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

Thanks Soix….given that this has to go on a plane with me and it is very heavy I decided to go with a Ben h ark set-up. I’ll have to figure out a room correction set up with this but I think I have made a good choice given my limitations.

Congrats!  I’m sure it’ll sound great, and you can always add room correction later if desired.  

i agree with @soix -- lyngdorf’s built in room correction is a major asset for most rooms... really improves the sound, and is easy to implement

that said, the little benchmark is a very nice amp, small and easy to carry, so in that respect it is very convenient for the op to transport back to brazil 

only concern may be that the totem’s metal dome tweeter and the benchmark’s very precise, extended treble and somewhat lean overall character may not synergize too well...