Sansui Amps Owners & Discussion Thread

[krazywaffle]

Does anyone happen to know what the recommended replacement (or OEM) preamp transistors are for an AU-777A? Seems a previous owner/tech only replaced the transistors on the L channel, which has caused a channel imbalance so keen to get this rectified. Thanks!

[Full Range]

39 minutes ago, krazywaffle said:

Does anyone happen to know what the recommended replacement (or OEM) preamp transistors are for an AU-777A? Seems a previous owner/tech only replaced the transistors on the L channel, which has caused a channel imbalance so keen to get this rectified. Thanks!

 

Edit - sorry you asked about transistors and I gave you an answer about capacitors 
The originals are Sanken 

So it’s best to replace the lot with originals 

so here is a link

https://www.sansui-vintage.com/index.php

 

 

If you want the closest to the original capacitors

You have 2 options 

1) Audionote Kaisei as close to the original black gate 

2) Elna Silmic II as nothing comes close to its bass and smooth overall sound

 

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by Full Range

[krazywaffle]

30 minutes ago, Full Range said:

Edit - sorry you asked about transistors and I gave you an answer about capacitors 
The originals are Sanken 

So it’s best to replace the lot with originals 

so here is a link

https://www.sansui-vintage.com/index.php

 

 

If you want the closest to the original capacitors

You have 2 options 

1) Audionote Kaisei as close to the original black gate 

2) Elna Silmic II as nothing comes close to its bass and smooth overall sound

Thanks heaps mate! Will look into the availability/cost of both options 

[krazywaffle]

On 16/8/2023 at 7:44 PM, Full Range said:

If you want the closest to the original capacitors

You have 2 options 

1) Audionote Kaisei as close to the original black gate 

2) Elna Silmic II as nothing comes close to its bass and smooth overall sound

Received these photos of preamp board of 777A. Feedback I’ve received suggests that the same transistors/caps aren’t used on both L & R channels but I’m not familiar enough with PCB board layouts to determine if this is indeed the case and, if so, what the best course of action would be. The replacements you suggested seems hard to come by 

 

Thanks heaps.

 

[Full Range]

I am going to ask @skippy124 to join in for a look over and comment on you question 

[muon*]

That would be the pre amp board in thos pics.

 

Keisai and Silmic ll are not hard to come by, Parts Connection and Hifi Collective stock both.

Edited August 23, 2023 by muon*

[muon*]

Cerefine and Silmic ll mix well.

[Full Range]

5 minutes ago, muon* said:

That would be the pre amp board in thos pics.

 

Keisai and Silmic ll are not hard to come by, Parts Connection and Hifi Collective stock both.

On my amp builds I have purchased most of my components from HiFi Collective in the UK 

 

But I think a member here is a distributor for Audio Note 

[muon*]

4 minutes ago, Full Range said:

On my amp builds I have purchased most of my components from HiFi Collective in the UK 

 

But I think a member here is a distributor for Audio Note 

Guru is no longer on here, but yes he would be able to help with Keisai.

 

I added some Standard and Kensai caps to my DAC recently, but I didn't think to contact Bryan

[krazywaffle]

8 hours ago, muon* said:

Keisai and Silmic ll are not hard to come by, Parts Connection and Hifi Collective stock both.

Thanks for the suggestion. There do indeed appear to be many types/ratings available. Any insight regarding which types/ratings are needed, or guidance as to where to find this information, would be heaps appreciated:

 

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/-c-61_68_324.html

 

Can anyone tell if there are certain transistors/caps that are not the same on the board for L+R channels (i.e., could explain balance issue)? It would seem ideal to only replace the (few) that are not balanced so as to keep preamp board as close to original as possible? Preamp stage sounds very good indeed (especially phono stage) other than balance issue, which requires skewing towards right channel by setting balance to 3-4 o’clock.

 

Also, any feedback regarding how challenging transistor/cap replacement is on these boards would be appreciated. If challenging due to limited space on underside of board then I might opt to wait and have recapping done professionally instead of my generally-competent-but-amateur tech mate.

[Full Range]

3 minutes ago, krazywaffle said:

Thanks for the suggestion. There do indeed appear to be many types/ratings available. Any insight regarding which types/ratings are needed, or guidance as to where to find this information, would be heaps appreciated:

 

You need to replace capacitors- like for like 

And replace the lot in one go 

 

Download the schematic PDF for your model here 

https://www.audioservicemanuals.com/s/sansui/sansui-au/127682-sansui-au-777-schematic

[muon*]

I'd only use the schematic as a loose guide and replace same as what is in there as some cap values in the amp might be different from the schematic, this was common dues to revisions to many models.

[krazywaffle]

32 minutes ago, muon* said:

I'd only use the schematic as a loose guide and replace same as what is in there as some cap values in the amp might be different from the schematic, this was common dues to revisions to many models.

