Knee Deep In Sansui

Bet that got your attention!

Seriously though, It's almost raining Sansui receivers here. A quick bit of background. I do audio repair and restoration. Though it has taken a while, business really picked up the last 6 months. I have a regular clients but one in particular I network with. Thru him I picked up more local customers. Then my internet acquaintances found out I'm doing this and the units started coming in. Some close enough to drive ( 12 hours in one case) drop off gear, instead of shipping it. I had to retire from my job of 30+ years for health reasons. This started off as something to keep me busy, work on my own gear and enough to pay bills and help us to make ends meet. Happily, all that has changed for the better and I'm busy and feel good knowing I am being productive and paying our bills.

I know. What does this have to do with Sansui's knee deep? I'll tell ya.

One of my clients, a friend of my friend is a audio geak big time gear hoarder, and huge Sansui fan. He has both homes and the garages full of vintage gear. Needless to say, he's a little odd, single never married, but harmless. No dead body's in the basement which I could see. This guy has been sending me stuff along with everyone else. Since November 2017, I've picked up 5 Sansui monster receivers. All but one had been units which for one reason or the other their owners declined to restore or service. In lieu of paying check out, three gave me their units to keep. The 4th is one I worked a deal on with my crazy hoarder guy, a QRX999 in black, all original inside and out. I did some work on other gear and have paid me then threw in the 999. He has 'several' and said he didn't mind. If I do the math, that one actually cost me about 500$. The rest were left here to cover check out. These are good people who regularly ship or bring gear to me to service.

So, I'm essentially up to my knees in Sansui receivers, I have the QRX-999, QRX-7500, QRX-5500, and 9090 that is a little rough. The came the 8080 2 days ago from this whole other person, who was GIVING it away, for free to a good home. They knew it didn't work and figured if anyone wanted it nothing lost. It was going out on the curb anyway. That's when I got the call. Curb Alert!!! Saved by the bell!

Now the 999 is a long term restoration, and so are the rest. Big jobs. But this 8080 it really caught my eye. It needs work, caps, Sansui specific mods and updates, plus the repairs that sidelined it to begin with. It's a dirty nicotine covered mess, but under all that, she's in pretty good shape. nice brightwork, metal and wood case. It'll take more work to de-funkify it that to restore it,, but hey, I love a challenge. And bringing something like this back from the dead us right up my alley. Talk about a poster child..She's a middle of the run serial number and many of the mods were done before it left the factory. But not all, a very important modification wasn't done. This one caused it to be sidelined many years ago. It sat ever since in the living room of a heavy smoker and drinker. As a matter of fact it occupied the same shelf space since 1977 when it was placed there brand new. Until Recently..

Somehow, the owner managed to short something between the amp board and his speakers, causing the protection relay to weld in PROTECT. On these models, one of the modifications is to remove a jumper from the protect board. This jumper in case of a stuck or WELDED relay, shunts the amp power directly to chassis ground. And it did. The output transistors were spared luckily. Some of the 2SC945's on the relay board, with several diodes and resistors were not so lucky. Other resistors have been identified as having radically shifted their valued to infinite resistance or shorted. Metal film replacements are in order, I have the values needed here, along with the new protect relay, the 2Sc458 replacements and the rest. I'm not doing just caps yet. Not until I have it up and running first. I want it to work before I change out the caps. That way if anything goes wrong, I'll know where and what to look at.

I'm actually a little excited, I've never listened to the 8080 or 9090 before. What I hear or read are all good things. I'm trying to get her running tonight, maybe listen a little tonight and between Easter meals tomorrow. From what I gather, the 8080 and big brother 9090 are highly regarded, considered by some to be the best 2 channel receivers to come out of Sansui in the 70's. Some folks say the best period, but there was a lot of fantastic competition being built during those years. One thing I am glad about is this 8080 and the 9090 are not Dolby equipped units. All of their signal paths runs thru the Dolby boards. This causes no end of trouble, since it is harder to work around and remove it from the path, though not impossible. That said, the 8080 ( I think the 9090 too) has the option to plug in a Dolby unit. I didn't read whether its all inclusive for recording and playback, or for decoding Dolby FM (which doesn't exist anymore, and was scarce when it did) broadcasts only. If it does more than FM broadcasts, perhaps I'll look into getting the Dolby boxes.

Meanwhile the other Sansui's are sitting here, patiently waiting for their turn. I've never worked on or owned the higher quality Sansui gear from that period. I was always a Marantz or Pioneer guy in that era. Now they are up to my knees in the shop, and all mine. Not a bad position to be in if they sound as good as people seem to think they do.

