Why Vintage Sansui Amps are Superb

My father purchased an AU 317 / TU 317 combo with SR-636 turntable, SC-1110 tape deck and AX-7 mixer back in 1978. It was connected to a set of Kenwood LS-990's that were made to mimic JBL L100's.

I still have everything to this day save for the Kennies, but the Sansui is now hooked to an original set of L100's and a set of Sansui SP-2500X's all in like new condition (thanks for keeping everything so nice, Mom)!

The aforementioned system will be with me until I'm dead and gone.

 

I have a Sansui AU-X711 integrated amp I like a lot. It matches my Cd-X711 CD player.

 

I have a CA-3000 also, truly a statement piece by Sansui. Regulated, adjustable, power supply for each preamp card. The plated-thru feeds are problematic, I soldered all of them...it's a pain, as some are under the switches where you can't really get your soldering iron to heat them. Fortunately, my unit is a later production one, and Sansui already knew the feed-thru points were problematic, so they inserted pieces of bare wire from one side to the other, then soldered them. But I reflowed them anyway. Took a lot of time! It sounds really good. Now if I could just afford a BA-3000 to go with it...ha!

 

jkerr, I currently have a QRX-6001 which I had restored about 3 years ago, but I always wanted a 9001, so today I'm taking delivery on a completely restored unit done by these guys: http://www.qrxrestore.com/ They're not cheap, but they have a good reputation, and the guy knows about all of the circuit board issues the 8001 and 9001 units had (they used rather complex pass-through CBs) and corrects the problematic areas that caused the units to eventually fail. He then thoroughly tests the units for performance for a week at least before shipping them.

I love Sansui gear, and I'd love to have one of their turntables for my quad system. I also have a G-4700 receiver that I bought new, and it sounds great. I had it re-capped and re-aligned several years ago, so it is good to go for another 30+ years.

 

I also have a AU-alpha607-MRX mentioned earlier in this thread, there is an interesting story about it's production. Sansui built these for the international market, mainly Europe, as the mains are 230v. As far as I can determine, it was the same as the Japanese model except for the power transformer, and related power supply parts. The story goes that Sansui made these in a last-ditch effort to product a final alpha x-balanced circuit integrated amp, using up parts they had been keeping in reserve for spares or maybe factory inventory for repair support. The chassis is copper-plated, mechanically damped, very nicely assembled, all premium parts, nice Sanken outputs, etc. I bought mine from an auction site seller who described the unit as new-in-the-box, from an audio shop that was liquidating their remaining inventory. What he neglected to mention in the listing was that the unit would ship from Germany, where his friend's shop was located...so after waiting almost a month for it to arrive here in the US, and many emails asking about it's delivery, it arrives via Deutsche Post. The shipper had sent it ground, or in this case probably marine shipped, to the US, which is why it took so long. It was in the regular shelf carton, no over pack or any additional protection, not even a few wraps of additional tape! Just the shipping sticker plastered to the top and sent on it's way. I was really lucky in that it had no damage, although it did have a hole punched in one side that didn't penetrate to the chassis. I checked it carefully and tested it, all seemed good...and ran it for a year or so, enjoying the amazing sound. No problems other than it seemed to want operating at nearly half-way (10-12 o'clock) on the volume control. At some point I took the unit to my local repair shop, mostly for them to look at and admire it, and we took it apart to determine how the power supply was wired (the seller had told me it played on 120v or 230v, and somehow sensed the line voltage as it powered up). Well, of course, this wasn't true! What it was actually doing was running on 120v, about half the voltage it was wired for, and it did so well I didn't notice anything besides the volume setting being a little high to get decent room-filling sound. It did take a few seconds to click in when it fired up, but otherwise it worked perfectly. There was no provision for line voltage other than 230, that is, no internal selector or additional transformer input windings. So I got a step-up Hammond transformer and ran it on a variac set at 115v to get the designed 230v mains input. It sounded a little better with proper power, but to be honest, it wasn't a big difference. I was amazed! A bit apprehensive that the lower line voltage might have caused higher current in the driver or output areas, but nothing looked heat-stressed.

Okay sorry about the long story, today almost 15 years since I got this amp, it still sounds great. I highly recommend anyone to get one of these, they're hard to find but worth it...if you can find a decent price! And can get the mains running where they should be. Last of the best of Sansui...

--Roger

 

Why are Vintage Sansui Amps are Superb?

Because they are.

Sound.