Others besides Kevin Deal have reviewed the Musical Fidelity A1 (new version) very favorably: Taron on the YT channel A British Audiophile. As far as I can see, he isn't selling the amp, just reviewing, He gave it an "outstanding" rating, which he does not do often. It apparently is toasty, despite being only 25W. The form factor is attractive.
Sugden Amps
Hello wise men,
I have used tubes with my Klipsch Heritage speakers, lately having problems and tired of tubes. I just need to put they away for a while so need a good SS integrated that will pair well with my speakers. Something not fatiguing and I can listen all day…what do you guys think of a Sugden integrated?..I just want to turn it on and it’s good all day everyday. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated…
‘thanks a lot..
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- 33 posts total
The benefit of Klipsch Heritage speakers, aside from nice sound, obviously, is the loudspeaker efficiency and the opportunity to experiment with confidence when it comes to lower power-rated amplification. If you aren’t going with a pure class-A amp (something about that "all-day, everyday" desire and the reality of significant heat generation from pure class-A makes me wonder if that is a good thing long-term), there are good hybrid options in Class A/ Class D. (NuPrime’s IDA-8 is Class A-Class D and has a low noise floor. Very compact. 100W.) The JBL SA750 has A/AB ("Class G") topology with a streamer, DAC and remote, 120W. |
That's precisely why I bought some Klipsch Forte 4s (to experiment). I'm having difficulty deciding between class-A SS amp and tubes. Heat isn't a problem as I would use (whichever) only in the winter. I've owned tubes but never had a first-class preamp (like my current BAT VK-33SE) to show off their potential. On the other hand, I've never owned a class-A SS amp but my BAT VK-255SE is so good (IMO) that a class-A SS may be redundant. Fortunately, there is no hurry so will keep deliberating until I receive some divine guidance/inspiration. |
At the risk of offending those gentle readers who do not prefer direct-to-consumer products, you might also consider the Schiit preamps and amps for your Klipsch Heritage speakers. The Freya+ (ss/buffer/tube-selectable and rollable) and the new Kara (ss) are balanced-output and the Schiit Gjallarhorn and Aegir "continuity" amps can be run in monoblock or stereo (more power with mono, obvs, and with the Aegir, balanced input is only with mono). U.S.-made, as with all Schiit products, if that is important, and power output would be adequate: 80WPC with Aegirs and 30 WPC with the Gjallarhorn, either greater than the Sugden, FWIW, and less expensive as well, all-in.
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@chenry Any opinion about sound quality regarding the Schiit gear? The Sugden is supposed to be musical as all get-out. Thanks. |
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