Sugden Audio - Handmade Class "A" Analogue Amplifiers

We truly feel very priveleged to have the Sugden Audio Legend in the Vinyl Revival Family. In the vinyl analogue tradition Sugden Audio is truly a founder and icon of what has made analogue technology famous for it's natural and atmospheric sound that envelops the music listener in a three dimensional holographic experience. It is an extension of the analogue "Vinyl Revival" that continues to reintroduce us to what was engineered but for vaying circumstances not introduced to the wider music-loving audience. The fact that they have transcended several decades to be here to compliment the resurgence in the atmospheric sound of analogue and vinyl is a testament to their truth and depth of their passion and technology.

James Sugden, widely accredited with producing the world's first Class "A" amplifier under the name of Richard Allen, a most famous brand of English loudspeakers in the 1960's, went on to bring his own name to his amplifiers after 3 years of production for Richard Allen. Sugden were established in 1967 founded by James Edward Sugden who designed and manufactured the worlds first pure Class A solid state commercial amplifier. Since then they have been exporting their products to many countries around the world and winning prestigious awards.

The natural question here is what is a Class "A" amplifier? In simple terms a Class "A" amplifier has all output devices conducting at all times as against a Class A/B design which switches the conducting devices on and off as required. For the music listener this results in the Class "A" amplifier being available to reproduce the dynamics and nuances of the music more readily resulting in a more realistic musical performance.

This is only the beginning of the Sugden story. They have been creating Sugden amplifiers in the same Yorkshire factory for a long time, and their operation is reportedly so self sufficient that they still manufacture their own casework and solder their own circuit boards. In other words, they are hand made. Sugden employees are well described as craftsmen and craftswomen.

The Sugden A21 was the first commercially produced Pure Class "A" solid state amplifier launched in 1967 and is still offered today. The A21 has changed a lot over the last 50 years due to the improvement of electronic components but the simplicity of the Class "A" circuit has remained.

Sugden prides itself on the fact that even today Sugden customers can still call and speak directly with he owners. Sugden owners also understand that each product that Sugden make is handmade and when you walk into the Sugden factory the first thing you see is people building equipment in the assembly shop.

The Sugden range doesn't start and finish with the A21 Series. The Masterclass, Sapphire Series' and the most powerful Sugden Pure Class "A" amplifier, The Grande, provide superb audio solutions for whatever your ultimate amplification requirements are.

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