[googleborg]

What bugs me is the descriptions, the volume control looks like an alps blue, they cost about £8 per unit in singles (much less in bulk) and are found even in entry level NADs, "Gold plated circuit boards silver soldered" micron gold plating is cheap and silver solder is too, isn't silver only there to replace the lead which is now banned?
 
Thing is the amp is made in yorkshire, living in the UK ain't cheap (i've seen chinese mocking western made amps on forums because they don't have enough components inside etc, easy for them to say that aye?) so they will have to charge somewhat to even contemplate building these things in the first place, otherwise you might as well be a cleaner and make more money than you would commercially building amps, and then nobody has the amplifiers, speakers, or whatever, and suddenly you can only buy things from china.
 

 

[regal]

 
Quote:

What bugs me is the descriptions, the volume control looks like an alps blue, they cost about £8 per unit in singles (much less in bulk) and are found even in entry level NADs, "Gold plated circuit boards silver soldered" micron gold plating is cheap and silver solder is too, isn't silver only there to replace the lead which is now banned?
 
Thing is the amp is made in yorkshire, living in the UK ain't cheap (i've seen chinese mocking western made amps on forums because they don't have enough components inside etc, easy for them to say that aye?) so they will have to charge somewhat to even contemplate building these things in the first place, otherwise you might as well be a cleaner and make more money than you would commercially building amps, and then nobody has the amplifiers, speakers, or whatever, and suddenly you can only buy things from china.
 

You pay for the design.  If this thing is class A Mofset with Zero NFB and no coupling caps you aren't going to find anything else like it.
 
 
Can anyone confirm that it is DC coupled to the headphones (ie no coupling caps) ?

 

[AppleheadMay]

I just saw some guy claiming this amp is a Tim de Paravinci design. BS?

 

[5Kurt]

I have auditioned Sugden HA-4 with my Grado GS1000i. The result was very good.
 
I liked the combination. Very warm and detailed sound. Also very good with HiRez 24bit music.
 
It is much better than Graham Slee SRGII + PSU1 + Grado GS1000i combo I own. Does it worth nearly 3x price compared with my Graham Slee? Probably yes.
 
I'll make a second audition soon. Let you know then..

 

[treebug]

I used this amp with my HD800's and the results were superb. Warmed up the sound of the Senn's slightly. Vocals sounded excellent with it. It's also built like a tank.

 

[MarkyMark]

Interesting comments.

Ultimately, I didn't find my HA4 example (something around S/N 120) anything special using HD800 compared to the Benchmark DAC1's internal headamp and Lehmann BCL (I noticed bass was a bit lightweight). It sounded much happier with the GS1000i but bright (but I blame the headphones for that, not the amp as it was a common trait across several amps).

I sold my HA4. After buying the BCL to accompany my DAC1 and Headmaster, I'd sworn off future amp purchases but would be interested in listening to the HDVD800 once the teething troubles are fixed.

 

[MarkyMark]

PS Should mention I heard later examples of HA4 sounded better than the early ones.

 

[treebug]

Wasn't impressed with the HDVD800 with my HD800's at all. Was glad I had a chance to audition it before handing over my hard-earned. My Sugden sounded so much better, in particular with vocals.

 

[maro73]

Hello
To sum up , is the Sugden HA4 a good amp for the Sennheiser HD800 ?
Cheers

 

[sskom]

Using HA-4 a month. It sounds great with Audeze LCD-XC! But demands appropriate DAC/preamp. In my case such DAC is OPPO HA-1. I got sound that stopped me wanting more. Of course I continue to test everything not to lose a chance get better, but now music became MUSIC and every test confirm the superiority of the system. Highly recommend. No complain. OPPO HA-1 as headamp is just regular without Sugden.

 

[tamleo]

It is about $2000 amp but its manufacturer cannot post the power ratings? I cannot find its power specs anywhere. Can anyone here please give me that info? Tks

 

[alvin sawdust]

It is about $2000 amp but its manufacturer cannot post the power ratings? I cannot find its power specs anywhere. Can anyone here please give me that info? Tks

Been wondering this myself. Found this snippet in The Ear:
Sugden Masterclass HA4
Once Patrick ‘Laughing Boy’ Miller had had his grumbles about the state of the industry he mentioned the new HA4 headphone amplifier (£1,395). Yorkshire’s master class A amplification maker Sugden has built the HA4 around a voltage current converter circuit, a system whereby the signal avoids passing through volume control. It offers 3.5 Watts and will drive headphones with impedances from four to 600 Ohms.

Presume 3.5w is at 4 ohms.