Usually, I leave doing the reviewing to real audiophiles who change their stereo (or other) gear quite often.
My quandary has always been to get natural, convincing, engaging sound that would not make me dislike half of my cd collection only because the recording quality the music was not top-class. I am certainly a tube-wise listener who will simply not stand sharp-edginess and graininess in his home-made music ... but tube-amps do tend to be troublesome.
That said ... the Sugden did the job well at last. If you are an experienced listener and it's calm, near live-music experience you are after - provided room is not too big - this pure class A is probably all you need.

wide soundstage, warm and smooth sound, tonal clour, musicality

can be a bit sluggish but still very musical

This is an excellent machine. It has a beautifully smooth sound and a fantastic soundstage. Certainly at this price range it has some limitations. Perhaps it lacks a bit of detail at times, it can be a tad slow, and it runs hot! However, it paints the music in such a wide palette of colours and provides a beautiful soundstage which makes it wonderful to listen to. It ialso is extremely musical. Previous to owning the Sugden I had a Nad C370 which although punchy sounds incredibly bleached compared to the Sugden.

If you like your music to be painted with authority this is a player for you.

THe instruments are clear cut and vocals are somewhat spooky, it makes you feel there is actualy someone is actualy singing in your living room. Amp can also play all types of music injcluding hard rock, jazz, electronic ect..

The main weakness of this amp is you cant have that clear vocal and instruments on all music, I have found the sound weakens when many instruments are playing at the same time.

I have had this amp for just over a year now. I have read all the reviews in agree with them all, the outstanding feature of this amp is the vocals and strings it belts out, at times I would say better than going to a concert.

Very sweet treble, relaxed presentation. At least 30 mins warm up before it sings..

Run very hot.

I owned several SS integrated and pre-power before I switched to valve amp. I was especially particular in the mid and high reproduction, where most of the mid price SS gears failed to deliver what I want. One day in the showroom I heard the Sudgen driving a Spendor classic loudspeaker and I was very impressed with the sound - delicate, smooth and brilliant. I bought it home and compare to my valve pre-mono block which cost at least 4 times more. The A21a can do most what my valve amp does, only slightly lacking in authority and slightly thinner mid band. I was particularly impressed with the treble reproduction of A21a, which is the best I have come across, so sweet!

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Musical Fidelity
YBA DT Integre

SOUND

stability/reliability.
Runs really hot.

Everyone has mentioned how good this amp is, so I'm going to save my words describing how good this amp is. After some research I just felt like I had to get this amp and I did so by getting it 2nd hand from eBay (This amp doesn't seem to be on sale here in Australia). Gosh, was I amazed. The sound is smooth as silk and it's pretty much awesome in every respect of the sound. People tend to say this amp is not really flat sounded but no matter what, it sounds great after all - with all types of music.

So why did I decide to leave a comment here?
I thought I had to warn people about the amp's stability.

There is a person down below who mentions about their reliability problems.
I didn't want to believe him but I have to admit that I agree with him now.

When this amp arrived it had already broken its knobs at the front panel.
That was something I can understand, since it wasn't well-boxed.

But now, after using it for a year, it is showing some problem.
I have to say that they are in fact amplifiers strictly for music listening.
These days, after turning it on for a while, it's failing to properly output
the sound to the speakers, as the sound sort of jiggles, fading in and out rapidly.
I think the problem was that I left it on for a long time every now and then,
and I suspect that its circuits have been damaged, may be due to extreme heat.
There was no problem with ventilation so I don't think I did something seriously wrong. I connect my amps to the computer and leave it on for hours every single day.

Don't get me wrong, I love this jewel of an amplifier, as can be seen with my ratings on it. But people, please be careful on its maintenance. People like me who like to turn them on most of the time should especially be aware of this. I am wondering if I should upgrade it after a few months when I have some budget saved. I don't think there are many amps out there which can match its sound qualities at this price point so I'm a bit hesitant though. But if I have to worry about it being turned on, I don't think it's such a great situation. Even though it is better than having to listen to crude sounding amps. I guess I'll probably change it if a similar problem occurs within a relatively short time period.

