Ok, So what's up with the nutty prices Vintage tube gear is getting lately?

I like to follow Ebay for for S&G on vintage gear.

Just off the top of my head, In the last 2 months I've seen multiple Marantz 7's go for $3-3700, A Mcintosh C20 for over $2000, A pair of MC60's for almost $4000, A MC275 that got listed 6 hours ago is up to $3000.

What's up lately?!!

 

Supply vs. demand?

A friend of mine told me it was getting difficult to find good vintage gear, since people have steadily been learning about the benefits of it. So now people keep their stuff instead of selling it. I don't know if it's true, but it certainly could be a good reason.

I know I'm not selling my H.H. Scott or my McIntosh gear...

 

The old SS stuff from the 70's is getting the same way. So, I now have two STA-2000 receivers in case one goes south. Also vintage speakers are getting HIGH too. Price are going up like fine cigars.... Check this one out

 

I still see reasonable prices on Fisher amps.

 

MAN.... Do those scream "THE 80'S".........

 

History of Sansui.

Hello There

Just found your site. Very Interesting! Didn't know there were so many Sansui Lovers out there.

Just a few bits of info regards Sansui.

My father worked for Sansui for roughly 30 years. In that time, I lived around the world as we moved from Japan - New York - Los Angeles - London England.

By the time we were in England (1981), he was the technical director of Sansui Electronics of UK (england) and was also briefly the general manager of the Los Angeles office in Gardena in the late 70's.

Sansui was indeed originally a transformer manufacturer. They then moved on to quality audio, where the founder, Mr Kikuchi, had a policy of always showing the worst test specs for brochures, ensuring the products always exceeded spec. I believe there was some kind of scandal, which, although Mr Kikuchi was not directly responsible, he had to resign as he was the company president. One of the company shareholders, Tokyo bank, then put in charge a bean counter from its own ranks to the top of Sansui, to improve profitability. This caused a shift in policy, resulting in poor quality mass market audio to be produced. he was not concerned regards specifications, quality etc - and hence the beginning of a downward spiral. Product ranges like "super compo" - cheap plasticky gadgety stuff started to appear.

The company still failed to do well, and there then followed a succession of presidents, still from Tokyo bank, none of which was up to the job. However, with the company in debt, it became inevitable that the presidents came from there. In 1987, there was a change of company Logo, with a "s" shape formed between a profile of two "faces" supposedly communicating with each other. This was a brand relaunch, which still failed. Around this time my father was Technical Director in the UK branch office. The company struggled, and I recall my father bringing home prototype Sansui badged Goldstar (now LG) walkmans, in a desperate attempt to keep the company in business. These walkmans were so naff, even I thought they were cheap and nasty, although I was only 16. This was purely a UK initiative, trying to buy cheap stereo's from low cost labor Korea.

The UK branch was closed in 1988, and he went back home. A distributor was appointed, and all European sales were to be directed through Germany. More and more people were leaving Sansui, (unusual for a Japanese to leave a company in the boom time 80's) and I recall my Dad coming home from work sighing "we've lost another good engineer. This one's gone to Nakamichi". Many times he was frustrated that cost cutting of components were carried out in between prototyping and production.

When he returned to Japan, he ended up in the Saitama office - (now closed and demolished- an unusual building, with an intricate outside facade designed to look like a Sansui speaker grill from the early 70's). As the company wouldn't make him redundant, and he wouldn't resign, he ended up doing odd jobs. The worst was when he had to work as a sales person in a retail store, trying to recommend Sansui to customers. He used to demo Sansui Midi systems to college kids, and would raise the volume slightly louder than the rest to make it sound better! Here was a guy that had worked at Sansui for almost his whole career, having overseas postings, senior positions, and now he was working in a shop! The last role he had was in the Osaka service center, where he was the service manager. All day long he would have to field calls from angry customers with faulty Sansui products. Luckily, he was headhunted by a former Sansui employee who worked at a employment agency now, and he got a decent well paying job with a company that makes semiconductors. Soon after that, Sansui was bought by Polly Peck, run by Asil Nadir. He was embroiled in a tax scandal soon after, Polly Peck disappeared and Sansui got sold off again, to a Hong Kong company.

Sorry for the long email. However, I hope this gives a little glimpse of how Sansui declined in the late 70's, early 80's. My Dad doesn't have any nostalgia regarding Sansui now, as he was treated so badly near the end. I have more fond memories I think, looking through the eyes of a child, although hearing my father coming home saying "This company is going to go bust" very often was not so good.

Regards

Name withheld by request

 

Thanks Hankster. That was a good post.

 

Those Sansuis would probably sound nice in a club or a disco. In your home, they'd probably make your ears bleed. No thanks.

 

Chuck Miller from Goldmine still owns a 1971 GE Wildcat turntable in working condition.

 

Hey-Hey!!!,
I have no problem with old stuff getting expensive. I have had a lot of it pass through my hands, and to one degree or another been quite dissapointed. The Citation II I just restored comes closest to being a match for my DIY.

If it is just about collecting, I'd stick to 55-58 Chrysler's. All with dual rocker shaft, FirePower engines, preference given to dual-quad, solid cam variants. The audio game is about music...and the Drive it or sell it to somebody who will, is just as applicable. If it doesn't drive well, why bother? Buy a picture instead.

I read a post on some forum or another, and I'll have to agree with the poster. His premise was that after listening to a lot of, "my _____ is the best thing on the face of the planet", and having heard some of the items in question, he came to the conclusion that few folks have been exposed to *REALLY GOOD* systems. While a lot of it is good, and great when compared to SS, that doesn't quite bring it to the *GREAT* level.
cheers,
Douglas