Stemfoort SF-200

[southall-1998_mk2]

Just a little bit curious about this amp. Anyone on here heard one? If yes, any good?

S.

[hifinutt]

heard them mentioned a few times , they often list under sugden on ebay . would not mind trying one myself sometime . would not be easy to resell methinks as not too well known as some are

from hi fi pig review

Stemfoort may not be a name that immediately trips off the tongue when speaking about amplifiers, but the companies heritage goes back to the mid eighties and they are owned by J.E.Sugden, who many will know for their Class A amplifiers. Lionel Payne takes a listen to their SF-200 Passive Line Amplifier costing £2135 for Hifi Pig.

I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of Stemfoort Audio before being asked to review this integrated amplifier. Stemfoort began life way back in 1985 in Holland and was a partnership between a recording engineer and a group of enthusiasts and audio designers. J.E.Sugden & Co. acquired the company in 1988 and, interestingly, the original founder still remains an active and valued technical director with Sugden and was the designer of the SF-200’s unique circuits.

https://hifipig.com/stemfoort-sf-200-passive-line-amplifier/

[graham67]

I think it is very similar under the hood to the sugden optima 200(?). I have an optima 80 and its a nice sounding amp, plenty of energy but a nice brit tone. If you can get it a good price, it would be worth trying.

[southall-1998_mk2]

What is ''brit'' tone?

S.

[hifinutt]

british tone as in tuned for british market perhaps

[southall-1998_mk2]

Is the British tone for amps/speakers supposed to be smooth or something?

S.

[walpurgis]

The idea of a 'British Sound' dates back to the seventies when Japanese gear was often described as being bright, which was nonsense.

[southall-1998_mk2]

The idea of a 'British Sound' dates back to the seventies when Japanese gear was often described as being bright, which was nonsense.


Sounds like bollocks to me, Geoff.

S.

[hifinutt]

You will find amps such as denon pma 250 tuned to British tone

[southall-1998_mk2]

You will find amps such as denon pma 250 and marantz 6006 tuned to British tone

Do you actually believe in this ''British tone'' nonsense?

S.

[hifinutt]

Not really ! We are all different

[Yomanze]

Do you actually believe in this ''British tone'' nonsense?

S.

Not really, however, there is a British “school” with the majority of gear being very minimal in nature. Less is more with British HiFi; more is more with American HiFi.