Thanks for the valuable insight.

 

Is there any downside to running preamp with balance skewed (far) to the right? Thinking maybe this is the go until I can get unit professionally recapped.

[krazywaffle]

On 24/8/2023 at 10:08 AM, muon* said:

I'd only use the schematic as a loose guide and replace same as what is in there as some cap values in the amp might be different from the schematic, this was common dues to revisions to many models.

Reckon a “full recap kit” like this could be the go (i.e., legit)?:

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/155551622548

[muon*]

2 hours ago, krazywaffle said:

Reckon a “full recap kit” like this could be the go (i.e., legit)?:

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/155551622548

Avoid those, they brought out different revisions and some values could be wrong.

 

Also best to choose better caps than those in that kit.

[krazywaffle]

9 minutes ago, muon* said:

Avoid those, they brought out different revisions and some values could be wrong.

 

Also best to choose better caps than those in that kit.

Thanks heaps for the feedback 

[wen]

Finally arrived from the US, voltage changed and serviced, sounding very nice

[kbhuvi]

Hi sansui lovers

 

I am looking for recommendations for an amp that will pair well with digital music, mainly spotify or wav files. Source is raspberry pi 4 with allo digione signature and usb out of rpi 4. DACs are allo revolution, AD1862 based dac and Soekris 1021. Speaker is a xavian 2way mini floorstander which uses scanspeak drivers.

Any gent here running a full digital setup with any sansui amps may please share their views.

 

PS : Dont like bright sound.

 

Regards

[Cafad]

On 21/02/2024 at 9:18 PM, kbhuvi said:

Hi sansui lovers

 

I am looking for recommendations for an amp that will pair well with digital music, mainly spotify or wav files. Source is raspberry pi 4 with allo digione signature and usb out of rpi 4. DACs are allo revolution, AD1862 based dac and Soekris 1021. Speaker is a xavian 2way mini floorstander which uses scanspeak drivers.

Any gent here running a full digital setup with any sansui amps may please share their views.

 

PS : Dont like bright sound.

 

Regards

Hi mate, are you thinking of 70's, 80's or 90's Sansui amps?  Most of the 70's amps are fairly warm so you shouldn't find any bright sound there.  The earlier 80's amps are still warm-ish but they slowly brighten up as you go through the 80's models, I'd recommend you stay away from the DR series, they would be the brightest of the 80's models.  The 90's amps are much more detailed with more resolution on display, probably the XR series is the least bright of these.

 

If you are thinking of an MOS model I can firmly recommend the MOS 607 Premium or MOS 607 Limited, both nice and warm (though not as warm as the 70's Sansui sound) but with a strong bass line and very nice vocals.  The Limited also looks a million bucks, not the easiest Sansui to find but absolutely worth it if you can.

 

Best of luck.

[kbhuvi]

Thanks @Cafad for the detailed response.

 

I am currently using a Sansui 607xr with xavian giulietta which is absolutely fabulous sounding. Your observation of xr series is spot on.

 

I have a pair of kef 105.1 reference which are  being refurbished and I am looking for an amp for that beauty. The consensus is that 80 to 100 watt is the bare minimum to wake them up. The source will be digital only hence was looking for an opinion regarding Sansui amps that gel well with digital sources (i.e. forgiving of digital sources). Don't want to move away from sansui.

 

I was thinking of going for a 707 mr but then I would have 2 chains sounding almost similar defeating the purpose of having a second setup. So looking for a Sansui that will sound great but a bit different from the 697xr. I have a fully restored 217 mk ii that sounds great on the giuliettas. Love the tonal signature and the depth of soundstage. My gut instinct says the Sansui au 707/ 717 will be a good amp to pair with the kef 105.1. I am a skinny chap so I cannot consider any 907 variants due to their weight.  

 

I am hoping more gents would chime in with their experience of pairing of digital sources with the Sansui amps they own or have owned in the past.

 

Regards

 

 

Edited February 25 by kbhuvi

[Full Range]

2 hours ago, kbhuvi said:

I have a pair of kef 105.1 reference which are  being refurbished and I am looking for an amp for that beauty. The consensus is that 80 to 100 watt is the bare minimum to wake them up. The source will be digital only hence was looking for an opinion regarding Sansui amps that gel well with digital sources (i.e. forgiving of digital sources). Don't want to move away from sansui.

 

I was thinking of going for a 707 mr but then I would have 2 chains sounding almost similar defeating the purpose of having a second setup. So looking for a Sansui that will sound great but a bit different from the 697xr. I have a fully restored 217 mk ii that sounds great on the giuliettas. Love the tonal signature and the depth of soundstage. My gut instinct says the Sansui au 707/ 717 will be a good amp to pair with the kef 105.1. I am a skinny chap so I cannot consider any 907 variants due to their weight.  

 

The AU 717 has both warmth and colour and the power requirement 

you need to drive your KEFs