Sugden A21 Se -Simply Magical

[Kushanava]

Well I have been looking for a hifi 2 channel setup for almost a year now
.I have learnt several things in the process, but the best advice I ever got was "Trust your Ears..I don't know how to describe it , but there is a feeling that everyone looks for a certain sound signature ..its not about how much you spend on an equipment , you can't be satisfied till you know "your sound"..

I went round and round with several amp audition, and even got to the extent of buying the MF M3i , but the first love I had for Sugden A21a [http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/28719-front-speakers-amp-under-inr-50000-a-4.html ]never died and I kept on looking for that sound. I am now a proud owner of the Sugden A21 SE.

I have paired this with my little Dynaudio excite x12 .My source is Asus Xonar Essence Card.

Sugden A21 SE is a beast.30W (8 ohms) pure class A can drive my Dynaudio's at 9'0clk with ease at 50% volume on the Computer output. This is by far the best amp I have ever heard, the Midrange is just tantalizing. I have heard this thing with Sugden 21 CDP in the dealers place and I can confirm that, I am only hearing 60% truth with the Asus Xonar , but still this 60% is wonderful.:yahoo:

 

[arj]

Kushanava So Happy to see this post. even if you succumb to the temptation and upgrade..dont get rid of it

Had been a A21 Owner for over 6 years untill I upgraded and some corner of my heart still wishes I had held on to my Sugden and a JMR twins pairing..it had so much in music that you would ignore what it did not have

 

[mowgli80]

Welcome to the Sugden club .... I bought my Sugden Mystro blindly after hearing A21 and falling in love with the sweet musical Sugden sound. Have a blast and let us know about your experience once the amp has broken in.

 

[stevieboy]

Kushanava,

That's one musical amp you have. One of the very few solid states I like.

@Arj I agree with you. That was a very musical pairing you had

 

[sidvee]

Congrats Kushanava, had an opportunity to listen to Mowglis Sugden at the recently concluded Hyd. audio show. Sweet sounding amp. What is the selling price on the a21se? Pm me if you do not want to post the info.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[mpw]

congratulations kushanava..

enjoy the music !

mpw

 

[Kushanava]

Welcome to the Sugden club .... I bought my Sugden Mystro blindly after hearing A21 and falling in love with the sweet musical Sugden sound. Have a blast and let us know about your experience once the amp has broken in.

What is your down stream and upstream component ?

 

[mowgli80]

I am using Asus Xonar Essence One DAC and Monitor Audio RX6 speakers. Player is a HTPC (Zotac ID-11) running UBUNTU + XBMC in audiophile mode fetching music from my NAS. Am planning to upgrade the opamps of my DAC to the legendary BB OPA627. That will be one very expensive upgrade (each opamp costs USD 25 and I need 14 ) ).

 

[CLEARCUT]

Congrats enjoy simplistic look but great sounding amp. Sugden simply believe in their technology not in ad like Honda car. Their own end users are their proganda team. I write this bec I was crazy of the amp for so many years. After jumping hands to hand I got it year back. I simply loved it. Eventually I got Accuphase which was more powerful and refined and found more suitable for me. Despite of my willing to keep it I happened to part with it due to the insistence of my friend. I had 21A where did u get 21 se? Any way congrats carry on your hifi listening. Mf is not upto my taste.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Sudgen amps are indeed well spoken about. Great amp. Enjoy!

 

[hemantwaghe]

Hi congratts... do we know each other?

 

[apk]

Congratulations!

Have always heard very good things about this amplifier. I did not know that you could buy this amplifier in India through a dealer. Please let us know what the amplifier cost you. Pls PM incase you do not want to share on the forum.

Best,
APK

 

[mpw]

kushanava,

pls post a pic

mpw

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

... Am planning to upgrade the opamps of my DAC to the legendary BB OPA627. That will be one very expensive upgrade (each opamp costs USD 25 and I need 14 ) ).

Wow. Maybe more economical to upgrade to am entirely new unit in a higher class? However, I don't know the Asus gear, but am aware that it is well spoken of.

A can drive my Dynaudio's at 9'0clk with ease at 50% volume on the Computer output.

Digital volume control? You are cutting the number of bits in your data. In practice, this may not matter at all but it is something the theorists frown on. I "believe" in keeping the digital source at 100%.

Congratulations on the Sugden. I only know it by reputation, as being one of the great hifi names. Whereas that is not always something to be relied on, "Simply magical" suggests that in this case, it is . Enjoy the magic!

 

[mowgli80]

Wow. Maybe more economical to upgrade to am entirely new unit in a higher class? However, I don't know the Asus gear, but am aware that it is well spoken of.

Depends on what you call higher class . The opamp swap should push me to higher class of sound quality :yahoo: but not the brand which is fine. Easy opamp swapping is the reason why I bought the DAC in the first place.

Now waiting for my "For Sale" items to be sold .

 

[TD150]

Hi,

Great amp, congrats.

 

[heliumflight]

The Sugden A21 amp is all about midrange. As a previous owner I can vouch that it's sound signature has the best of both worlds, tube aswell as solid state.

 

[gobble]

What price range are we talking about here?

--G0bble

 

[mowgli80]

What price range are we talking about here?

--G0bble

Based on my knowledge, in proximity of 1.5L

 

[sidvee]

6moons audio reviews: Sugden A21SE
1.5 lacs will be a good price, based on german price of 3200 euro as shown in this review (and that was 6 years ago!), at todays fx it will be closer to 2.25 lac. Not really sure what the Indian dealer's price is though, but I would be keenly interested in one for my second setup.
BTW UK price is 2500 pound sterling (per attached) which I think is approx. 2 lacs.
http://www.vickers-hifi.co.uk/retail/sugden.html
Cheers,
Sid