Sugden Masterclass HA-4 Headphone Amplifier - Anyone heard it?

If you look at this picture, i wonder why it should cost 1400 pounds...

Spanjaard Muziekhandel

Take a look at my fully modded headphone amp and you know what master class means or high end. I don't see anything high end in there! certainly not claiming 1400 pounds, wich is about 1600 euro's/!

A cheaper basic amp modded with high quality components can easally beat a so called overpriced amp.

Been there done that.

All that makes a headphone amp sound good is high quality components, not nice talk or shiney cases.

I think there is a reason why they are not that popular, certainly for that price...that is serious money wich you can get real high end amps with balanced output for!

All i see is a cheap pot, probably alps blue or black, wich is quite nice but not top notch...2 mosfets per channel, nothing really special in there...

This is by the way just my honest opinion...if you like it, buy it by all means...But i think you can do better for 1600 euro's.

High price doesn't always equal high end sound.

It looks much the same internally as its more expensive predecessor.

I think the headmaster was cheaper...and also not very popular either...Most reported nothing special for the money...

have you heard my amp? At least i know that i use high end materials in there, i don't see any in that other headphone amp...and yes, i heard alot of others, wich mine beats easally...also very expensive ones.

I've done alot of modding and i know what makes a good amp better, i don't see any of that in there! If you really wanna make it special, you'd still have to mod it, costing even more serious money!

For 1600 euro's you can do alot, buy a cheaper one, mod the hell out of it and be amazed at how much better they sound then highly priced standard headphone amps!

as i said, there is probably a reason why these ain't popular, too much money for common sound.

As a general rule, i think every standard amp doesn't sound good untill it has been modded right.

Want proof, then read about mods for the amps and how much better they get, also goes for cdplayers!

For commercial gear an Alps RK27 is actually pretty nice.

I don't know about paying 1400 pounds for it, but the case looks to be good quality, good transformer, clean dual-regulated PSU design, opamp + MOSFET pair design looks decent. It looks like it should be a nice quality amp. Perhaps not at that price, but can't say that the build quality and design are bad.

I had an alps in my standard amp, until i went with a high end pot, i knew how mediocre they were! The alps is nice since you can bypass the pod with high quality resistors, lifting the qaulity of sound considderably, so much for the quality of an alps...as i said, been there, done that! I see nothing special in there that warrants a 1600 euro price! Not even balanced out for headphones, wich is available for 1600 euro's if you shop well.

As i said, if you like it buy it, but don't complain if there is a better one for much less!

For your info, i have seen commercial amps with stepped pots, now that is much nicer for a basic, standard amp, alps is pretty cheap and standard, sorry. Nothing high quality, very mudded sound compared to high end pots or if you bypass the pot.

There are no masterclass components in there! very standard and at best, very mediocre...

Even very high end amps have 10 cent components in there...and start to sound good when replaced with high end components...try a couple of euro's resistor and be amazed...companies want to maximize profit, not sound for the money...that's what i learned in over 25 years of listening, owning and modding.

You're asking if this amp is worth 1600 euro's! I am not new here...If you really want to know how it sounds, you can go to the store and have a listen, you don't need us for that!...you want to know if it's WORTH the money, just like anybody else...

I know mine is, and much more. nuff said.

Ask for yourself why real knowledgable people buy other stuff for 1600 euro's.

The right procedure would be to specify wich headphone to use and then ask if this headphone amp might be right for you, since alot of headphones like the 600/650/hd800 like tube amps better!

If these questions are answered, then you could ask about the sound and IF you could like it.

Good luck with it.

Really, no pun intended! 1600 euro's is serious money and it would be a shame if you end up with the wrong amp for your headphone...Or you could get much more for the money...all i say is, read the forums and use the combined knowledge around here...

Not necessarrily mine...LOL...

Truth is, sugden headphone amps never been popular on head-fi...