Why Vintage Sansui Amps are Superb

I had an AU217 and the 717. The former I bought cheap as chips off Ebay, serviced and delivered for £33. Best deal I ever snagged and it's still working today. The 717 was brilliant but had issues with the volume knob, which in the 717 is a pain to deal with as it's effectively a sealed unit. Cost of repair was prohibitive and no guarantee something else wouldn't go flaky..

When it did work, it was a joy and easily in the same league as £1500 amps such as a Leema Pulse, Exposure 3010s and Harman's terrific HK990.

 

I still use mine in a second system and still sounds great.....since it was my first- I still have a soft spot for it.
There is a difference between a 2000 & 2000x....the 2000x has a few more wattage and has a nice wooden case...looks very nice in the dark with the green lights.

 

My Sansui 4000 replaced a McIntosh MAC 1900 with a bum balance pot. I don't even miss the MAC 1900 much if at all. That should tell you a lot right there.

 

I love the sound of my QRX-9001. Had it hooked up to a pair of large Advents and the sound was silky smooth, warm and really robust. Very ear-friendly combo.

 

My 4000 is actually driving The Advent Loudspeaker. My QRX 7500 drives Dynaco A 25 speakers x 4.

 

They love Advents. I don't know why but they do. I rarely turn the 7700 up past 60w driving the four. Nice clean open sound. I like that.

 

Thanks for sharing this. The unit I'm looking at is a 2000x. Looks new and claims to be working very well. $225.00.
Debating what could be.

 

I'm running 34 yr old a G-5700 receiver daily in a second system. The only service I've done is replace the balance control pot and clean the internal copper relay contacts.

 

Sansui Alpha AU-607MRX Amplifier 607MR UK
£450

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Sansui Alpha AU-607MRX Amplifier. Rare 230V version of 607MR from 1997, CE marked. Hyper Alpha X balanced circuit. Very good condition, some small marks on top of the facia and a small dent on the top cover. All original inside. All controls silky smooth. The only issue is with the input selector, there is a knack to selecting the phono input. Ultra pure sound quality, closer to perfection than my previous AU-9500, 719, 919, G90X and X711. This amp excels with high end speakers that demand power and quality, its sound quality is ultra pure even at high power levels. Large and heavy, 18kg and 45cm deep. See my ebay listing for more info. Buyer collects in person from Farnham, Surrey. Cash on collection. Serious buyers only, no offers.

Not mine! is this a fair price?

 

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48229

I am unsure of a reasonable price for this unit. For the asking price there are a number of nice new amps.

 

[
QUOTE="Ntotrar, post: 10471406, member: 37844"]http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48229

I am unsure of a reasonable price for this unit. For the asking price there are a number of nice new amps.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps..I only posted it for those "fans" of Sansui Products,they seem well regarded here.

 

I have the 5000x with the upgraded board. If you get the 5000 or 5000a youll have to check on the board. I forget the board # that is the good one F something, but you can check the internet for the correct board #. I love my 5000x, only had it a few months but it sounds good to me. I am currently driving my brother-in-laws Infinity IL-30s but right next to them on the ground and not in service are Bose 901's....need to find the series iv equalizer before i fire them up!

 

Does the 5000x automatically get you the upgraded board? I never pursued the 5000 series because of this problem.
Thank you for commenting on this I've been wondering how to proceed with the 5000.

Ron

 

Not automatically. I heard some 5000x models may have had the bad boards but probably only a small amount....9 times out of 10 the x model has the upgraded board.

 

Sounds like roulette! It's a nasty failure too. I guess I'll have to try and confirm before I buy. It's probably best.
Thanks so much for the info it is appreciated.

Ron

 

http://www.cathedralspeakers.com/5000A

There does not appear to be a concise breakdown for the new and old board as far as which is which based on layout or circuit or why the old one is "bad", but this looks like as good as you'll get.

 

If the 5000 is biased correctly and in good repair, they usually do fine. They were a quirky circuit.

 

Thank you!

 

Maybe I don't need one more thing to worry about you know what I mean?

 

Indeed. But a well maintained 5000 is generally well behaved and reliable. The ones I have dealt with have been reliable.

 

One thing I don't do is run my gear hard so maybe reliability would be on my side. I'm a low 1/3 volume listener usually. Sometimes I will turn it up but not as a rule. I think it's best for the vintage stuff I have. My 7700 never has shown a problem but it's not quite this old.

 

Indeed. And my 5000 receivers I dealt with didn't drive tough loudspeaker loads at 4 ohms or less, and drove efficient speakers and were never driven hard.

 

I have a CA3000 also. The right channel comes in and out at times and I was wondering where you got yours repaired.
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

I have my dad's old AU-777 (which was the first solid state amp they made) and I currently use it to power my monitors in my home studio. This was the amp I was introduced to music on, listening to my dad's records so it's pretty special to me. (In fact, I have that entire rig -- the Sansui, an Elac Miracord turntable and a Teac reel-to-reel, along with some cheapo Technics cassette player he bought much much later.)

 

I had it done by a local tech but I'm not too sure how keen he is to do another one! He thought he had mine finished, sent it home with me and another of the feed thru connections that he failed to see the first time started acting up. It's a beauty of a pre-amp, but it has SO many "points of failure" built into the signal path that it sometimes feels like owning a sports car.....always under the hood fixing something just for the pleasure of taking it out on the road.