Sugden amplifiers and pure Class-A in general...?

While on some levels I don't think it is fair to compare amps that are $1,000 to $2,000 apart on price, both the Brio-R and Campion have a solid following of owners and reviewers who love their sound and performance and are more than happy with them.
Sugden is a niche amp IMHO, and from what I'm hearing, seems to work best with with certain types of music.
Namely jazz, acoustic, folk, classic rock, blues, vocal and smaller classical works like quartets and quintets, which suits me to a "T" because those are my favourite types of music.

 

Rafe, I know it's not class A, but if you can, try one of the LFD integrated amps. They're supposed to be magical with Harbeths.

 

I've heard that as well (magical period I've heard), but the closest dealer is in Ontario unfortunately.

 

Although I am not in the market for an amp, I have been enjoying this discussion. This is the perfect example of how one doesn't need to spend oodles of money to find happiness with a Hi-Fi system. A lot of love for some decently priced gear that punch above their price class. It's all about doing your homework and properly matching components.

 

I have used P3ESR with a few of Tube and LINN amplifiers.


(Sound via iPad mini)

Did you use P3 to demo? I don’t realize how much you love P3. However I am sure that P3 is not interested in kind of amplifiers. i.e. P3 is insensitive.
And I do not think P3 to be a considerably superior speaker. Because P3 change all to beautiful sounds.
I prefer speakers which reproduces a fundamental tone faithfully.

 

The purpose is to find an amp that suits us, that we like and can live with, I think. This amp will be very different depending on our needs.

 

I had many amplifiers and speakers, but I come across SUGDEN and ProAc, I am very happy now

 

Agreed. Absolutely.

 

Thanks for the kind words, glad you're following along

 

Raferx, I hope you find a nice amp for P3...

 

Just wanted to add that anything you've read or heard about how hot this amplifier runs is true.
I personally have no issues with this at all, I've felt how hot tubes can get, so no biggie.
The Sugden gets very warm indeed, and should not be put inside a cabinet, keep it out, let it breathe!
Also, it is a beautifully crafted amplifier and oozes quality everywhere: Very easy on the eyes.

 

I'm using my own P3s to demo the amp, but heard the SE previously a number of times with the M30.1, the SHL-5 and the C7, which is why I wanted to demo this amp on the advice of my dealer.

 

In swedish Sugden means suck it! The brand is not so popular here unfortunately...

 

Ha! I could see how the translation might work against branding there!

 

Thank you for letting me know the reason why you demo the A21 with P3.
I know that Sugden factory demo the A21 with ProAc, LS3/5a (maybe, by Stirling Broadcast) and also with the original Quad 57N.

I was looking for a good amp for my ProAc Tablette Anniversary.
I had heard it from many UK Shops that the A21 is best for the Proacs.

I hope that the A21 will fit with P3 also well.

P.S
How about Naim with P3?

 

The Swedes should try Googling Sudgen. NSFW

http://tinyurl.com/m8uuxfp

 

NSFW...
As you know "SUGDEN" comes from the name of the founder.

 

Class A

 

I do not mind whether the Sugden is ClassA or ClassB... But It is true that the sound is good.

 

LOL...

 

We can enjoy Sugden both for looking and for listening. But for adults.

 

I would not choose the amp!

 

There is more to life than audio.

 

Hey I don't get it why is my girlfriend posing with pictures of amps

 

Because her name is Sudgen.