Has anyone heard Sugden amplifiers?

[essrand]

Apparently these British guys were the first to introduce a full class-A SS amplifier ever. The A21 which is still in production. They seem to be flying really under the radar but as I have obsessively googled them for the past day or two, they seem to have a great following, really good reviews recently, very reasonably priced and many comparing their sound to Pass labs and even bettering it! Has anyone here in the forum heard them?

www.sugdenaudio.com

Sugden A21SE Signature Edition – Reviews | TONEAudio MAGAZINE

Listening to Dexter Gordon’s classic, “GO” through the Sugden A21 (actually the A21SE Signature, but I don’t want to keep writing that) and my Quad 28

www.tonepublications.com

 

[essrand]

Looks like quite a few FMs here own it, will be PMing you shortly

 

[vinothkumar]

Looks like quite a few FMs here own it, will be PMing you shortly

Should be good for others if they share the information in the same thread itself.

 

[pks.k]

I’m also eagerly waiting for the valuable inputs of sugden A21 owners in our forum..

 

[Dev.R]

I have used the Sudgen A 21 driving a pair of vintage Tannoys . Very Musical amp and worth every penny. Lovely tonal quality with beautiful Hi Freq . Not for bass heads.
But Pass Labs are much better any day.
You may also consider LFD & Lavardin.
Cheers.

 

[Vivek Batra]

I am also considering master class series.

 

[essrand]

@Dev.R , Can you tell us if you compared Pass Labs to Sugden head to head? What are the differences, I mean why do you consider Pass Labs better?

 

[Dev.R]

@Dev.R , Can you tell us if you compared Pass Labs to Sugden head to head? What are the differences, I mean why do you consider Pass Labs better?

I had a Passlab xa30.5 , it's in a different league. Everything was better in Pass --- the musicality, Tone , Warmth, etc etc .... I don't think it's fair to compare Sudgen with Pass.
It was bettered only by tube gears.

 

[essrand]

xa30.5 is a monoblock amplifier while the A21 is a integrated, and at 2x the price, you are right, it should be a different league, but sometimes things can surprise you.

But I heard the A21SE Signature is far improved over the original A21 with better lower end et al.

Too bad you have to go to Kolkata to demo. I might be tempted though

 

[Kushanava]

Sugden a21se is transparent and quick.less tubish sounding than a21.it can sometime sound " glassy' with leaner sounding speakers. Never heard a pass. but dont expect to get a tube sound from a21se.If you want a tube sound go for a proper tube amp.