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Hegel 360 and other oomph-y integrateds

Tim Jones

Tim Jones

pfm Member
Clearly my Nait XS is going to have trouble in my new, high ceilinged, 5m x 6m listening room. I though a SuperNait2 might suffice as a replacement, but am really not so sure any more.

A further consideration is that the carpet in this room has serious underlay. Gaining real speaker stability on it is tricky, which is why at the moment I'm using Harbeth Compact 7s, with their substantial stands (although I'm not 100% on them yet).

Seeking to minimise my box count, I'm looking at integrateds with serious outputs - 150w and over. The Hegel 360 is an obvious contender and I'm almost certainly going to do a buy and try arrangement. I'm not sure I need its DAC, but there's no arguing with the power on offer, and I've seen one or two very positive reviews.

Any views or experiences with the 360 on offer? Or any suggestions of alternatives gratefully received. My budget can stretch (just) to around £5k.

Thanks.
 
Tim Jones said:
Clearly my Nait XS is going to have trouble in my new, high ceilinged, 5m x 6m listening room. I though a SuperNait2 might suffice as a replacement, but am really not so sure any more.

A further consideration is that the carpet in this room has serious underlay. Gaining real speaker stability on it is tricky, which is why at the moment I'm using Harbeth Compact 7s, with their substantial stands (although I'm not 100% on them yet).

Seeking to minimise my box count, I'm looking at integrateds with serious outputs - 150w and over. The Hegel 360 is an obvious contender and I'm almost certainly going to do a buy and try arrangement. I'm not sure I need its DAC, but there's no arguing with the power on offer, and I've seen one or two very positive reviews.

Any views or experiences with the 360 on offer? Or any suggestions of alternatives gratefully received. My budget can stretch (just) to around £5k.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hi Tim,

One other consideration would be a Benchmark Media DAC2 HGC (or other) with a single or better still a pair of Benchmark Media AHB2 power amplifiers. This has superb technical measurements and performance, while offering 380 wpc when bridged into 8 Ohms.

Kind regards,
Peter
 
Igloo Audio said:
Hi Tim,

One other consideration would be a Benchmark Media DAC2 HGC (or other) with a single or better still a pair of Benchmark Media AHB2 power amplifiers. This has superb technical measurements and performance, while offering 380 wpc when bridged into 8 Ohms.

Kind regards,
Peter
Click to expand...

Thanks Peter. I did actually think about the Benchmark power amp. But I'm prioritising vinyl replay at the moment, so would need a preamp function to handle it.
 
In that room, you'll be asking a lot from the Harbeths. I'm not sure that driving them with more power will be the answer. I'm in a similar situation to yours, but with a second smaller basement listening room where I currently run the Graham Audio LS5/9 (fronted by a SuperNait2). I briefly tried the Grahams upstairs in an open plan room (21' x 25' x 14' high cathedral ceiling) driven by an 82/HiCap/250. The higher listening levels excited the side panels of the Grahams a little too much for my liking. When listening off-axis, the resonances (around 150 to 200 Hz) dominated. I've found the same effect in other large rooms when thin-walled BBC designs are driven hard. In a smaller room at more modest levels, no problems.

Also, I've tried the SuperNait2 in the large room in place of the 82/HiCap/250 and it can lack grunt in that situation. No problems for low to moderate listening levels though (65 to 75 dBA).

Jan
 
When I was looking in your budget range this year I looked at:
MF nu-vista 800
MF m8 pre and m500 power
Devialet d200
Hegel h300 (360 wasn't around)
Naim 282 250.2

The clear winner was nuvista 800
 
Hi Tim

I feel that you should still look at the SuperNait 2 and then try and directly compare it to the H360 and also other amps such as ATC's SIA2-150 MK2 and Arcam's A49 (been using the A49 over the last week with an irDAC and Rega's Aria phono stage and it sounds stunning :cool:).


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 
Musicraft said:
Hi Tim

I feel that you should still look at the SuperNait 2 and then try and directly compare it to the H360 and also other amps such as ATC's SIA2-150 MK2 and Arcam's A49 (been using the A49 over the last week with an irDAC and Rega's Aria phono stage and it sounds stunning :cool:).


