Excellent sound quality in a system is enough for most people with neighbours

[Rodolfo]

Not Sansui XR-Q5 direct drive Turntable?
An absolute beauty.
eBay selling these for around £350 approx.
If only I still had my record collection!

Sansui XR-Q5 Record Player Turntable Electronically Controlled Direct Drive | eBay UK

Our products are 100% authentic. Middle East, AU/NZ.

www.ebay.co.uk

No, a more modest SR-212.
An untested one is going for $99, and a "VG" one for $299 today at eBay.com. Mine's probably close to the latter, though a little cleaner.

 

[record_spot]

What is it about Sansui?
I had an amp and cassette deck when I was a kid, it was the coolest piece of kit I had.
Shame they're not around anymore.

Their 70s and arguably early 90s gear was truly stunning. I had the AU-217 and 717 amps and they were just astoundingly good. The drawback with the 717 amp was the volume pot which was proprietary, sealed (bizarrely) and next to impossible to service. Plug it up with some WD40 and hope for the best.

Would I buy a 717 now? Not a prayer, yet it's one of the best amps from the 1970s.

The other models? 217 / 317, definitely. The 4/5/717 check very carefully. Expensive mistakes await.

 

[Shrek]

I do wish my house was detached maybe 1 day .But it does sit further forward from next door so my lounge is almost detached and it has good sound proofing .Ive never heard anything fron my neighbours house so im hoping they cant here me .

 

[AJM1981]

Their 70s and arguably early 90s gear was truly stunning. I had the AU-217 and 717 amps and they were just astoundingly good. The drawback with the 717 amp was the volume pot which was proprietary, sealed (bizarrely) and next to impossible to service. Plug it up with some WD40 and hope for the best.

Would I buy a 717 now? Not a prayer, yet it's one of the best amps from the 1970s.

The other models? 217 / 317, definitely. The 4/5/717 check very carefully. Expensive mistakes await.

Nice. I think someone can not really go anywhere wrong with Sansui's 70s au line, apart from perhaps the exceptional issue mentioned, which might be a deal breaker for someone starting in vintage audio.

I currently own the Au505 and the au101. It started a few years ago with the entry au101 for a second set a few years ago for a fair price. I have to be honest that I did not know Sansui before. I think I even confused it with Sanyo (which I mainly knew from the cheaper ghettoblaster stuff, but even they seem to have made quality amplifiers). It probably did not help that Sansui went into similar territories eventually.

Their 70s gear looked great and I read about the sound signature ahead of purchasing, but wasnt fully sure about it alone. So that half was a bit of a gamble. The other half of the reason why I purchased it was the furniture match factor.

The au101 did not disappoint . It was my first amplifier that had this "other hi-fi personality" to it of when turning the treble and bass knobs, that it kind of 'filled in', rather than bumped in. Also its loudness switch basically added a bit more more body instead of pulling things in a v-shape for low levels.

So, it also lead to purchasing the heavier, but identical looking au505 for my main system to complete the twin-line (I dont think there are more in this exact casing.. could be wrong though)

If the au101 is a fireplace, the au505 is a bigger fireplace. It has this wider spreading of bass and is as musical. Great for the majority of music. They are not really amps that showcase crystal clear hi-resolution "airyness", which I also like a lot, and that's where my Luxman or Yamaha do a great job. But dont really miss that in general. There is a case for both worlds to defend. 🙂

By the way.. what about the 90s line? I know from recent searches that the alpha series exist(ed) (80s /90s perhaps). Is that the line mentioned?

 

[record_spot]

Yes, so I'm thinking of the AU-a907 which looked the part and I think sounded it too. The 607 wasn't bad either. Now that I've got some passive speakers, I might start shopping around for some Sansui gear again!

#ScratchThatItch

 

[davidf]

The point is at the end of the day, why have a really expensive hi-fi if you can not get full benefit due to volume restrictions because of neighbours, you might has well stay with one much cheaper which will sound excellent (but not outstanding) at volumes which are not too loud for neighbours, as you only really appreciate the difference if an expensive hi fi is turned up really loud, I also think that expensive hi-fi opens up more at really high volumes

To me, that's like saying, 'why buy a Lamborghini when I can only drive it around at 30/40mph?'. Would I? Yes I bloody would. Buying a supercar isn't necessarily about how fast it'll go. It's the acceleration, the handling, the mid speed acceleration, the general feel.

I watch a lot of films at home, and while I can't really turn it up as loud as I used to, I still elect to use Miller & Kreisel speakers and two subs (the old proper American MK, not the recent Danish Chinese one). I wouldn't be able to push them anywhere near their THX limits, but I use them because of their detail retrieval, their dynamic capabilities, and their general film presentation. But 5eyll only sound like that with decent power behind them, so I'm using a Primare SPA25 at the moment. I could get away with a half decent soundbar if I wanted to.

A good system should sound good at normal levels too, although I'll admit some products need to stretch their legs in order to sound as good as they should. It'll certainly show it's worth over a more budget hi-fi system. Hearing £400 floorstanders recently made me realise there is some great sounding hi-fi out there that is attainable - just stay well away from their limits.

 

[davidf]

Yeah i live in a top flat, so i do have to be careful with my downstairs neighbours. I'm sure they cant stand the repetitive nature of electronic music.

While you can't stop airborne vibration, you can address structure vibration making its way through to them, which is what most people tend to hear, especially in solid structure buildings.