2. amps-preamps
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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

Showing 2 responses by rbstehno

rbstehno
1,513 posts
 

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.

rbstehno
1,513 posts
 

This is from TSA: Carry-on bags must weigh less than 35 pounds. Any Hegel will eight more than 35 pounds. Also, I went thru the Denver tsa check in after attending the RMAF and when my bag went thru the scanner, sirens went off and tsa officials ran over to my bag and to me. I just an anti-static gun at the show and the scanner thought it was a gun. Even after going thru my bag, since it put out X amount of volts, I was not allowed to carry it on.

I have had multiple Hegel integrated amps and the smaller amps (smaller than the h300), don’t have the damping factor as the bigger amps do. The h300 would be a good pick. I sold my hegels in the end and went with separates because my new speakers needed more power. BTW: I also had multiple pairs of totem mani II’s and the best they sounded were with the 1000 watt McIntosh monoblocks. All totems need good power, not just watts

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