Yes, people do give or donate other gear beside the Sansui's all the time, mostly in lieu of paying their check out, or they pay then give the unit to me to recycle. In talking to other guys doing service this is not uncommon in our throw-away society today. Much of the stuff I'll fix then sell. The better pieces I like, I keep as space allows. I AM MARRIED, and SWMBO allows me a certain percentage of floorspace aside from the lab and storage. So some gear leaves here more out of necessity than by desire.

It's been a run on Sansui lately, ...whats next?? Marantz waste deep.., Pioneers neck high maybe? For a while it was Teac open reel decks, then Yamahas, Harman Kardons, Sony and Denon cassette decks...sure can't wait to see what's next.

I love this job. Can you tell?

 

Had a Sansui back in the '70's. Nothing really remarkable about it. We were all going Marantz instead, and happily so.

 

My Dad bought a mid-range Sansui system with a big pay check at Christmas 1975. I still have it, my Son has it set up in his room and it just kicks out. Still what I think a system should sound like. 42 years old, in almost daily use, and still sounds incredible.

I have a 1974 system downstairs, which is a higher level thing than my Dad's, which I paid almost nothing for about 15 years ago. It runs two sets of speakers. It's superb. I love this stuff.

 

Who's your favorite 70's SS manufacturer and models? I had a friend here the other day who worked hi-fi for many years in NYC and told me his store didn't sell Marantz or Sansui but he preferred Sansui and tried to steer folks away from Marantz towards Tandberg,Harmon-Kardon,and others. He still dislikes Marantz to this day saying they are trouble to work on. Too bad that's what I have the most of...he probably won't work on my stuff

 

My 8080 is the best of the ‘70s super receivers AFAIC, except for the even more superb Yamaha CR-2040 which I use weekly in a vintage system. Gorgeous sound from both receivers - full, detailed, rich, powerfully detailed and well controlled bass, a midrange that puts you in the studio or the perfomance venue, and soaring treble that never strains. Time to get the 8080 back in the system I think, and give the Yamaha a rest.

 

In over 20 years of servicing equipment for others, I have only kept one or two due to customers being unwilling to pay for my work. None were ever surprised with bills above my disclosed charges.
-Bill

 

Yes a bit unusual that people would go to the trouble of having their hi-fi gear serviced/repaired and then just hand the gear over at the end instead of paying the bill..Can only assume they were unhappy with (or surprised by) the size of the final bill.

 

Knee Deep In Sansui

Worst Starship ever!

 

I have a few pairs of nice 70's Sansui speakers. SP 1200 and SP 2500x. Not the greatest but not too shabby either. I don't use them anymore. I had the 1200's in use for a few years and they look cool. I bought the 2500's at a yard sale last summer for $20 and they look real clean. I hooked them up for a quick listen just to make sure they were working but decided they were for loud Rock use.They didn't best my Pioneer HPM-40's for garage set up so they're just sitting here waiting for the right person. I have a rough looking 7070 receiver in the garage that needs a refurb. Probably not held in as high esteem as 8080 and 9090.

 

I used to perform rebuilds & upgrades on mostly tube type Fisher equipment. I never advertised, but word of mouth brought a lot of gear my way. Some customers were from overseas too wanting my service, not local service despite the high shipping costs. Some had many Fisher products and were rebuilt by others. My customers stated I rebuilt the best sounding Fishers ever. My 'secret' was simply shipping with the best sounding replacement tubes & using Russian paper in oil K40Y-9 coupling capacitors. Most others rebuilt with inferior sounding coupling caps and never paid attention to the type of tubes. And, some were well known highly regarded rebuilders. One well known rebuilder at Audio Karma got me kicked off of the site due to me 'stealing' rebuilds from him. It was getting just crazy with the AK response I got on that site. He knew the site owner, I did not. Whatever!

I was and still am working, but pass retirement age. I do not want to rebuild any longer for others and I never needed the financial income But, it was fun.

 

Funny, I got a bunch of Sansui stuff the other day including an 8900zdb with a matching EQ unit, turntable and tape deck.