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
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I much prefer the SN2 over the Arcam P49 but as always you have to try for yourself and get the amp that is best suited to your speakers. I find Class AB amps are the best for me, can not listen to Class D , not keen on Class G (Arcam) or any amp with JFETS,
 
I have had some very expensive pre-powers and am absolutely happy with my relatively newly acquired Nad M3. It is just wonderful, the build is fantastic, the measurements are exemplary, it is powerful and sounds great. I just wish I'd done it earlier. Look at the stereophile and Hifi plus reviews. There is a very accomplished Naim pre/hicap/ mono blocks and a Farlowe Exposure amp in a cupboard.
 
MVV said:
There is a very accomplished Naim pre/hicap/ mono blocks and a Farlowe Exposure amp in a cupboard.
Click to expand...

I respect your opinions MVV, but I'm just not sure what that sentence means...

Right now, the Hegel 360 still looks like the best option. The Benchmarks do interest me, as do (I confess) the Bryston 7BSST monoblocks in the Classifieds right now. But at this rate, and according to both those options, my little Musicworks mains block is rapidly running out of space...
 
Philim said:
When I was looking in your budget range this year I looked at:
MF nu-vista 800
MF m8 pre and m500 power
Devialet d200
Hegel h300 (360 wasn't around)
Naim 282 250.2

The clear winner was nuvista 800
Click to expand...

Have to admit, that's not the received opinion in my circles. The Devialet (which I'm being sold quite hard...) should win out, at a high cost.

I'm sorry for my closed mind, but MF is not a solution for an ex-Naim guerrilla like me.
 
Tim Jones said:
Have to admit, that's not the received opinion in my circles. The Devialet (which I'm being sold quite hard...) should win out, at a high cost.

I'm sorry for my closed mind, but MF is not a solution for an ex-Naim guerrilla like me.
Click to expand...

I was the same as you. I used naim avidly for 5 years. (282, DAC v1, sn2, Xs).

I was also pushed the devialet very hard as well but with my set up combo at home it didn't gel very well and the MF sounded a lot better.

I was also "sold" the devialet very hard. Trust your own ears at home though .

The devialet I found only became comparable at the d400 level.
 
Tim Jones said:
I respect your opinions MVV, but I'm just not sure what that sentence means...

Right now, the Hegel 360 still looks like the best option. The Benchmarks do interest me, as do (I confess) the Bryston 7BSST monoblocks in the Classifieds right now. But at this rate, and according to both those options, my little Musicworks mains block is rapidly running out of space...
Click to expand...

Sorry, It means I have three amps to choose from and the Nad is the one I use in preference to the others.
 
If looking at the Hegel, I would also throw in the Plinius integrated amps as well, the Hautonga, and Hiato. Expensive, very powerful like the Hegel, but maybe can be found on the used market reasonably? I also second the ATC integrated or CA2/P1 combo. Not sure how good the internal phono board is in the CA2. FWIW.
 
Tim what are the impedence curves like onyour speakers, does the impedence drop to extremely low values at certain points in the frequency range?
Keith.
 
No, the impedance cruve is fairly benign with no great dips, so the OP really doesn't need a seriously powerful amp like the Hegel.

When I had C7s I generally used them in a medium sized room, but there was one time we set them up in my larger living room, which is about 7m x 4.5m. My main amps for some years now have been the Unison Research Unico Pre/DM. The DM is a 150W mosfet/valve hybrid, and that system sounded pretty fantastic in the larger room. Saying that it sounded very good with a Croft 7R also, which is only 50W, so it's not all about power.

If you are set on high wattage and want an integrated amp, the Perreaux Eloquence 150i is a very good option with Harbeths. Probably the closest I've heard to my Unicos in an integrated.

However, I'm not quite clear if the OP has actually heard the Nait XS with his Harbeths in this larger room yet. Before I had the Unico amps I had Naim 202/200. It was certainly not lacking in oomph, and as far as I know the Nait XS is pretty much as powerful.
 
Thanks Andrew, I have literally just switched on a new integrated amplifier from the UK manufacturer Kleio Audio, it sounds great and it is beautifully put together, imight it be worth emailing Garry at Kleio for a home demonstration.The more possibles you hear in your own system the better.
Keith.
 
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