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

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

 

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

 

 

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.

 

 

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!

The room correction in the Lyngdorf is NOT a small improvement.  I heard their room correction once in a $$$ personal system and once at a show and in both cases the improvement of the room correction was huge.  If you’re looking to avoid disappointment and especially if you can’t listen to the amp beforehand I think it’s worth stretching for the Lyngdorf.  Best of luck.