Vintage solid state Sansui

hale2thechief

I want to brag a little bit...I think Dangerboy can appreciate this.

Earlier this week, I contacted a seller on Craigslist regarding a Dual 1225 turntable. The seller was asking 30.00 for the TT, not an exceptional 'table, but it is a vintage Dual. When I arrived, he asked "Would you be interested in this receiver?". He brought out a Sansui 1000x. Not a model I recognized, but it was extremely clean.

I didn't get to "audition" either piece...he just plugged them in and spun the 'table. After a few minutes, the Sansui started smoking and stinking. But I figured, "hey, if it's cheap enough, the walnut cabinet is worth a few bucks."

The seller was the original owner of both pieces, he bought them as a young lad when he was in Vietnam. I ended up with a Dual TT AND a Sansui 1000x for 35.00, much to my wife's chagrin.

When I tried the Dual, it sounded like CRAP. I gave everything a blast of Deoxit and replaced the 30 year old RCA cables. It ended up sounding fairly sweet through my Pioneer SX-1010. It still has an issue or two, but all in all, pretty good.

My real fear was the receiver...What if the transformer is trashed? Was that stink an output frying? Is it worth the cost of a tech's time plus parts? I have the electronics know-how of a chimp, but I removed the cabinet to check out the guts...a seashell fell out (did a kid wonder if it'd fit in the vent slot?). The heat sinks were covered in dust and hair. A good wipedown and vacuuming, along with some Deoxit led to the much anticipated headphone audition. Sound was only audible from the left channel. "Crap!" I fiddled with the tape monitor toggles and got both channels. "Eureka!" More Deoxit on the toggle switches with particular attention to the tape monitor toggles.

Long story short (I know...too late), this little 30ish wpc gem (does anyone know the actual specs on this receiver?) is right now playing Triumph on the Dual TT through my Craigslist Polk Monitor 10B speakers and I couldn't be happier. This is the absolute beauty of vintage audio gear...less than one third the power of my Onkyo and it sounds at least as good as that 1000.00 receiver!

Sure, I'd love to get my mitts on a Sansui 9090, Pioneer SX-1980 or a Marantz 2270, but for five dollars and about three hours of my time, it's tough to imagine a better deal.

F1nut

I love a happy ending. Enjoy!

danger boy

there you go.. just when you thought that Sansui receiver had bought the farm, it comes back to life and won your heart.

nice going.. while i'm not familiar with that particular receiver.. it just goes to show that some well made vintage gear given a little TLC can be made to sound like new again.

a friend of mine took his Pioneer 1500TX in for a cleaning to a local repair shop... the receiver was in great condition.. he was going to sell it after he got it cleaned and serviced.. now he's having second thoughts about selling it. he said the DeOxit cleaning and the other deep cleaning actually made it sound better than it ever has.

thanks for the great story hale. got a pic or two of that Dual and Sansui to see it?

engtaz

My Carver Receiver 900 had a similar problem. 1 day, one of the channel sounded like it was going bad so I unplugged it and took it over to the table to open it up when I heard a jingle. No, it was not Santa's reindeer. I turned it over to see if anything would fall out. Apparently, my toddle was using the vent slots as a piggy bank. About 15 coins came out. The Carver still works to this day.

Congrats on your luck and new toys,
engtaz

danger boy

hale, if you haven't already... replace the cartridge and stylus on the Dual. it may have the original stylus and cart.. which would be older than my grandma

seriously, a new cartridge and stylus can take a so so sounding table up several notches. if you order the cartridge, make sure they include the 4 tiny wire leads.. those need to be changed out when you replace the cart.

Music Joe

Congrats on your Dual.
This Dual site is a decent starter point for tips and info.

heiney9

Nice story! Every piece of used equipment I buy (not that many really) that has any sort of mechanical parts always gets a DeOxit treatment as well as Caig-Pro Gold lube/conditioner. It's amazing what a small amount of cleaning can do to transform an audio piece. Even just cleaning the RCA jacks periodically can result in an improvement.

H9

Yashu

Vintage sansui is pretty good. I have a vinage Sansui Tuner. I love how well they are built.

Is your unit black and REALLY heavy? They used dual mono designs in most of their old integrated amps...

sda2mike

good to see that vintage gear found a good home and not the trash heap!:cool:

hale2thechief

Thanks for the kudos, everyone.

