Brazil these days in an apartment with a room a little bigger than 12x12 (maybe 14x14) I’m guessing. I have a pair of Totem “The One” speakers laying in storage there and a Velodyne 12” subwoofer and I want to put these to use. I’m in the US now on a short stay and just bought the Martin Logan Forte simply  because it was cheap and I’m getting a buzz to listen to music again but I don’t want to break the bank. Plus, I’m in an apartment so sound levels need to be considered for the sake of neighbors. I knew this might happen…..I’m already thinking about upping the ante a bit and buying a somewhat decent integrated amp and came across good reviews for the Hegel H360 on here - would I get a noticeable sound quality difference if I sprung for this amp as opposed to the Forte. That is, $250 as opposed to a few grand?

Now I see that Hegel is 45lbs and I’m trying to bring this in my suitcase to Brazil and it will be doable if I sacrifice bringing other personal items back with me so, two questions here….

Will the Hegel provide me with a big noticeable difference in sound quality over the Forte ?

Is there another integrated out there that compares with the Hegel but is lighter/smaller?

 

cheers

thomastrouble

Showing 5 responses by jjss49

@thomastrouble

you said you are in an apartment, with totem 1’s with powered sub support below, medium loudness listening

i think your focus on the hegel h360 driving this setup as the keystone to good sound is entirely misplaced

a hegel 120 or 190 will be more than enough... second gen sound engine circuit, superior damping factor, even lower distortion, even more refined treble, plenty of current delivery for the totems (i used to have them) - not to mention an updated dac in the current gen hegel integrateds

you get the h360, it will run at 10% of its capacity, you will hear zero difference...

@mofojo raises a very good point

the lyngdorf tdai 1120 would be enough for totems and a self powered subwoofer in an apartment

and that unit has excellent and easy to use room correction (very big impact on sound quality, especially subwoofer integration), and best of all, the unit is light and compact.. size of a shoebox, will fit in luggage easily, maybe even a carry on!

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1575-lyngdorf-audio-tdai-1120-streaming-integrated-amplifier-dac

i agree with @soix -- lyngdorf’s built in room correction is a major asset for most rooms... really improves the sound, and is easy to implement

that said, the little benchmark is a very nice amp, small and easy to carry, so in that respect it is very convenient for the op to transport back to brazil 

only concern may be that the totem’s metal dome tweeter and the benchmark’s very precise, extended treble and somewhat lean overall character may not synergize too well...