Why Vintage Sansui Amps are Superb

[BeatleFred]

Scroll down in this auction and read the seller's comments. Very interesting & informative to read. I can vouch for it- as I have an AU-717 in my collection of Sansui's and you'd have to pry it from my tight, cold dead hands and body before I'd ever part with it:)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3005974949&category=3280

[Gary Freed]

Originally posted by BeatleFred
Scroll down in this auction and read the seller's comments. Very interesting & informative to read. I can vouch for it- as I have an AU-717 in my collection of Sansui's and you'd have to pry it from my tight, cold dead hands and body before I'd ever part with it:)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3005974949&category=3280

That's a beauty!


I had a friend who owned a Sansui receiver back then and still remember how good it sounded. A definite standout!

What ever happened to Sansui?

[Ed Bishop]

I have an AU-719. Remarkable piece still, with extremely sensitive, subtle range and some ***-kickin' power. Use it for nighttime headphone listening with the Stax phones(though I admit not much anymore unless there's suddenly a question about the guitar on "Within You, Without You"--but that's another thread). The front of the AU-717 looks almost identical to mine, with the same controls and design. If it works, well worth owning, and versatile for what it is. Also reliable: very hassle-free.

ED:cool:

[BeatleFred]

Hello Gary & Ed:

Check out the site: www.sansui.us (in fact, photos of my system are in My Sansui section and there is a Message bd in Feedback section). Its a long story about what happened to them- but Isao, the person who hosts the site, posted some information. I plan on working with him in the future in order to make the site even bigger and better.

If you like vintage hi fi- then by all means visit: www.audiokarma.org

The AU-719 came out a year after the AU-717 along with its bigger brother, the AU-919.

In fact, the serial # in back tells you year/month made:

Example (my AU-717): 22801375

Its a January 1978 model.

3rd digit gives year, thus 8 for 197->8 and 4th & 5th digits give month, thus 01 for January.

Regards, B/F.

[JohnG]

I still have a Sansui turntable. The were always considered a great brand back in the 70's. Shame the name is never heard anymore.

[Tullman]

Originally posted by Gary Freed


That's a beauty!


I had a friend who owned a Sansui receiver back then and still remember how good it sounded. A definite standout!

What ever happened to Sansui?


My cousin has one of those recievers too. It sounded real nice. I'm pretty sure he still uses it. I also had a tuner from the seventies. It was real nice.

[BradOlson]

Sansui is still around. They do have a website but it is in Japanese. http://www.sansui-jpn.co.jp/

[floyd]

I use a Sansui 5000X reciever. I do like it a lot. I believe it came out about 1970. I couldnt find it on www.sansui.us though

[jkerr]

I've got a QRX-3000 reciever that I use in the office. It's quad, low power but it works great. Love the quad synth.

I also have the monster QRX-9001. A huge quad reciever. Needs a restoration tho. Got it while I was playing with quad before falling in love with tubes. Now its taking up space in storage. Not sure what I'll do with it.

[Paul C.]

I used to have a Sansui amp, which my dad passed on to me - it was a beauty. I also until fairly recently had a Sansui turntable - one of their top 1970s models, fully automatic, with separate motors for belt drive and auto tonearm. It was a great TT, even had facility for remote control (with cable). It had a couple of oddball characteristics - the tonearm geometry was a bit wierd, and there was no speed adjustment. Mine was running too fast for a long time, and I couldn't figure out a way to slow it down. In the end, I got my dad's VPI.

[stereo71]

Originally posted by BeatleFred
Hello Gary & Ed:

Check out the site: www.sansui.us (in fact, photos of my system are in My Sansui section and there is a Message bd in Feedback section). Its a long story about what happened to them- but Isao, the person who hosts the site, posted some information. I plan on working with him in the future in order to make the site even bigger and better.

If you like vintage hi fi- then by all means visit: www.audiokarma.org

The AU-719 came out a year after the AU-717 along with its bigger brother, the AU-919.

In fact, the serial # in back tells you year/month made:

Example (my AU-717): 22801375

Its a January 1978 model.

3rd digit gives year, thus 8 for 197->8 and 4th & 5th digits give month, thus 01 for January.

Regards, B/F.

Hi Fred:

Thanks for the link. As you well know, where Sansui
is concerned, there can be a dearth of good information
out there. Your efforts on the Sansui.us site are
well placed. Thanks, too, for the serial number key!
Now you've got me checking all my units for dates...
do you know how long (or what year ranges) they used
this system? Seems to make sense on most of mine.

--Roger

[BeatleFred]

That s/n dating system should work as far back as the late 60's, I 'd say- as it matches to my oldest Sansui piece which is a 3000A receiver from 1968.

ps- to the person who posted about his 5000X. I do believe some of these 5000 units (such as the 5000A) had a problematic board inside which there was a Product Recall on many years back.

pss- as to that Japanese site, I believe the situation has changed within the past 2 or 3 years so that whoever owns the name to the company no longer makes hi fi audio equipment- I think their market is just Vcr's and small things like that, sadly.

B/F.

[floyd]

Hello Fred, the 5000X I have works fine and does sound very good to me for what I have. I got it as a hand me down just last summer but in perfect condition well cared for with all manuals and specs. I got it from the original owner who said it was about a $500 unit in 1970 or so.
Are tubes for the old tube sansui's hard to find? There was a 1000 tube receiver on ebay recently without tubes around $200.

[jeff e.]

Originally posted by floyd
Hello Fred, the 5000X I have works fine and does sound very good to me for what I have. I got it as a hand me down just last summer but in perfect condition well cared for with all manuals and specs. I got it from the original owner who said it was about a $500 unit in 1970 or so.
Are tubes for the old tube sansui's hard to find? There was a 1000 tube receiver on ebay recently without tubes around $200.

I think the Sansui 1000 uses 7591 or 7591A tubes. They used to be hard to find, but they've been back in production for the last few years, so they're quite easy to find. I'm pretty sure you can get a quad of Electro Harmonix for under $100.

I've been looking at those 1000's on eBay too--very cool. The only thing that's disappointing about it is that it has a solid-state phono section. Oh well, I'm sure it sounds great. :thumbsup: