Sutherland Club House

AnthonyI said:
When I got the "itch", it was more so looking to move up the Sutherland ladder from the Insight, and after a very long conversation with one of Upscales reps, we landed on the Manley. It was a 20/20 v Chinook debate, at the time the price points were only a couple $100 apart, the Manley being a little more. This was also a time when I was enjoying trying different things for myself, so the idea of taking a little leap of faith with something new was fun................it worked out, 0 regrets ;)

I liked the idea of the tubes, I liked the amount of flexibility in the Manley, at a time when carts were coming and going at a clip, it was appealing to be able to handle just about anything. That said, I still consider the Insight the sweet spot if you have the budget for it and are looking for a rock solid, end game piece of gear that isn't cheap, but won't push you into the stratosphere price wise.

There are only 2 pieces of gear I truly miss, the Insight and the UD.
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The chinook is exactly what got my brain heading down this path 🙂

How’s it been maintenance wise? I have such a love/hate relationship with tubes sometimes.
 
displayname said:
The chinook is exactly what got my brain heading down this path 🙂

How’s it been maintenance wise? I have such a love/hate relationship with tubes sometimes.
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I'll chime in with my two cents, since I have a Chinook and @AnthonyI's old Insight...

I have the Insight in the 2nd system, and the Chinook in the primary. The Chinook is probably my last phonostage. It's had zero issues (bought used a couple years ago) and still running the original tubes.

Gives a very organic, meat on the bones, blood and guts sound. Never found a kind of music or mastering it didnt play well with. It's not lean/overly clean, and also not overly warm/round/tubby either. Soundstage is as wide as my room will allow. Dynamics are snappy.

The only drawback is the inherent tube noise/hiss, which is only noticeable when you are close to the speaker (mine are high efficient with low power amp - which exacerbates things a bit) and the pressing is quiet.

If I ever did move on, it would be to explore transimpedance options from Sutherland.
 
I've chronicled my experience selling the Sutherland Duo and replacing it with an Aesthetix Rhea Signature here before. I wouldn't have done it but my audio friend Carl, of Apex Audio of Denver, is such an evil bastard and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. The Sutherland sound is really, really good for the price and the unit is pretty much bulletproof for life. I could happily go back to the Duos and not feel like I'm missing too much. The Little Loco intrigues me but Carl is still dragging his heels on getting his up and running. Yes, the Rhea outguns the Duo but not enough to make you want to throw rocks at the Duo after listening to the Rhea. It's convenience is a huge factor for me with the remote controlling impedance load, gain, input, display and other things all doable while in your listening chair. Tubes are tubes and having a manufacturer like Aesthetix or Manley that sells tubes of known quality at less than exorbitant prices is reassuring. Buying tubes, even from a shop like Uncle Kevin's, can be an expensive crap shoot.
 
OMC said:
I've chronicled my experience selling the Sutherland Duo and replacing it with an Aesthetix Rhea Signature here before. I wouldn't have done it but my audio friend Carl, of Apex Audio of Denver, is such an evil bastard and he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. The Sutherland sound is really, really good for the price and the unit is pretty much bulletproof for life. I could happily go back to the Duos and not feel like I'm missing too much. The Little Loco intrigues me but Carl is still dragging his heels on getting his up and running. Yes, the Rhea outguns the Duo but not enough to make you want to throw rocks at the Duo after listening to the Rhea. It's convenience is a huge factor for me with the remote controlling impedance load, gain, input, display and other things all doable while in your listening chair. Tubes are tubes and having a manufacturer like Aesthetix or Manley that sells tubes of known quality at less than exorbitant prices is reassuring. Buying tubes, even from a shop like Uncle Kevin's, can be an expensive crap shoot.
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I had not seen this before. That looks quite serious! At the price, I'd expect to to beat out the duo and a range of other things. Super cool to discover new things though!
 
I moved from the Sutherland Insight to the Bryston BP-1.5, a model no longer manufactured. The BP-2 is the current equivalent. I had long wondered if Bryston could make a phonostage as good as their amplifiers and preamps. The answer was “yes”!

I was originally planning to move from the Insight to the Little Loco, but the BP-1.5 derailed those plans. I was so satisfied with the sound that I bought two (that’s not how it really went down, but I do have two now). I have one on both of the setups and I’m loving what I am hearing.
 
displayname said:
The chinook is exactly what got my brain heading down this path 🙂

How’s it been maintenance wise? I have such a love/hate relationship with tubes sometimes.
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It's been rock solid, I'll echo @Splunders comments, minus the hiss, I've had none, everything is dead silent. I replaced my gains because I wanted to, not because I had to. Not that there aren't other great products, but I'll never replace the Chinook.
 
spydrwebb44 said:
No forgiveness necessary, and thank you. Was trying to occupy the least amount of space in the signature field.

