2. amps-preamps
  3. 180346-11372

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
thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Great reply Wester!

tonight I’ll look into the Benchmark. To be honest, I was focused on something simple (all in one integrated, streamer and room correction, but if this is going to give me killer results then I’m open to dealing with a slightly more complicated solution.. So, I’m assuming this will drive the Totems .

Anyway, I’ll hop off ow and look into that Benchmark, thank you.

thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Wester17, pardon my ignorance - I haven’t been around audio systems for a long time and when I set out on a quest for a small but good integrated I started noticing streaming capabilities and room correction systems built in and now I want these features - what exactly should I looking for as a streamer and a room correction system and can this be incorporated into the Benchmark setup?

Just a week ago I decided to buy the Martin Logan Forte and promised myself I’ll be content with that but I went down that rabbit hole again.
That Forte is arriving tomorrow - I haven’t got a clue about connectivity, but can this be used with the Benchmark for streaming and room correction, and if so, is there a better way to go. I don’t mind spending a little more and since this will hopefully be the last system I will buy I’m looking to make it the best it can be.

thank you

 

thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Wester17, digging around on the Benchmark and you had mentioned the DAC 2 HGC and I headed off to look for that and found 3 possible options and would love some advice - I have a chance to buy these options and would love pointed in the right direction……

Option 1…..Benchmark DAC B D/A converter Remote, DAC -3 Silver DSD …( full description in case I’m missing something), same with following…

 

Option 2…..Benchmark DAC3 BDAC

 

Option 3 ….. Benchmark DAC 3 L DAC

 

Option 4…….Benchmark DAC 3 HDC DAC

 

so, I dont have a clue about the difference in the above - just looking for the best one for my system.

Thank you

 

 

fastfreight
790 posts
 

Have you spoken with Bill at GTT about this?  This I gelieve is Putzky's second iteration of class D amps.  The older Kaluga's rocked my Salon 2's, not easy to drive.  And the onboard DAC Tambaqui is world class.

 

 

thomastrouble OP
239 posts
 

Thanks Fastfrieght, this is all being done in a rush as I’m limited for time before I fly home….very easy to get pointed to and jump from system to system but I think ive settled on the Benchmark amp and the Benchmark DAC to fit my needs but I much appreciate your input!

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