Colapse to Hegel

After further research , proly forgo the Rost and move right to the H90

What was collapse in the title for anyway?

@roxy54

I got separates (dac,pre,amp) collapse it all down to integrated.

I have the 120, and very musical and is excellent with  less efficient lower impedance speakers,.

I had a H90 and it sounded surprisingly good with Proac Response D2.  
I went back to solid state separates, but it WAS a pleasing piece of gear.

Get yourself a nice class A and don't look back....

Hegel makes very nice integrated amps. Had a couple of their top of the line integrated amps but eventually sold to get better sounding separates. The dacs in their integrated amps are not very good and their standalone dacs are not as good as other dacs for the same price or even cheaper.

“Consolidated” might have been clearer and more accurate description than “collapse”. Integrated amplifiers are simpler, generally less expensive, uses less often costly cabling, takes up less space than separates. I’m still trying to figure out how/where to put my 2 audio racks while minimizing the ire of my not-so-understanding-of-high-end-audio-costs spouse.

Hegel has a reputation of good/great satisfying sonics at it’s price point so it’s a good choice. YMMV.

Collapse of a structure by removing elements is fine.

Krell K300i.....Class A and much better all around than Hegel!

@cleathinker. Yes that was one of about 6 definitions "fold into a more compact form". Also it was a play on REMs 2011 album Collapse Into Now.

Don’t you love how helpful these forums are?  Your plan sounds reasonable.  Please post follow up when you’ve made some changes.

By all means audition the Hegel.  I purchased a H360 integrated about a month ago.  In my experience it has a neutral to slightly 'dark' leaning sound, if you will.  Very smooth, nothing really stands out.  Not exactly rolled off but certainly not bright.  No fatigue at all so far.  Plenty of power, enough to push my Maggie LRS into 90 dB without any strain.  Also tried it with my old Snell type D and Gallo 3.1.  Sounds nice with the Snells but not great with the Gallo for some reason.  Might be a good match for the Focal which tend to be a little bright from what I've read (never had a pair in house).  Let us know!      

Agree with dave_b. Krell K300i . If you can demo side by side you will hear the difference. I went from separates too integrated. Sold my Hegal H190. Moved over to Krell Vanguard digital. The K300i sounds a little better than the Vanguard. None the less decided to keep the Vanguard and went with Krell Separates. The bottom line is that this is very subjective. IMO Hegal DAC is good but not great.

I guess I forgot to mention budget constraints.  The Krell is out of bounds.  Although the LD has mentioned the Simaudio Ace.  The 2 contenders so far are Hegel and the Budget stretching SimAudio Ace.

curlyhifi, would you kindly expand on your comment that "The K300i sounds a little better than the Vanguard"? I have the digital Vanguard now and am considering "upgrading" to the K300i. I wonder if it's enough "better" to justify the cost. For the record, I have not been especially happy with the Vanguard, especially factoring in its cost.

I just finally gave up the Vanguard Digital for the K 300i Digital.  The K 300i is superior in several aspects.  It has far more engaging tone, detail and dimensionality along with a bit more warmth that just makes everything sound that much more authentic and organic sounding.  Instrument voicing is extremely realistic and bass pitch and definition are superb.  The substantially lower noise floor is also evident on demanding source material...cleaner and purer.  The DAC is world class and musical.  Value is SOTA for $8k...that’s a bargain!

I tried Focal (1028be) with Hegel 190, but didn't like the sound at all. Be careful with Aria, if its top is similar like Electra (I know Aria doesn't have Be tweeter, but still...), not sure if it will be a good synergy. 
Hegel has great amps, but with Focal sound was boring, flat, not musical at all, and I tried bunch of amps with that speaker.

Almost finished with the Demo on the Rost.  Very impressive little 50W amp.  I played music through it for 24 hours before I started listening.  Very pleasing high quality sound from an entry level integrated. I used my Wadia 321 streaming (Qobuz, Roon on SGC ST , Bryston BDP Pi endpoint) and compared it directly with my Rogue Tube->Class D combo.   Only knock on it was the bass on some recordings sounded a bit muddy but it could have just been my perception.   I did compare the internal DAC with the Wadia and thought the Wadia produced a better sound stage and depth (As it should).  Rost Didnt produce a bunch of heat either.  Loved the solidly built remote, much better than the cheese plastic of the Rogue.  Proly stay with my current setup but will be taking a hard look at the new H95.   This Rost is on sale at ListenUp for ~$1.8K and would be worth consideration for anyone looking for an integrated priced <$2k.

Just tested with the Balanced connections (Wadia 321 --> Rost) . Dang,  The little Rost came alive.    Sheesh wanna am I gonna do now ?  Sigh.

Just picked up a Simaudio Moon Ace from Lyric Hifi.  Demo, with ten year warranty. Replaced Belles Aria integrated, Ayre Codex dac and Bryston bdp-pi streamer.  With my Vandersteen VLR speakers there is great system synergy and plenty of power, not to mention less clutter.

rost >> h90 on amp section

rost = h90 on dac section (both relatively mediocre, now 2 gen old akm ds chips, simple implementation)

you need to move to h190 to better the rost on both sections, and need to move to h390 for a very good dac by today's standards

Yeah in the end I decided to keep my current setup. Save my coin for a dedicated amp.