Sugden LA-4 review....the missing link

The last several months I’ve plowed through several preamps on a quest.  The Manley 300B with Taketsuki tubes was very decent for a few years.  Then came the deHavilland Mercury 3 which stock was very good, but then with Vcap upgrades got way better.  Substantial bass control came into play with improvements in all parameters.  Thank you Kara (the brilliant builder).

Behind all of this was trying to direct the ATC 40 actives in the right direction.  The ATC SCA preamp was a real surprise as finally something was as fast as the ATCs.  No lag.  Enter the Sugden.  Really fast, class A strike force and improvement over the ATC preamp for sound staging.

The Sugden seems the whole package now with the speed, timbre, sound staging and naturalness of acoustic instruments and vocals without harshness or analytical bent.  I’ve been given permission to leave my beloved tube world.

System:  Naim Core, Sugden pre, Mystique 3 DAC, Valhalla 2 dig., ATC 40 actives with Gaia footers.  Wire World Silver Eclipse 8 ICs pre>> ATC 40s, GIK diffusers, Decware ZLC power conditioner, Quadraspire Reference X stand, PPT The Gate, Patrick Cullen PCs, Decware ICs, Magic Bricks.  Oyaide SWO XXX ULTIMO wall outlet.