Integrated amp recommendations for harbeth 30.2 XD

the hegel h160 while a ’last gen’ piece at this point, would, imo, set a very high bar to beat in driving harbeths (it is last gen primarily in the dac section only, the amp section is still absolutely top notch)

Thanks for that, and I do agree that the h160 is excellent. I could have easily lived with it and been happy, but had an itch to try out the GATO.

It’s still very early, but I am tempted to say that the GATO is fleshing out some subtle details that I wasn’t hearing with the Hegel. It could well be bias at play, as I am not set up to A/B the two amps under controlled conditions, but I do seem to be hearing some differences.

I was listening last night to an excellent (live) Mary Stallings CD that I know well, and, among other things, Ron Blake’s tenor saxophone playing sounded more vivid in that I was picking up details from around his mouth.

I also want to say that I am picking up on what might be thought of as a more ’organic’ timbre from acoustic instruments, and that GATO has a better 'grip' on the bass.

I need more time, though, to arrive at any kind of confident conclusions.

whip -- be sure to clarify if you used the h160 through its onboard dac, or if you listened to the amp section only with other source feeding the 160 through analog inputs - important distinction

h160 dac based on an older gen akm chip now 5-6 years old, can sound a little dull and obscure some subtle details compared to the better dacs out there today (and the refreshed hegel dac sections)

gato is straight integrated, no onboard dac, yes?

cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxdsq451hP0

Gato vs Hegel.  I presume they're played in the order listed in the title.

The luxman or the large accuphase would be good choices for that speaker they will add a new dimension to the sound over the rega.