The 20/20's treble performance was excellent as well, and struck me as being extraordinarily vivid, with detailed, tonally rich images, big dynamic swings, and crisp, precise timing.
First. Everyone wants the advantages of AC power line isolation offered by battery operation. The 20/20 is for the person who wants those advantages, but does not want to mess with batteries. The 20/20 comes as close as possible to offering an equivalence of battery isolation from AC line power.
Second. Two-Mono (definition: bumping it up from dual-mono) construction. The 20/20 is literally two identical mono phono preamplifiers. Each channel is on its own circuit board, has its own shielded compartment, power indicator, its own AC power supply and its own power cord. It is the ultimate in channel separation.
Gain settings: 40 dB 46 dB 52 dB 58 dB 64 dB
Cartridge Loading: 100 ohms 200 ohms 475 ohms 1k ohms 47k ohms
Size: 17” wide 2 1⁄4 “ high 12” deep -external power supply (each) 5” deep 1 1⁄2” high 2” wide
Weight: 11 lbs. net
Power Requirements: Power: 20 watts (10 watts per channel) Operating Voltage: 100 to 240 volts (universal, no adjustments)
The Sutherland 20/20 excelled in a lot of different ways, and in some ways, it was as good as any component I've heard. It surpassed its overachieving predecessor, Sutherland's classic PhD, with its larger, more powerful dynamic transients, and easily transcended Sutherland's Direct Line Stage in terms of transparency and resolution of detail. In many ways, the 20/20 managed to combine the best of both earlier products while avoiding the shortcomings of either.