Sugden A21a phono stage

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a nice, warm sounding amp to play my vinyl and am debating whether to pick up a sugden a21a. Trouble is there aren't any Sugden dealers in London so i can't really demo it, which is a bit frustrating...

Does anyone one have any experience of using the phono stage on this amp?

How does it fare compared to, say, current solid state amps with a built in phono stage like the Rotel 1520, Roksan Kandy, or Arcam? I'm willing to spend up to £800.

I want it to be versatile enough to play a range of music from electronic (dance, idm etc) to acoustic to rock and not be bass light. I'm using a Pro-Ject Debut III turntable (which i want to upgrade when Rega announce the new RP8) and Mordaunt Short Mezzo 2 speakers.

Thanks in advance!

Ben

 

[ifor]

I'm willing to spend up to £800.

Ben, I'm not familiar with Sugden at all, though I do know the name. Curiosity sent me to google and I'm now even more curious; how are you going to get one of these for £800?

 

[omnibeard]

Is it one of these monkeys?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sugden-A21a-integrated-amplifier-with-MC-MM-phono-stage-/110949530973?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item19d51b7d5d

 

[ifor]

Is it one of these monkeys?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sugden-A21a-integrated-amplifier-with-MC-MM-phono-stage-/110949530973?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item19d51b7d5d

Ah! Not a series 2.

 

[paradiziac]

The bit about a dealer demo must've confused ifor :?

They normally fetch £400-£500.

I own one, but don't have a TT nor have I heard it against the other amps mentioned or the speakers you're thinking of using.

If you can get it at a good price, give it a whirl and sell on if it doesn't suit.

 

[Captain Duff]

Phono stages on all Sugdens are very highly regarded. You could perhaps bag a s/h A21a for that sort of money, although not necessarily a newer series. Alternatively you might want to look at the Mystro integrated which I'm using. Not valve based, but there again it is capable of more power than the A21, while keeping the 'Sugden sound' (check out some of the reviews online). The bass extension is exellent, while still retaining a lot of detail up top.

There is currently one on a certain auction site that was unsold at the original £650 starting price, and was then relisted at 99p - it has a couple of days left but is still in real bargain territory considering its build and sound quality (they are £1250 new).

 

[paradiziac]

There is currently one on a certain auction site that was unsold at the original £650 starting price, and was then relisted at 99p - it has a couple of days left but is still in real bargain territory considering its build and sound quality (they are £1250 new).

Seconded.

The Mystro is a great amp. Compared to the A21a, I prefer the bass, top end and dynamics of the Mystro. More power too, so works with a wider range of speakers. The A21a is slightly better on tone/timbre, but the Mystro isn't far behind, TBH.

 

[Captain Duff]

I see that the 'as new' Mystro went for £448 (inc postage) on the bay last night - someone somewhere got one hell of a great bargain with that one, realy had to stop myself from bidding as I really couldn't justify having a spare 'just in case'!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I was debating whether to bid for the mystro. I think my reservation was that i like to have the option to use headphones and the mystro doesn't have a headphone out or a tape output which i could use to connect a headphone amp 🙁

 

[Captain Duff]

Ah yes, that's a good point. On my previous Marantz CD it had its own headphone socket, but my current model doesn't have one either so headphones are a problem with the Mystro...