I won't be so definitive on their stability problems since there seem to be people who enjoy this amp for a long time. But just be warned that it can happen, and be careful with the maintenance.

Oh, I have to also mention that they do sound better after being turned on for 30 minutes~2 hours or so. No doubts on its sound quality.

Sweet, Valve like sound - without the annoyance of valve amps.

Runs absurdly hot - if you have children - dangerously so.

This was the holy grail for me when I bought it - the component that I was gonna build my system around for years to come. The one "sticker". But as always in the case in hi-fi, there are no stickers due to the peril's of upgraditis! Today I put this amp up for sale on ebay - not because I don't love it - I do. But because I got a Benchmark Dac1 2 weeks ago what kind of makes the Sugden redundant - the Benchmark has a volume control meaning a straight power amp can only improve the system. A testement to the quality of the Sugden though is the fact i'm searching for a used power amp version of the a21a - the a21p! Onto the a21. It's strength lies in the coluration it adds to the sound - it's lovely, sweet, musical, valve like, analogue like, whatever you want to call it. It's too sweet for words, takes away all the harshness without losing the detail. I'm really hoping I don't regret selling this. Worried about the low wattage? - don't be, Mr Sugden himself says this amp loves to be pushed - the more inefficent the speakers the better. I use it driving Dynaudio 52. It doesn't struggle at all. If you like music to sound sweet and layered - this is the amp for you. There isn't an amp to match it in the same price point IMO - though Unison, Copland and Primare all come close.

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Amazing integrated amp. Musical and involving. A true gem. No need to fuss with bunches of wires and cords or tubes.

Runs extremely hot. Bass could be "tighter". Top and bottom metal plates are a bit thin.

I got this integrated amp with phono stage because I wanted to downsize from seperates and make things simpler and convenient but still have good sound quality. I came across the Sugden name on the "Class A amplifier" website. I have read the British hi-fi press for quite awhile, but never saw it reviewed in the issues I have. After discovering the company and the product, I learned that the Sugden was the first commercially produced "pure class A" amp made.... back in the late 60's. The A21 has been in production for many years. Over the years it has become a "classic", but is less known here in the US. The amplifier is hand built in England. To my knowledge it is the only pure class A integrated amplifier available. Its rise in price over the last few years coupled with the lower dollar means one will run you around two grand now, depending on whether you get the phono stage. Parts quality is good with an alps volume pot and toroidal power supply. Each power channel is mounted seperately next to its heat sink. I like the layout of this amp. Build quality is stocky enough, but no tank metal. When listening to the A21 amp I don't really sit there and disect the sound because, on the whole, this amp is very musical. It is simply very enjoyable to listen to. The musical performance is presented in a convincing manner. But this is a review so I guess some disecting of the sound is needed. Timbre of instruments is natural, each instrument sounds like it should (my reference is lots of live performances of all kinds of music). Treble is neither bright nor dull. The midrange is excellent with good dynamics-in this respect it comes close to a good tube amp. The soundstage is done well, being neither "closed in" nor "pinpoint" with good depth. Detail is there but not obviously so. The bass is not extremely "tight" but not out of control either. It probably would not be a good match for speakers that need alot of bass control. Nor for tough 4 ohm loads, as it puts out less than 3 amps of current. I use it with small easy to drive monitors of moderate efficiency and it is a perfect match. Though it lets me enjoy my rock music collection, the A21 really shines with classical music and also jazz. Violins are smooth, not harsh. Piano has proper harmonics. Trumpet is not thin and irritating, and sax sounds dynamic and full. Vocals are beautiful. Some equate this with "warm", so be it. I think real music does have an enjoyable warmth to it. Usually a bit of "warmth" is really more "accurate" than "neutral" just so long as it's not boring. Lifelike might be a way to describe it. The A21 communicates the music in a way that makes me want to listen and listen long. It is very well balanced overall and its sound suprised me given its modest 25 watts. The phono section is quiet with similar strengths as the line stage. It worked well with my Rega P3 turntable and Corus black moving magnet cartridge. If phono is a big priority, you might want to get an expensive outboard unit. The Mono switch is good to have for my older jazz recordings. It does need its own space to breath as it runs about as hot as a toaster. The heat sink is hotter than a Pass labs Aleph, which makes the Sugden the hottest solid state amp I have ever used. It is easily the best integrated amp I have heard. Keep in mind this review is only my feeling and the Sugden may or may not suit your needs. The Sugden A21 has a good blend of qualities that is rare and hard to describe. To sum up I'd say it's really musical and involving, and runs really hot. It is not hard to understand why it is a classic that has stood the test of time. I rate it 5 stars for performance and 4 for value due to its current $2000 price tag.