 

I like nearly all the mid 70's to 1980 line up of receivers. Now, if you wanted absolute air moving chest pound rock and roll grunt, with enough power to arc weld steamship plates together, the Marantz 2600 and Technics SA-1000 swung the biggest sticks, with the Pioneer SX 1280 Sansui-33000 following close behind. These represent only the so-called top 5 receivers, based on advertised numbers alone. However the other that followed were not slouches either. Well most of them from 1975-1979 anyway, we know every company made loss leaders and dogs for their product line up,and in every component category. For the Sansui hater looking only at slew rate and damping factors gave them a misleading advantage to argue. Since most of the big boy receivers advertising those numbers 3, 4 or 5 times higher, the 8080 and 9090 appeared at best weak pretenders at. As we now know, those published numbers only tell part of the story, companies sometimes cheated to get those better numbers. These 2 Sansuis with along several others found another way to improve their perceived or lack there-of, sound quality, using huge transformers with more wound copper and larger core's. Transformers taking up nearly a full 40% or more of the the middle 1/3'rd of the receivers. This allowed Sansui to compete head to head with other receivers in this area, and the area of overall sound quality. The 9090 added semi-complementary output transistors to the mix, 8 of them versus 4 on the 8080, upping the advertised power to 110 wpc minimum @ 8 ohms with .2%THD. That extra copper winding around larger magnets is not wasted, giving both these Sansui's excellent bass response AND clarity, without being too forward or glassy... thus maintaining control over driver motion. If you want to up an 8080 or 9090, make it more stout, double the filter cap uf capacity and up voltage 1/3. You won't complain about anemic bass or driver control under power, if you ever did. Adding a soft start circuitry or upping fuse sizes for the additional inrush of current is largely unnecessary if you have performed the advertised Sansui factory recommended upgrades. They are available online if needed. Of course if you want to feel free to save the power switch contact if nothing else.

Folks in the 'I want more bass department' often forget the amount and quality of bass response in your listening environ ideally rest in another area. Namely speakers themselves, the room they occupy, and their placement-interface with said room. A receiver or amplifier should be ideally by design present as neutral or transparent, adding nor taking away any coloring of the sound passing thru its circuits. As to a question of the phono stages, today you can modify, buy or build a discrete phono section of choice, using one of several available inputs or bypassing altogether the internal phono stage at the input and output to the input selector. Though I would never say the built in phono stage for the 8080 or 9090 sound poor by any stretch to each his or her own. Like everything, else time and tide have rolled on since these units were new. today there are many modifications. changes and upgrades, factory or otherwise which can be explored on otherwise the stock units. By now, most of us doing restoration and repair work consistently on these popular 70's units know plenty or tricks, or work-arounds. What worked and what didn't,. Where, when and how to cheat, using experience gained from these monster receivers of all brands, and their 40+ years of continuing use.

As to my 8080, she's alive and running. I did a few upgrades recommended by the factory, with multiple failed parts replaced. She's singing again, I am making a full cap list, cleaning and polishing her, piece by piece. What I don't have for upgrades, I'll order and install. At some point I'll take some before nudes for context to compare with the after pics finished. It'll be a few weeks, I have customer work first before personal projects. The cap list ordered and here should leave me a fairly fun and straightforward exercise overall.

For those who asked, I've always been a Marantz guy when it comes to receiver brands, Pioneer I suppose would be number two, BUT all that may change once this 8080 is completed. The only Sansui Receiver I owned was a G3o00, new in the late 1970's. I took it back and bought a Pioneer SX 450 that cost more but had less power. That receiver worked well into the 80's when mom gave it away at a yard sale, with other gear, records and tapes. I had to start all over in 1989 when I got out of the service...

Thanks MOM..

 

The cleaning continues. Years of moisture, atmospheric detritus, and nicotine coated all external and internal surfaces, components boards and chassis. It's slow going, the trace side of each PC board takes me an hour or more for the larger ones. Several different cleaners used provide ineffective in removing the goo. Denatured alcohol with a toothbrush scrubbing is the first stage. Next window cleaner removes some of the remaining white film that dried hard and immovable otherwise. A final clean, small areas at a time with Windex and a microfiber towel leave the board shiny green, all the extra rosen and garbage removed. The chassis pieces are similarly difficult, strong detergent and hot water with a green scotch pad are necessary to remove mold mildew and the odd light surface corrosion, leaving the chassis parts clean and shiny. Each tuner meter, power meter and dial glass is cleaned part by part, the glass and plastic polished then dust removed with a lens cloth once dry and clean. Same applies to the meters, split open, inside and out their windows cleaned, the white backing lightly sanded then bleached to remove as much yellowing from heat and nicotine as practical. Using blue LED fused bulbs in place will prevent any staining from appearing on the blue tuner meters or the dial glass. The meters get a 'Top Hat' warm white LED, the surfaces sanded lightly for better light diffusion. The function indicator and Stereo lamp receive a similar treatment, The pointer may end up with a leaded incandescent bulb, due to size and location, I don't think I can get an LED to fit. Of course using LED's require rectification and a select resistor in key places to prevent flickering and excess voltage-current flow using the stock power feeds. The plastic bezel for the indicator and dial glass LED's are deep cleaned, with the surfaces lightly sanded to remove staining for better reflection to the dial glass, each function indicator receiving a regular LED which fits the locations perfectly without modification. Cooler running LEDs provide the best looking permanent illumination solution. The cool blue LED fuse style lamps have dropped radically in price, as have the 'top hat' type LED's. Buying 50 at a time of the fuse style LEDS keep the cost per well under 1$ each today. the same applies the top hat and traditional warm white LED's

