KurtW
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2001
- Posts
- 971
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- 13
The other day I stopped by The Analog Room in San Jose just to see what was new, and I was surprised to see a Sugden HeadMaster sitting on the shelf next to a Grado RA-1. I was surprised for two reasons, one being he doesn’t carry much in the way of headphone stuff, only Grado in the past. The other reason was I had always heard that the Headmaster was a little on the bright side, and I know that Brian, who owns the shop, doesn’t care for bright sounding stuff. After all, he carries a lot of tube amps and turntables…I saw over a dozen different turntables there. The headmaster wasn’t hooked up, so I borrowed it for the evening.
Sugden is a British company that’s been making quality stuff for a long time. They have an integrated amp that’s been in production for over a decade. The HeadMaster is the first of a new series of compact components including an amp and cd player. The Headmaster is an all discreet solid state unit configured in Class A. It has three inputs, a tape out and a line out, so it can be used as a preamp. It’s a very attractive unit with a titanium color front panel and slightly darker steel gray top and bottom plates. It weighs 7.7 lbs, looks and feels very solid. The 5 pairs of RCA connectors are all high quality. The full size headphone jack is not a locking type and in fact doesn’t require a very high insertion force, making it easier for the headphone plug to be accidentally pulled out.
When I first plugged it in and started the tunes, the first thing I noticed was it wasn’t bright at all, just very neutral and transparent. The other thing that hit me is it was very spacious and airy. This seems to be the kind of presentation that comes with the best tube equipment but this is solid state! It also ran very cool, which surprised me as Class A circuits usually run a bit warm. This amp seemed like a real contender, so I rounded up all of the usual suspects for a comparison test. I still had my HeadRoom Maxed-out Home then, so it, the Corda and the ZOTL were all compared. By the way, the ZOTL has Sylvania NOS tubes in place of the stock tubes.
I used a wide variety of music, including symphonies, chamber music, opera, and lots of assorted jazz and rock. I mainly used the Linn Ikemi as a source and Sennheiser HD600 with the blue Clou for phones. No matter what was playing, the sonic signatures of the different amps were pretty consistent. All of the amps had excellent bass, tight and well extended. The Headmaster was the most spacious and airy sounding, making all of the other amps sound like they had a flattened soundstage, lacking depth. Amazingly, it was the Headmaster and the ZOTL that sounded the most alike. The Headmaster had more depth and seemed slightly faster and more detailed than the ZOTL. On the other hand, the ZOTL sounded a little richer, maybe a tad fuller in the mid bass.
The Maxed-out Home (with the crossfeed processor turned off) was less airy and much drier sounding than either the ZOTL or Headmaster. It also sounded slightly rolled off at the top, which it is being the older design. The latest HeadRoom designs don’t have this roll off. I didn’t have a MAX on hand but from what I recall when I compared my MOH to the new MAX during the Bay Area get together, the two units sounded quite close to each other, other than the top end that I mentioned. It was the Corda that sounded a bit bright in comparison to the other more expensive amps. It was the least airy and open sounding of the amps. Keep in mind though it is less than half the price of the other amps.
The one thing that the Headmaster lacks (as well as the ZOTL) is crossfeed. I use an external DIY crossfeed box so that’s not a big deal for me but it would have been nice to have it built in.
If I had to chose among these amps, including the MAX, it would come down to the Headmaster and the ZOTL. I like the sound of the ZOTL but I would have to say that the Headmaster is probably the better amp overall. I’ve decided I have to have both.
While writing this up I hooked up the HeadMaster to the tape outputs of a Rega Mira integrated amp and played some records on a Rega P3/Glider. I first played the new reissue of Mingus’ Blues & Roots. Recorded in 1959, this not only is great music but sounds great too, with excellent bass and very three dimensional. I didn’t hear a single pop or click in the whole record, and it cost $12 which I believe is cheaper than the CD version. Next I played some of the Complete Silent Way Sessions by Miles Davis. This is also an excellent sounding.
