Switch from Naim to Sugden?

Singslinger

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Having recently acquired a brand new pair of Spendor SP 1/2R speakers at a bargain price (because they've been replaced by the SP 1/2R2) , I'm now in the market for suitable amplification. Currently, the Spendors are on the end of a Naim SuperNait but I'm finding the sound a bit too "in your face'' with not enough detail for late-night listening at low volume.

Would a switch from the Naim to a Sugden class A amp do the trick? I'm thinking of the Masterclass IA4 integrated. Any feedback from Sugden users would be much appreciated.:cheers:
 

Macspur

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Singslinger said:
Having recently acquired a brand new pair of Spendor SP 1/2R speakers at a bargain price (because they've been replaced by the SP 1/2R2) , I'm now in the market for suitable amplification. Currently, the Spendors are on the end of a Naim SuperNait but I'm finding the sound a bit too "in your face'' with not enough detail for late-night listening at low volume.

Would a switch from the Naim to a Sugden class A amp do the trick? I'm thinking of the Masterclass IA4 integrated. Any feedback from Sugden users would be much appreciated.:cheers:

Hi,

I used to have a Naim amp before switching to Sugden, but never heard for myself Sugden and Spendor.

I do know of people who use Sugden with Harbeth P3ESR which are supposed to be pretty close to your Spendors and they love the combo.

The Masterclass is superb for low level listening and excellent when you want to turn up the wick a bit.

Mac
 

gregvet

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Sugden make lovely sounding amps, and I am a big spendor fan (have SA1's), but personally I think I would find the two together too warm. I find Spendor need something a bit sharper, if that makes sense. Cyrus works well (IMO).
 

Macspur

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Macspur said:
Singslinger said:
Having recently acquired a brand new pair of Spendor SP 1/2R speakers at a bargain price (because they've been replaced by the SP 1/2R2) , I'm now in the market for suitable amplification. Currently, the Spendors are on the end of a Naim SuperNait but I'm finding the sound a bit too "in your face'' with not enough detail for late-night listening at low volume.

Would a switch from the Naim to a Sugden class A amp do the trick? I'm thinking of the Masterclass IA4 integrated. Any feedback from Sugden users would be much appreciated.:cheers:

Hi,

I used to have a Naim amp before switching to Sugden, but never heard for myself Sugden and Spendor.

I do know of people who use Sugden with Harbeth P3ESR which are supposed to be pretty close to your Spendors and they love the combo.

The Masterclass is superb for low level listening and excellent when you want to turn up the wick a bit.

As ever, if possible, try to home demo.

Mac
 

gregvet

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CnoEvil said:
gregvet said:
Welcome back Cno :cheers:

Thx mate.

(I think they also tightened the odd loose screw that they found in the old noggin, while they were at it!)

I hope not. Imagine if you suddenly went all active, or class D on us, the forum wouldnt be the same ;)

You would have grounds to sue the surgeon I reckon!

Hope it went well and youre not too sore.
 

Singslinger

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Macspur, Cnoevil & Gregvet - many thanks for your feedback. I've managed to audition the Sugden with the Spendor and find the sound to be exactly what I'm looking for. Final question - any reservations about build quality or reliability?
 

Macspur

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Singslinger said:
Macspur, Cnoevil & Gregvet - many thanks for your feedback. I've managed to audition the Sugden with the Spendor and find the sound to be exactly what I'm looking for. Final question - any reservations about build quality or reliability?

Excellent!

I've had my Masterclass approx 3 years and had no problems thus far. As for build quality, I'm no expert on the technical side of things, but certainly from the outside it's a superbly engineered piece of kit.

The only thing you will find, being Class A, it will run pretty warm, but this is nothing to worry about.

Patrick, the main guy at Sugden is very approachable, if you've got any doubts or queries, just drop him an Email and he will anser you promptly and in person.

Cheers

Mac
 

Singslinger

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Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance:

Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:
 

CnoEvil

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Singslinger said:
Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance: Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:

I wish more people would listen to Sugden (if in budget) before making their decision.

Good job

Cno
 

Macspur

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Singslinger said:
Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance: Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:

That would be good, I look forward to it... btw what source do you use?

