Sugden Head Master is home...

[Jerome W]

I picked this little thing used of course at 400 euros. Discontinued by Sugden and replaced by the much more expensive Master Class HA-4, the Sugden Head Master headphone amp and preamplifier was about 1100 euros in France when bought new some years ago. It got excellent reviews at the time and Sugden has a strong reputation for very good sound and well made products at still a reasonable price.
Listening to it with the Sennheiser HD800.
I love my Schiit Audio Valhalla at the office with the Senn HD650 but find it too thin sounding and a bit muddy in the bass with the 800.
More to come on the sound quality : I need some time to characterize it.


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[Jerome W]

Some feedback after a a few recordings listened with the Sugden Head Master and the Sennheiser HD800's.
I did not make A/B comparisons with my the best headphone amp in the house, the Manley 300B Neo Classic preamp, because the latter is 2 floors above the Head Master and does not use the same dac. So here are just general impressions when I compare both. Not A/B listening.
The Head Master may lack some of the naturalness of the 300B's but not by a large margin.
The music is very alive, with a stunning "image". Extremely transparent and detailed. And very fast. Those details are sometimes a bit appealing to themselves, but most of the time, they give a sense of realism of the music. This is more due to the nature of the 800's than the amp itself of course. On some recordings, I have to admit that I prefer clearly the warmer and less transparent 650's. But for great recordings, the 800's transparency makes wonders.
Amazingly, the sound seems to be more vivid, more alive, more exciting than with the 300B's which is very extraverted. Surprising to say the least.
The bass is probably where the Sugden shines the best on the 800's. It is very clean and extended, while never being overpresent or weighty.
Overall, the sound is very neutral from extreme bass to extreme treble without any bump in the frequency spectrum. And the timbres sound right. Probably not as rich as the Manley, but a bit more controlled and faithfull. This set up has a "monitor" type of sound, but that does not sound boring at all. I am enjoying it very much.
Although I have to admit that the voices are better with the 300B, reminding me more the fabulous and unmatched voices of my Harbeth speakers. The Harbeth are better on voices than all the amps I tried with the HD800. Is that the sign that I still did not find the right amp for them or that the Harbeths are just unmatched when it comes to mids naturalness and transparency ? I do not know. I should give a try to the Senn amp.
I wanted to try the HDV600 Sennheiser dedicated amplifier, but 1400 euros for it is a too big investment for my very occasional headphone listening. But if it is wonderful, personal listening may become more important and would justify the investment.

Grabbing this used class A hand made Sugden headphone amp used at 400 euros is for this time a very good investment. And I will surely enjoy it for some time before taking the time to listen to the Senn amp. If you are looking to an affordable headphone amp, able to drive correctly even the most difficult cans, and come across a used Sugden Head Master, I would recommend strongly to give it a try. It does a great job and sounds really good. It won't let you fall asleep while you listen !

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[Antonmb]

Jerome, looks like a very nice piece of kit, congratulations. I've always liked the clean industrial design of Sugden equipment.

[mulveling]

I owned one for a few years; as you describe it is a competent amp that can be quite enjoyable. Like you I also had a much better tube amp, but the Sugden was very nice for not putting hours on those tubes while still enjoying good quality.

Found it to be a particularly enjoyable match with the Audio Technica ATH-L3000 "Leatherheads", and also surprisingly good with the Sony Qualia 010 (which is sort of like a super-duper HD800; the fastest and most resolving dynamic design I've ever heard by far). I heard the HD800 briefly, and like the 010, it's just not designed to give you big lush vocals (that's more up the L3000's alley) -- no headphone amp can fill that in fully without straying WAY far from neutral. I've heard some Harbeths too. Both are very enjoyable, but NO amp can make the HD800 sound like a Harbeth, and vice-versa

Warning: some of these amps had a internal flaw; open it up and look for a piece of electrical tape holding a piece of metal (a shield) wrapped around a large-ish square box...its needs better securing. On mine, this tape came off in transit, and the metal piece unwrapped and caused a short that would repeatedly blow the PS fuse. Used to have a pic of this; don't know where it's gone now.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by mulveling

I owned one for a few years; as you describe it is a competent amp that can be quite enjoyable. Like you I also had a much better tube amp, but the Sugden was very nice for not putting hours on those tubes while still enjoying good quality.

Found it to be a particularly enjoyable match with the Audio Technica ATH-L3000 "Leatherheads", and also surprisingly good with the Sony Qualia 010 (which is sort of like a super-duper HD800; the fastest and most resolving dynamic design I've ever heard by far). I heard the HD800 briefly, and like the 010, it's just not designed to give you big lush vocals (that's more up the L3000's alley) -- no headphone amp can fill that in fully without straying WAY far from neutral. I've heard some Harbeths too. Both are very enjoyable, but NO amp can make the HD800 sound like a Harbeth, and vice-versa

Warning: some of these amps had a internal flaw; open it up and look for a piece of electrical tape holding a piece of metal (a shield) wrapped around a large-ish square box...its needs better securing. On mine, this tape came off in transit, and the metal piece unwrapped and caused a short that would repeatedly blow the PS fuse. Used to have a pic of this; don't know where it's gone now.

Great post !

I agree that looking to find the same tone on the HD800's and on my Harbeths makes me look like a fool or at least a day dreamer.
The mids of the Harbeths are very very special.

I heard and read about this porential issue. My unit is fine. Thanks a lot !