By the way, I’m told that Sugden is now making the Headmaster with a remote control. The problem with this is that they’re raising the price from $800 to $1000. There are a few of the non-remote units left so if anyone is interested in them at the lower price they should act fast.
I have some photos to post but it's late now so they'll have to wait.
Sugden is a British company that’s been making quality stuff for a long time. They have an integrated amp that’s been in production for over a decade. The HeadMaster is the first of a new series of compact components including an amp and cd player. The Headmaster is an all discreet solid state unit configured in Class A. It has three inputs, a tape out and a line out, so it can be used as a preamp. It’s a very attractive unit with a titanium color front panel and slightly darker steel gray top and bottom plates. It weighs 7.7 lbs, looks and feels very solid. The 5 pairs of RCA connectors are all high quality. The full size headphone jack is not a locking type and in fact doesn’t require a very high insertion force, making it easier for the headphone plug to be accidentally pulled out.
When I first plugged it in and started the tunes, the first thing I noticed was it wasn’t bright at all, just very neutral and transparent. The other thing that hit me is it was very spacious and airy. This seems to be the kind of presentation that comes with the best tube equipment but this is solid state! It also ran very cool, which surprised me as Class A circuits usually run a bit warm. This amp seemed like a real contender, so I rounded up all of the usual suspects for a comparison test. I still had my HeadRoom Maxed-out Home then, so it, the Corda and the ZOTL were all compared. By the way, the ZOTL has Sylvania NOS tubes in place of the stock tubes.
I used a wide variety of music, including symphonies, chamber music, opera, and lots of assorted jazz and rock. I mainly used the Linn Ikemi as a source and Sennheiser HD600 with the blue Clou for phones. No matter what was playing, the sonic signatures of the different amps were pretty consistent. All of the amps had excellent bass, tight and well extended. The Headmaster was the most spacious and airy sounding, making all of the other amps sound like they had a flattened soundstage, lacking depth. Amazingly, it was the Headmaster and the ZOTL that sounded the most alike. The Headmaster had more depth and seemed slightly faster and more detailed than the ZOTL. On the other hand, the ZOTL sounded a little richer, maybe a tad fuller in the mid bass.
The Maxed-out Home (with the crossfeed processor turned off) was less airy and much drier sounding than either the ZOTL or Headmaster. It also sounded slightly rolled off at the top, which it is being the older design. The latest HeadRoom designs don’t have this roll off. I didn’t have a MAX on hand but from what I recall when I compared my MOH to the new MAX during the Bay Area get together, the two units sounded quite close to each other, other than the top end that I mentioned. It was the Corda that sounded a bit bright in comparison to the other more expensive amps. It was the least airy and open sounding of the amps. Keep in mind though it is less than half the price of the other amps.
The one thing that the Headmaster lacks (as well as the ZOTL) is crossfeed. I use an external DIY crossfeed box so that’s not a big deal for me but it would have been nice to have it built in.
If I had to chose among these amps, including the MAX, it would come down to the Headmaster and the ZOTL. I like the sound of the ZOTL but I would have to say that the Headmaster is probably the better amp overall. I’ve decided I have to have both.
While writing this up I hooked up the HeadMaster to the tape outputs of a Rega Mira integrated amp and played some records on a Rega P3/Glider. I first played the new reissue of Mingus’ Blues & Roots. Recorded in 1959, this not only is great music but sounds great too, with excellent bass and very three dimensional. I didn’t hear a single pop or click in the whole record, and it cost $12 which I believe is cheaper than the CD version. Next I played some of the Complete Silent Way Sessions by Miles Davis. This is also an excellent sounding.
By the way, I’m told that Sugden is now making the Headmaster with a remote control. The problem with this is that they’re raising the price from $800 to $1000. There are a few of the non-remote units left so if anyone is interested in them at the lower price they should act fast.
I have some photos to post but it's late now so they'll have to wait.