Once everything is cleaned, work on replacing electrolytic can begin. Audio Grade Nichicon caps in the audio signal paths, Panasonic FC or similar in power positions, Wima film caps in specific replacing some of the smaller non-'lytic values in the audio path, and the tuner. Once the caps are completed, all factory recommended safety and durability upgrades are performed,along with the lamp mod. This keeps the dial glass illuminated in all function positions. Unmodified, the dial glass and meters are not illuminated unless AM or FM-FM Stereo/Dolby mode is selected. There are key transistors I plan to replace on the audio bias and output boards, those on the relay board, have been done, along with specific resistors, removal of a jumper, and upgraded specific diodes. There is a document available from HiFi Engine that outlines most of modifications in question. If your interested in doing the same to your 8080/9090 ( or DB) look there for further information.

It takes a lot longer than many people think to overhaul/repair, and restore any receiver. There are many things to be done. Upgrades, housekeeping, improvements etc. If you have all the parts in stock, no operating issues otherwise, the unit is functioning it is quicker. Knowing in advance what you need to do, and prepare for it makes a big difference. If you have done the same model before that's a huge help. Typically you are around 50 man hours to do a nicer unit in good condition all around. In the case of receivers in dire need of attention on top of the normal stuff, it's more like 75 hours. Once you are burning it in. Add 5-hours if you plan on refinishing a wood cabinet with new veneer, which I am, Don't forget chassis painting or sealing metal surfaces with clear coat paint to protect it from the elements and any further degradation. Polishing the brightwork, control knobs and switches, the various input and outputs on the rear take, all take time. The faceplate and control knobs alone in this case took 5 hours. But the results speak for themselves, looking good as new. Take before photos, plus the odd during photos to document the process end to end. Once completed, a series of nudes and exteriors are taken and added to the rest.

Remember restoring units like this one in the conditions it's in, is a labor of love. If you are looking to make big money doing this kind of work, on some units you do, and others you don't. I find the units I plan to keep take me much longer as well as those units my clients plan to keep after restoration. The jobs in between are your bread and butter, keeping you solvent. It's important to make sure you don't take too many units for restoration at a time, unless it's understood it will take a longer time. You work on other stuff then fit them in between other work, doing a board or whatever other work needed here or there. I break my own rules all the time, mostly when a unit for nothing or next to nothing comes along. This is how I ended up Knee Deep In the Sansui, and the other stuff too ! You find a way to make it work later on, rather than miss out on the special units. As I said, it's a labor of love. You don't get rich, but you do OK, and own some really choice gear that sounds excellent. That in itself for many of us is priceless. Just make sure you aren't so busy you don't have time to listen. Otherwise, what's the point?

Stay Tuned...

 

I bought a Sansui AU101 amp a few years ago to use as a headphone amp for my 600 ohm headphones
I fully recapped it with Elna silmic 2 electrolytic caps, replaced the 330 ohm resistors on the headphone socket with 120 ohm shinkoh tantalum resistors
Sounds great as a headphone amp, plenty of voltage swing for high impedence headphones and plenty of current for low impedence headphones
Sansui AU-101 - Manual - Solid State Stereo Amplifier - HiFi Engine

 

I love your reports, Macman!

FWIW, an old work colleague from long ago (radio & TV broadcast engineer) retired from his job at a major cable network a few years back, and decided to pursue a hobby restoring vintage stereo gear. He is swamped with requests for his time to repair old gear, so he has the luxury of picking and choosing his projects. Through him, for instance, I got a pair of immaculately restored AR3a loudspeakers that are to die for sonically, and aesthetically.