I have the following kit:
(Pre) Benchmark HPA-4
(DAC) Benchmark DAC3 B
(Amp) Benchmark AHB2 Monoblocks
(Phono Pre) Sutherland 20/20 with LPS
(TT) VPI Classic 3
(Cart) Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC ⭐ low output

Recently added Wiim Pro Plus I received for Christmas, until I can acquire a Made in USA equivalent. Incorporated that last night and successfully have an audible digital signal. 👍

Only, I love listening to records more and have been without them for awhile as I've attempted to destroy the "ground loop" issue within my VPI... so I'm anxious to get back to vinyl.

Cleaning implies not only physically but in this case was an attempt to manage the web of cords/cables. Albeit overdue and absolutely necessary, I've created a bigger problem. 😔
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Did you buy the 20/20 with the LPS or did you upgrade? If you upgraded, have you tried swapping in the old power supplies?

Just a thought after you posted a picture of your system in another thread.
 
My dealer friend Carl has finally gotten around to plugging into the Little Loco with the new Rega Naia sporting a Rega Aphelion cart. The Aphelion is far from an ideal match with the Little Loco as it has a 10ohm output whereas the Loco prefers circa 1ohm or less input. It doesn't sound like much difference but it's all about the load matching. Anyway, Carl is so far completely floored by what he is hearing with the setup, all in a good way. He'll be installing the Mutech Hayabusa cartridge soon which is supposed to be a match made in heaven with the Little Loco and I can't wait to hear this combo. I was busy today so couldn't hear the Aphelion/Little Loco combo but to know Carl's first audition was so positive is exciting. He's not into hyperbole which is kind of weird for a high end audio dealer but he's more into the good taste is timeless viewpoint than what is hip and hot. He knows good sound having been a purveyor of high end gear for decades and he's not into BS. Amp is the Accuphase E800 and speakers are Rockport Avior IIs. Good stuff.
 
OMC said:
My dealer friend Carl has finally gotten around to plugging into the Little Loco with the new Rega Naia sporting a Rega Aphelion cart. The Aphelion is far from an ideal match with the Little Loco as it has a 10ohm output whereas the Loco prefers circa 1ohm or less input. It doesn't sound like much difference but it's all about the load matching. Anyway, Carl is so far completely floored by what he is hearing with the setup, all in a good way. He'll be installing the Mutech Hayabusa cartridge soon which is supposed to be a match made in heaven with the Little Loco and I can't wait to hear this combo. I was busy today so couldn't hear the Aphelion/Little Loco combo but to know Carl's first audition was so positive is exciting. He's not into hyperbole which is kind of weird for a high end audio dealer but he's more into the good taste is timeless viewpoint than what is hip and hot. He knows good sound having been a purveyor of high end gear for decades and he's not into BS. Amp is the Accuphase E800 and speakers are Rockport Avior IIs. Good stuff.
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In an email exchange a while back, Ron Sutherland remarked how much he enjoyed the Hana EL with his Phono Loco. At 30 ohms, the EL is far less ideal than your Aphelion but still proved to be a good match for Sutherland’s TZ implementation.
 
Angsty said:
In an email exchange a while back, Ron Sutherland remarked how much he enjoyed the Hana EL with his Phono Loco. At 30 ohms, the EL is far less ideal than your Aphelion but still proved to be a good match for Sutherland’s TZ implementation.
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Yes the Little Loco is quite accommodating with higher loads such as my Ruby Z with 38ohms resistance and capable of awesome sound in that scenario. But why settle for pretty darn good when you can have damn near perfection with better load matching? Like all Sutherland offerings you get what you pay for at really good price points with great sound to be expected from each model. 👍
 
The Little Loco has a new big brother in the pipeline, the Loco Duo which replaces the original Loco. The Little has been so successful Ron has taken the design to a higher level and then installed it in two cases. Several interesting design features.
Also just heard that black faceplates will be available for most models very soon.
 
OMC said:
The Little Loco has a new big brother in the pipeline, the Loco Duo which replaces the original Loco. The Little has been so successful Ron has taken the design to a higher level and then installed it in two cases. Several interesting design features.
Also just heard that black faceplates will be available for most models very soon.
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Dos Loco!
 
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