I think most people would say the Hegel would outperform the Forte by a wide margin. If you are looking for integrateds that are compact but also great performers, I'd check out the offerings from Devialet and Peachtree Audio. There may be others, but those are two that came to mind.
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