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

Hgeifman re customs - I’ve never had an issue. Any time Ive got pulled over with gear (usually personal studio gear) I simply tell them it’s used and for personal use. I think you run into problems if you have more than one similar item like three iPhones or whatever - they are more interested in the fact that you might be bringing them to  sell them in Brazil where all electronics are prohibitively expensive. So, as far as the amp goes, it will probably be bought used off here and for my personal use if they ask.

Check out the Peachtree Nova 500 integrated. Great amplifier and dac. I have the Gan400 with the PreDac. I started with the Nova 150 and the 300. I chose to do separates otherwise the Nova 500 would have been my choice. 

Given your speakers (I own Totem Sky floor standers), the H360, now H390, has more power than you’d need. The less costly H120 would be more than adequate and provide a very similar, neutral and highly resolving sound. 

 

No amps mentioned on these posts will drive your Totems. I’ve owned both of these products and the Hegel will be the only amp listed on this thread that can drive them. I also own the sprout 100 and it won’t come close to driving the totems. 

Totems demand a lot of power to sound their best. I had a 250 watt McIntosh integrated driving my totems and they sounded great in a 12x12 room.

Ignore the power ratings from totem, you need a good couple hundred watt amp at least to drive them.

The sprout 100 is a very good sounding piece but you need to pair it with more efficient speakers.

1 more thing, I would never put an audio piece of equipment in my luggage and check in. The guys just throw those pieces around and you will end up with a broken piece. Plus, you will never get it thru the X-ray scanners if you try to walk it in.