Is Sansui still around?

Is Sansui, the Japanese audio company, still around?

 

Sansui is a subsidiary of Orion Electronics nowadays.

 

It is probably like Nakamichi, a pale shadow of what it used to be.

 

Orion is known for manufacturing a lot of the budget line DVD players, many TVs, etc. out there although I have a VCR/DVD Recorder combo under the Sansui name that is actually great quality. They also OEM a lot of players and TVs for big name manufacturers.

 

Is Orion some Hong Kong or Malaysian company? A few years ago, Nakamichi was taken over by some Hong Kong or Malaysian company, what a sad outcome for one of the most reputable Japanese audio equipment companies.

 

A brief history:

http://www.sansui.us/About.htm

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The purpose of this site is to inform to general public about Sansui and its historical product lines. We are not affiliated with Sansui Electric Company in any manners, instead, we are a group of people who are trying to discover and preserve the information of Sansui and its product lines.

As a company, the heyday of Sansui was 1970’s. After the early 1980’s, the fortune of company quickly declined, and Sansui was not even independent company by the late 1980’s.

Yes, ever since, the majority ownership has never been repossessed. They were not profitable at all during 1990’s. It has been speculated for bankruptcy since the late 1990’s. Sansui sold the last production facility in Japan by the early 2000’s. Currently, no more than a few people working in the Japanese headquarters. In the fall of 2002, they announced retreating further from audiophile market, and move into to computers and TV’s display panel business.

All those historical business news does not, however, alter any facts that Sansui has being one of the greatest specialized audiophile companies until even early 2000’s. Sansui kept improving and producing many of the greatest amplifiers with six or seven consecutive years of business losses. Wide rage of Sansui’s products being produced from 1950’s to 2000’s are still being traded on Web based auction sites all over the world.

It is very unfortunate to see what Sansui is today, or it might be very fortunate having a slightest hope of miracle come back.

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Sad. I used to love Sansui products. Very leading edge on a comsumer level. A major player in quadraphonics.

 

I've even seen really cheap sansui car radios...

 

Orion is a Japanese company

 

It is very sad to see Sansui in the current condition. I still have a Sansui cassette deck with piano key style buttons sitting in the garage from 1975. It was the first cassette deck I ever owned. I have gone on to own four top Nakamichi decks, including the Dragon and the CR-7A. Alas, the venerable Nak is doing no better, as it has been owned by some Hong Kong or Malaysian company, cranking out junks.

 

In the early 1980's, probably right around 1982, I had a cool Sansui amp. This was when I was a youngster, and I was going through a DJ phase. I had the two turntables & a mic, mixer, cassette deck set-up, and I had a blast. I not only wish I still had that Sansui, but I wish I could find out what happened to the cassettes I made back then. I believe they were accidentally thrown out in the late-80s during a thorough cleaning session.

 

I enjoyed what the audio market had to offer in the 70's through early 90's a lot more than what it has to offer now. Back then, the equipments were just more interesting, though not necessarily performed better.

 

I've always loved Sansui's equipment. I still have my G-4700 stereo receiver that I purchased in the fall of 1978 (I use it in the bedroom), and the tuner section of it is still superior to all of the other radios in the house, including my new Denon AVR-2805. A very fine piece of equipment, indeed.

 

After the mid 80's, Magnum Dynalab has been just about the only company that makes good tuner. I still have my Tandberg 3001 tuner, which has an astonishing 92 db for S/N stereo and it is almost 25 years old. Audio companies just have not bothered to bring good tuners to the market.

 

I had a Sansui turntable bought in the late 70's.

 

Its nice to see there are other Sansui enthusiasts out there. I am one of the three people who are involved in the sansui.us site. Please feel free to participate on the message board that we have there.

Regards,

Fred

 

I never knew Sansui made such awesome amp.

 

Looks similar to a McIntosh in sheer beef and girth!

My dad had a '78 Sansui G-Series DC stereo receiver that as a teen I fell in love with (can't recall the exact model, but is similar to at least the G-6000 at around 65 WPC). Unfortunantly in '79 he traded it in for a Technics SU-8099 straight DC integrated amp with 115 WPC (which he still owns today). Aesthetically, the Sansui G-Series receiver is to my eyes one of the most attractive receivers ever made, plus from what I've read they're highly reliable and mechanically superior to many others of the same era; they're still highly desirable and hold their value rather well IMO.

If I had the spare coin I'd plunk it down right now on a G-8000...I don't have a use for a receiver in my present system, but they're so nice I'd find a use for it!

 

Yes indeed, the G model receivers are top notch. I have a G-9000 and G-5500 in my Sansui collection. At the height of the receiver 'power wars' in the late 1970's, Sansui went as far as producing the G-22000 (220 Watts), and a 300 Watt beast, the G-33000. Every now and then one will appear on Ebay, but the winning bidder will have to reach into his wallet a bit to acquire it, no seller is going to simply give it away for next to nothing.

The BA-5000 is an AWESOME amplifier. The rack handles are a necessity, the amp weighs 108lbs, and it feels even heavier. Its a Monster at 300 Watts and can be used in sound reinforcement applications as well, as its a very powerful amplifier (and it sounds oh so sweet). I actually own 3 of them, and 2 of the 3 are in virtually brand new condition. (I also have the matching preamp, the CA-3000 which is also a beauty), in fact there is one on Ebay now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SANSUI-CA-3000-...ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

Oh man! That BA-5000 brings back some memories! Used to have that one in the 70s hooked to monster Cerwin-Vega speakers. One mean and heavy beast!

 

In this age of cookie-cutter audio (including HT) equipments, we just do not see interesting products like these anymore unless we go for the likes of Krell and Lexicon.

 

Hi Dan:

Hey, always great to meet another BA-5K owner, (or in your case, former owner). Did you buy yours new?, and how long did you have it? What preamp did you use with it? And yet another question , why did you part with it?

The BA-5000 came out in mid 1975, along with the other models in the 'Defintion' Series, CA-3000 preamp, AU-20000 integrated, and the "junior" monster, BA-3000 (170 Watts) which all have the nice, glowing green meters. The tuner that goes with it is fairly well known, (Sansui has an excellent reputation for tuners), the TU-9900. The TU-9900 is not that hard to find on Ebay, for example:

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-SANSUI-...9718656547QQcategoryZ3282QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


PS: Sansui DID make some hi-end audiophile quality amps in the 80's and 90's, for example, the B-2301 (which I also own, another 300 Watter). If anyone still has their backissues of 'Audio' mag, it was extensively reviewed in the April '85 issue (along with matching C-2301 preamp).

 

I probably still have that April 85 issue of Audio in my garage.

 

When I'm at home, my stereo is attached to a pair of Sansui S-V929U shielded floor-standing speakers. I have no idea how good they are sonically, but considering what I paid for them (free...my grandpa's neighbors in Northville, Michigan were throwing them out!) I have no reason to complain.

Actually I'd be curious to just know how old the speakers are!

 

I have an AU-517 (c. 1979) that I rescued from the side of the road and a pair of thriftshop SP-100s (c. 1966). I love the mids in the SP100s, Jagger and Stewart's voices sound perfect.