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Conrad Johnson MV55 Pass Labs Aleph

- Wonderful amplifier I know woderful is not the most audiophile word to describe an amp, but describing the A21 as cristal clear, great or impressive would not be as accurate or true. The A21 is simply a wonderful amplifier. (This is supposed to be a compliment, by the way)

- System matching is CRITICAL - It certainly looks terrible from a design point of view.

This is just a short follow up to a previous review. As most of you out there that are allways thinking of upgrading and having a better system that takes you close to the real thing, I started my quest in order to upgrade my Sugden A21a. What was initially going to be an easy and quite straight forward task ended up being a quite tiring and long journey,,, The only reason being how good the small A21 is. What it does right, it does it very well. Of course I listened to better things out there. But were the small improvements really worth the big difference in asking price? I kept looking and looking, and I finally ended up upgrading to a pair of Jadis JA30 class A EL34/KT88 monoblocks. This was the natural upgrade path to the A21. The JA30s are in a way a blown up A21, even if the philosophy and technology behind them , as well as many aspects of their musical reproduction are very different. So, I guess, the question you are probably asking yourself is: should I buy them? : If this is your max budget and your system is right for them - ABSOLUTELY Just make sure you will partner them with the right loudspeakers, and use a cd player or analogue source that will work in a similar direction to the rest of the system. As for loudspeakers I can think about to mate the A21: (in no particular order) Proac One Sc, Living Voice Auditorium/ Avatar and the small Ref 3A DaCappo were nice matches with the A21. Choice is yours depending on room size and budget. The question of the million: would I buy them again? Maybe. I would be very tempted to go for the Croft Transvalve integrated (a bit more expensive). It is a cracking amplifier, and I would probably be tempted to overspend an extra 50 per cent on it because it is one of the hifi bargains of the decade. It is trully comparable to amplifiers costing many times its asking price.(3x) So is the Sugden, although to a lesser degree. (2x) Overall, for what it costs and what it offers, I can not do other thing that rate the A21 other than 5 stars. It is a wonderfull piece of equipment, and it will do wonderfull things in the right system. It is certainly the best amplifier in its price range, at least that I am aware of.

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- Croft Transvalve integrated - Graaf OTL amps - Audio Research VSi55 - Gamut D200 -

resonable price musicality & sweet vocal

look like the oldfashion & no remote control lowpower that need for speaker&room matching hotter than other int.amp.that I used

I owned this amplifier for 10 month matching with Proac Tab.Ref.8Sig.in a smallroom. say that "it sweet warmth & musicality" good fof music-lover like me.I love this amp.

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- sound

- reliability - gives off a lot of heat

I have been a fan of small integrated amplifiers ever since I became an Audiophile. With the Sugden A-21, I believe was the holy grail of Class A amps. Once you hear how much “music” comes out of this little box. Some people may shy away because of the low power rating, and I was told to be careful driving 4 ohm speakers – if you need louder fine, but the volume bellies it’s power rating, I would go so far as to say that it sounds like it is delivering twice it’s rating. Detailed yet controlled is how I describe the sound. You have to like the sheer simplicity of this amp – just one volume control, no bass, no treble knobs – as it should be. You want to listen to music, not coloration! Class A amps do run hot, adequate ventilation should be provided, the Sugden is no exception. Before listening, the amp should warm up for at least 30 minutes or it will should harsh. Now, apart from the gorgeous sound, I have to say that these are not very reliable products. I have owned 3 A-21 in the last 12 years – all spend too much time in the shop. The technicians told me it’s because they run in Class A but I think that they may be more to it than that… The lack reliability of this product overshadows it's sound.