Mac
 

Singslinger

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CnoEvil said:
Singslinger said:
Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance: Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:

I wish more people would listen to Sugden (if in budget) before making their decision.

Good job

Cno

I agree. I tried both the A 21 and Masterclass with the Spendors and found both to be amazingly good - beautifully rich sound with plenty of detail. Seems to me that Sugden is one of high-end hifi's best kept secrets - an unassuming company that makes simple-to-use, top quality products with minimum fuss.
 

Macspur

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Singslinger said:
CnoEvil said:
Singslinger said:
Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance: Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:

I wish more people would listen to Sugden (if in budget) before making their decision.

Good job

Cno

I agree. I tried both the A 21 and Masterclass with the Spendors and found both to be amazingly good - beautifully rich sound with plenty of detail. Seems to me that Sugden is one of high-end hifi's best kept secrets - an unassuming company that makes simple-to-use, top quality products with minimum fuss.

Spot on!

Perhaps, funds permitting, you might like to try one of their CDP's... before I bought the EMC1UP I tried a Sugden PDT4-F and it was quite a close decision.

Mac
 

Singslinger

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Roby said:
+1 for the Sugden masterclass IA4 :dance: great amp (maybe you should give the AMS 35I a shot :twisted: )

It's certainly worth thinking about..but in Singapore (where I am) the AMS 35i is almost twice the price of the Masterclass...
 

Singslinger

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Macspur said:
Singslinger said:
CnoEvil said:
Singslinger said:
Thanks Macspur. Looks like I'll soon join the ranks of proud Sugden owners! :dance: Might post a followup thread once I've installed the amp and lived with it for a few months. Cheers fellas! :clap:

I wish more people would listen to Sugden (if in budget) before making their decision.

Good job

Cno

I agree. I tried both the A 21 and Masterclass with the Spendors and found both to be amazingly good - beautifully rich sound with plenty of detail. Seems to me that Sugden is one of high-end hifi's best kept secrets - an unassuming company that makes simple-to-use, top quality products with minimum fuss.

Spot on!

Perhaps, funds permitting, you might like to try one of their CDP's... before I bought the EMC1UP I tried a Sugden PDT4-F and it was quite a close decision.

Mac

Mac - yes, you read my mind! When I auditioned the Masterclass with the Spendors the dealer used a Sugden CD player, which then got me thinking along those lines...:grin:
 

jerry klinger

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If it's any help, not long ago I had a demo of the Naim Nait XS vs Sugden A21SE. OK, the Sugden is about £2400 vs about £1500 for the Naim, but really it was in another league in terms of sound stage, detail, and musicality - the Naim amp seemed never to get to grips with the music (with the Sugden, Bob Dylan was in the room, not necessarily a good idea). This was using Proac floorstanders.

Made me change my mind about Naim amps - though as you can see, I still use various Naim sources.
 

Macspur

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Singslinger said:
Roby said:
+1 for the Sugden masterclass IA4 :dance: great amp (maybe you should give the AMS 35I a shot :twisted: )

It's certainly worth thinking about..but in Singapore (where I am) the AMS 35i is almost twice the price of the Masterclass...

As good as the AMS is and it most definitely is a superb amp, I'm not sure it's worth twice the price of the IA-4... then again it may be a different story if lucky enough to find one second hand, but

they don't come up too often.

Besides, the 35I may be a bit overkill for the Spendors.

Just enjoy the music and I look forward to the next part of your HiFi journey when the time comes for a new source.

Mac
 

CnoEvil

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Macspur said:
Singslinger said:
It's certainly worth thinking about..but in Singapore (where I am) the AMS 35i is almost twice the price of the Masterclass...

As good as the AMS is and it most definitely is a superb amp, I'm not sure it's worth twice the price of the IA-4... then again it may be a different story if lucky enough to find one second hand, but

Completely agree.

IMO It's probably worth about 30 - 33% more, unless the speakers need more current than the Sugden can provide...I don't know if Mac, Alex and Roby think that's a fair percentage, as it's very personal.

Like Roby, I got a great deal (and my Refs like all the current they can get)
 

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