He loves the old Marantz and Pioneer gear, but swears that his absolute favorite receiver is the Sansui 9090. I've never had the privilege of seeing/hearing one, but I trust his judgment...and it would appear you likewise appreciate how great the Sansui equipment is.

 

Thank's Singnothetimes53,. I enjoy writing them for folks like us who love their gear and love to share those experiences with like minded individuals.

The 9090 is not that dissimilar to the 8080, 110 watts versus 80, plus the 2 added Turnover switches to the tone controls, and of course 3 semi-rectangular knobs, on speaker system, selector , function selector , and tape-copy selector. There are 4 added output transistors, the 8080 only uses 4 the 9090 uses 8 in quasi-complementary configuration, thus the extra watts vs. the 8080, The DB units for both 8080 and 9090 have more power still, 90WPC for the 8080Db and 125WPC for the 9090DB. With them come the issues from the double sided Dolby board. When they fail, if they can not be repaired or a suitable replacement located, your pretty much up the creek, without doing some serious modifications as all audio signal pass thru the board it can't simply be bypassed. Unless you need the Dolby option, I'd go with a 8080, if you need the extra grunt a 9090. With efficient speakers, something better than 92db 1 watt @ 1 meter, 80 watts in a moderate to large room can be deafening. Think of a Pair of Altec A-7's in a 18' by 25' by 9' room, plenty of bottom end grunt and power with A7's or something similarly efficient. Then again it's the first watt that truly counts. That's where 90% listening occurs. A highly efficient speaker properly interfaced with the room @ 1 watt can be a truly amazing listening experience. Why do I have 600 watt mono blocks? For reserve power, for all the push and headroom behind that first watt. That, plus every now and then I much enjoy listening to great rock or blues music at live-venue levels.. Truth is, I love all kinds of music, from Wagner to Winger and Little Walter, with everything in between.

As to the 8080 update. As is typical of both the 8080 and 9090 incarnations, we've located a trouble spot in the function switch lamp circuit. Some ham head before me decided it would be a great ideal to solder the contacts on the lamp wafer board with a 350 watt Weller pistol iron. He all but destroyed the front wafer board on the switch, and lifted all the pc board tracks front the function selector switch terminal to 1/1 inch beyond every one. All the component pads plus 1/4 inches of each tracing on each track are gone. No worries, I can make chicken soup out of chicken S#!t when it comes to trace repairs, all it takes is patience, the right tools and technique, plus some ultra thin single strand wire. No,, the bigger issue is the function selector switch. I have repaired it as much as can be salvaged from the remains, the dial lamps will work, and change from Aux to AM, to FM Stereo, FM Dolby, and Phono. The problem is the indicator lamps for each, set in the dial face. I'm hanged if I can come up with a work around that I can add to or otherwise interface with the circuitry. New replacement switches are unobtanium, used ones in great shape are rare as Hens Teeth. I'll have to bide my time until I can find one, I've exhausted all my known resources. If anyone who is reading this knows where I can find one, I'd be more than happy to compensate you as you see appropriate for a finders fee. I hate the thought of people parting out these receivers, but the truth is if it's past reasonable point of repairs, I could use a function selector switch in good to great nick. With than I can modify the circuit so the switch doesn't carry the load, thus preserving the replacement

For now, I'll have to work with what I have. Hopefully it will keep working until a decent replacement is acquired and quickly.. At some point in the upcoming weeks, I'll be restoring my prize QRX-999 in black so stay tuned for developments ... Same Bat-Time, Same bat-Channel...

 

Great thread!
My interest for Sansui dates back to 1980. Picked up a G-8700db along with a Technics SL-1600MK2 and a pair of JBL-L112s while stationed in Okinawa. All are still in use.

 

Hi there and congratulations for the amazing work on this sansui.
Could you tell me please where should I look for these "factory recommended upgrades"?
I just got a sansui 990 (9090 blackface) and it's in terrible condition.
I want to make it like new and I'm trying to make a list of some high quality upgrades which are tested and solid.
I would really appreciate some help!
Thanks!

P.S. I'm reading your post over and over again, I can't believe the details you got into...

 

I want one

 

Sansui !!!!!!!

