Sansui AU217 - recommendations for speakers and cables

[admin_exported]

Hello all

I’m in the process of upgrading my presentsystem which consists of Marantz CD72 (good), NAD 552 turntable (good) KenwoodKA2080R (poor) and a pair of Tannoy 631SE bookshelf speakers (OK). I’m planning onsplitting the above into two systems – the main one to play my itunes losslesslibrary from the mac mini file server and the other in a separate room to play vinyl and CDs .

I”ve made a start by adding a DACmagic tothe main system, getting the Tannoys onto stands (Attacama Nexus) and replacingthe old Kenwood amp with a Sansui AU217. The initial improvement has beenstaggering, but I guess there’s still even more scope for further improvement.

I want to add some QED silver anniversaryXT speaker cable which I can order with connects already attached. However the Sansui has the old style string loaded connect which takes the bare cablewithout any connect. Is this OK for a cable of this quality or is there a moresophisticated way of connecting to the amp.

Given the quality of the Sansui (stunning!)the Tannoys are destined for the second system, so can anyone recommendsuitable stand mounted speakers that will sing with the Sansui – I’m more thanhappy to take the second hand route.

All my updates to date on this are based onadvice and info gleaned from this forum – many thanks to everyone for this.Listening to music has become a pleasurable experience again

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

mission 752 or mission 753 (1st version and not the freedom model) ... B&W DM2a ... and loads more ... am sure that you will get many suggestions

best bet if buying via ebay, is to ask the seller if you can look/hear before bidding ... then take your amp and cdp with and audition ...

 

[the record spot]

Well, coming form someone who knows...

...I use the same amp (is it the original 217 or the Mark 2, easily identified with latter bearing the "AU-217 II" legend?) and partner it with Marantz's SA7001-KI CDP and Mission 752 floorstanders.

If you're looking for floorstanders, you could look at Mission's 751 standmount, which is an excellent speaker, but - as another poster here has found recently - doesn't work well with some music if partnered with overly bright amps or sources. I think you'd be good to go with those and you can get a good pair for no more than £100 and often less. See also the 752 if you've room for a pair of floorstanders. Both will give you dynamism and detail in abundance, with a realistic line in bass rather than overflowing and bloomy. That suits my tastes, but maybe not everyone's.

Alternatives, too many to mention, but KEF's Q35.2, with the UniQ driver technology was highly praised around the same time as the Mission 75 range.

Going new, I'd seriously recommend the Q Acoustics 1050i, Hi Fi World's speaker of the year in 2008, it's still highly rated by them even now and will withstand an upgrade or two, even to the likes of Leema Pulse level (£1200 or so). Expect yet more dynamism but partnered with a big old chunky sound that's pure pleasure to listen to. You can get these for about £220-£250 now that Q's replacement 2050 has come on the market in their wake.

EDIT: Re: the speaker cable, I use Audioquest Type IV biwire and it just fits nicely, albeit a squeeze. No worries re: the cable you use, just ensure the width isn't going to be an issue ahead of purchase.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi guys

Thanks for the response.

Ironically I did have a pair of Mission 752s back in the early 90s (partnered with a Sugden A25 which never did it for me). Unfortunately they didn't fit the dynamics or the aesthetics (so I was told!) of the room they were in, so I gave them to my son in law about 5-6 years ago. I'm quite attracted to the 751s which I assume as stand mounted could be placed closer to the wall, and if they share the charactoristics of the 752s would suit me well.

The Tannoys do give a warm midrange but are a little lacking in punch in the base, and in general are a bit light weight for the Sansui. They are well worth keeping so I may in future be asking advice for an amp to partner this - possibly Kenwood KA-3020SE?

To reiterate the cable query - is it OK to attach the bare wire of a quality cable into the spring loaded terminals atthe back of the Sansui?

Again thanks for the advice, both before and after my maiden post, it's much appreciated

Tom

 

[the record spot]

Re: the cable, as I said, I put my cable into the spring loaded terminals of my AU-217, again, just check that the width of your preferred cable isn't going to be too wide for the limited space the Sansui amp has. Works fine for me, but yes, a bit more room wouldn't go amiss!

As for the speakers, I think the Sansui and the 751s would work very well together. Good call!

 

[Anonymous]

my old amp also has the spring clip connectors which are a real pain, as some of the thicker speaker cables are way too thick for the tiny holes ... someone on this forum suggested the Russ andrews spring clip adaptors which cost under £20

http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?src="google&lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=5704&customer_id=PAA1443111709312PQEVTRTCCWZEKGBU"

your standard banana plug connectors fit into these ... I may however have standard banana plug connectors fitted on my amp when I have it serviced

 

[Anonymous]

Not sure if the B&W DM2a's will suit your setup, but works ok with my Pioneer A400 amp ... currently use it with my Pioneer sa-9800 and is superb...

currently listening to the Black eyed peas ... superb bass and treble - good value for money and are transmission design (these can be had for approx £150-£180 on ebay)

recently listened to a pair of mezzo 8's (one of the cd's I listened to whilst auditioning was the same by the black eyed peas) ... bass was poor IMHO and they cost nearly £900

 

[Anonymous]

Dim Span, thanks for the heads up on the Kimber adaptors - just what I'm looking for.

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

arclight65:

Dim Span, thanks for the heads up on the Kimber adaptors - just what I'm looking for.

Tom

pleasure Tom ... only thing that bothers me with these is that it just creates another connection between the amp and the speakers ... on my previous post, I said the standard banana plug fitting clips into these, but looking closely at the photo, I am not sure ... perhaps the bare cable gets connected to these (the same way as a standard banana plug) ... so best to check with them first

so perhaps the best is to search for a thinner good quality cable that fits into your amp's speaker terminals (or have other standard terminals fitted to your amp if you are planning to use thicker cable) ... I may have good quality gold plated terminals fitted on mine and they dont cost all that much

 

[chebby]

QED 42 Strand will be authentic with gear from this era and fits those spring clips. (Cheap too.)