Sugden Optima Phono Amplifier
stefanla -- Thu, 05/14/2009 - 13:38
Has anyone heard of this Phono stage?
I'm into vinyl revival, and have had my old faithful Walker CJ-55 rewired with Van den Hul 502 and have also got a Benc Ace Low pick up installed in the Mission 774-arm. Now I am waiting for a new motor from Origin Live and also a somewhat heavier counter weight. The pick up/tonearm combination might seem a bit off, but it works fine and it manages the HiFi News test record tracks just fine except for the 18 dB torture track and the resonance frequency is 9 Hz..
But, then I am a bit lost. I have this Sugden Optima Phono Amplifier and it seems to work just fine but I am curious about how well it stands up to todays standard. I have trying to find some information about it but it seems impossible.
So, my question is, is there anyone here who has experience of it and who could give a comment?
The test is whether you listen to the music and find yourself either vaguely or definitely dissastified with what you're hearing or not. If you are then take your Sugden along to a audio shop demo'ing alternative models and compare. You'll be surprised.
I had a Bellari V129 (Stereophile Class B) phono amp and was VERY happy until it went wrong in an meltdown episode I prefer to forget! I sent it back and bought a cheap ($35) ART Deejay Pre II to fill in until the VP129 came back. To my amazement it was horses for courses. The Deejay was a bit dry comparitively but VERY quiet even at high levels, could be adjusted in play and thus rendered slightly better dynamics & detail than the VP129; which I eventually sold for twice what I paid for it and bought a DENON DL-160 cartridge with the money I made!
Sugden is a name which is HIGHLY respected: produces superb gear, and I doubt you'll find anything really better unless you spend more money than your whole set-up: I think the 774 gave the old ITTOK a run for it's money by the way, having demo'd one on a Logic DM-1.
I used the OL DC motor to replace the dead one on my Systemdek and am delighted: quieter, more dynamic and speed stable too. You should be pleased once you've installed it. Hope they've improved the instructions tho! Still, Mark is a VERY helpful guy and you can't ask for better support if you have problems.
Got the OL motor last friday and it didn't take long to install it.
Did it make a difference? Oh Yes
The noice and vibrations from the old motor is gone and now it's foot tapping good ;)
Can't give the Origin motor anything but my highest recommendations.
Amazing how nice the almost 30 year old combination of Walker and Mission can play.
Heard that my counter weight from Audioorigami is ready to be shipped, it's 76 g instead of 62.
So, can't really say that it is any urgency to replace the Sugden but it would still be nice to have some info about it.
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