 

The information is out there, you have to look in non traditional places sometimes. This site will get you going, including a complete cap list for several units. Recap and Restore | Vintage Stereo Restorations

If you want the real-deal information including updates and bulletins from the factory, then it costs you a little. Go see Rick Stout www.Stereomanuals.com. Yes the information is a little more expensive than free or some of the stuff on eBay, but not a PDF file. You are getting real paper manuals printed on quality paper stock, bound, with covers, clean legible writing, scans, schematics and notations, PLUS the extras sent to the factory authorized service centers, showing upgrades and updates that were to be done while the units were selling new-ish. Depending on brand/model, you get more or less of the updating and modification info. Higher serial number models sometimes had the updates included by the time they were manufactured. Early models did not benefit from feedback information from failing warranty units. When the failures were reported charges were made. Some companies do more after the unit is built than others, They all do something, no unit was perfect.

Make sure you look over the Stereo Manuals website instructions from top to bottom. Follow the instructions to the letter before sending Rick a question email. 99% of your questions plus FAQ's are regarding information already contained within the instructions and demo pages. It's not a hard site to navigate, though it looks different, for sure. Just read the directions then look around. I practiced looking up different manuals to get the hang of it before I ordered anything. Prices are 90% there as well, and each, manual carries a price code. I try to buy paper manuals when I pick up gear I plan to keep after restoration. Not everything, but as many as I can, especially the owners manuals. The quality of this stuff is amazing, as good as (truthfully) better than originals, with information you WON'T find anywhere else. 16X20 Schematics you can actually read and understand, WITH color where and when it was available. Priceless information when in-depth troubleshooting. Well worth the price when you are servicing that prize unit instead of using the garbage PDF copy everyone else has, missing the vital information or isn't available at all. The time these manuals save you more that pays for them.

My Sansui' receivers are resting, for now. Lately it's been raining tape decks. 1 Harman Kardon, 5 Yamaha's and 1 Denon to be exact. The HK is a rare blackface, the Denon a DR-F7 , both are mint examples of 2 TOTL decks made in the 80's. There are 3 of Yamaha's finest, 2 K1200's and a K1200U. The other 2 Yamaha's are K-1020 units, nothing to look sideways at. Right now I'm finishing up burning a K1020 in. 6 hours of recording, using different length tapes, brands, and types, incorporating DBX, DOLBY B, C and HX-Pro. The playback sessions are twice as long, putting the transport functions as well as playback circuits to the test. Every option and feature is operated and checked for proper function. Successfully passing these tests means both units are ready to be boxed up then shipped back to their owners. Last weeks production included the K-1020 and CD-491. I'm working on another K1200U, and K-1020, scheduled to be finished sometime this week. A wayward Revox B77 and Crown SX-844 showed up on my doorstep both looking for some love. Each will be fit in over the next several week.


You never know what is going to come show up here. That Denon D-7 is now my deck, as is yet another K-1020, with the Nakamichi/Sankyo idler tire to gear update. Instead of knurled nylon reel tables and drive hub with the weak rubber tire, this unit has been upgraded to gear drive for both idler motor drive and both reel tables. There is no tire to wear out ever 2-3 years, which is why I snagged this one for myself, I currently have 2 other 80's Yamaha K series cassette decks one is the K1200 the other a K1020, all 3 possess the coveted idler gear drive updates.

I'm hoping to get back to the 999 this month, or even finish the 8080.Were doing new veneer and finish for the wood cabinet. Perhaps some of the lower number Quad receivers will find their way to the bench. I recently came across a gaggle of Kenwood Trio Receivers from approx. '77, a 2 Kenwood KR-5030's and a Kenwood KR-8050. I get to keep one of the KR-5030's as partial payment to offset repair costs for the KR-8050 and KR-5030. It was already picked out of the pile and put away for later.

Right now though, it's tape decks, a Tascam MSR 16 with a SECK 1882 mixer console deal in development. The original owner is selling, My guy is buying and I'm brokering the deal, making sure both mixing console and 16 track open reel are up to top specifications, ready to go. My guy is putting together an analog home studio in his basement. I guess it's to go with all the audio gear upstairs? . It's not like he needs more, he's a hoarder, but only the good stuff,, no crap He's another lucky one, his wife and mine, both friends, let us have whatever gear we want, so long as the bills get paid, and they can decorate however they like.

Works for me..

 

I have a 9090 brought back up to factory spec by a Mcintosh tech and I agree, it sounds fantastic.

 

Wow! this is a really crazy site (stereomanuals)!
It is a bit overwhelming but I'll surely check it out, it seems to have a lot of helpful stuff.
Thank you very much for the help! I really appreciate it!

 

Bought my first real hi-fit receiver in 1971, a 40WPC Sansui that I enjoyed for many years. Wish I still had it around.

 

Sounds pretty sensible to me.