I don't think I'm going to tell the seller. It's tought to have sympathy for someone who didn't take care of his gear.

Anyhoo, here are some pics:

mrbigbluelight

Keiko wrote: »

My first real system was a Sansui. Top equipment back in the day. I got a
RA-990 reverb amp kept handy for karaoke when guests come over.It's so 80's ish. Enjoy your Sansui's chief.

Keiko, to get a feel for the early 70's, when you're playing your Led Zepplin, go over to the RA-990 reverb and "Plunk" it with your finger.

..... gives a real "Wah Wah" effect.

..... not to mention, if you plunk it hard enough, you'll be able to see God !

:eek:

hale2thechief

There's a guy here at the local flea market with an RA-500 reverb amp, maybe that'll be my next acquisition. Spin some Houses of the Holy, stare into the groovy lights and give it a good "plunk". All the best parts of chemical enhancement without the risk of jail time.

Yashu

Move to Canada, then you can have both! Imagine giving it a plunk then!

But seriously, I love Sansui. I love many of the big 70's brands... Marantz, Sansui, Pioneer, NAD, Yamaha, and of course, McIntosh.

I am partial to Marantz, but just because that is probably the best vintage I could ever imagine affording. I hear some of the Yamahas are pretty good too, some of them have a switch that will put them into class A mode.

hale2thechief: What local market? I am in Houston too... I would love to know where to look for some good vintage gear.

danger boy

Hale2, I took the liberty of making your pictures a little brighter.. you can see a little more detail that way.

both look in really good condition and cleaned up well too. you use either one yet?

hale2thechief

Yashu,

Please keep in mind, I have no affiliation to any of these folks, I've just stumbled on them in my quest for locally acquired vintage gear (I fear shipping).

The flea market guy is Gary at Trader's Village. His website is www.soundsgoodtomehouston.com. His prices tend to be a little high (upper end of classicaudio.com values), but he comes up with some cool stuff from time to time.

There's also a guy down in Texas City who called me yesterday with a Carver M500T amp, C2 pre and TX2 tuner.

One more guy in Kingwood, in case you're interested, who specializes in repair and refurbish of Dual turntables. If you search "Adopt a Dual" you can find him.

hale2thechief

db,

Thanks for that. I snapped them before work this morning and didn't look at them until later.

I've used both and was VERY happy with the sound. The cart on the Dual is not original and is OK condition, but a new cart is in my future. I also need to invest in a tracking force gauge...the arm on the 1225 is pretty cheap and I don't trust the scale on the counterweight.

I doubt that either of these will replace my Pioneer gear, but I just couldn't pass up the deal.

mhardy6647

The 1000x docs arent' on here, but lots of other old Sansui gear is:
http://www.classicsansui.net/



There was also a vacuum tube 1000A receiver; push-pull 7591 outputs (probably about 25 wpc). These were fairly nice, with excellent output iron. They're not uncommon, and can still be found fairly cheaply. I have one of these "in the queue" for restoration someday...

I think I have a little info on the solid state 1000A in a 1971 Burstein-Applebee catalog. I'll check and post a scan later if I am correct.



(EDIT: that one's not mine... the image is from www.thermionic.org)

hale2thechief

hardy, you're an enabler. Now I have to seek out a 1000 or 1000A.

I know this makes me a freak here, but I've never listened to any tube gear. Something tells me I'm missing out on a whole new aspect of my sickness.

mhardy6647

bwahahahahahahahahaha...

People like the 1000A. Quite a bit.

EDIT: I should say that those old ss Sansuis weren't bad, either. I actually have a 5000A somplace in the basement.

Yashu

H2TC: I had a funny feeling you would mention that place. That is the only vintage audio shop I know of here... I called the guy once to ask if he had any good analog tuners. He said no, then I asked about 70s vintage receivers, and he said he was about out at the time. I suppose his stock is always in flux.

I ended up buying my tuner on ebay, and I still have trouble getting a good signal from KTRU (my reason for owning a tuner, besides HPR), but it is better than any digital tuner has done so far. I think I need a better antenna, but I don't know of any good ones I can use indoors and I have no idea how to make my own that is tuned to a certain station. I have seen instructions all over the net and none of them make any sense since I am not an expert in radio waves.

hale2thechief

Someone please stop me! I need an intervention.

I got another receiver (Pioneer SX-636, little brother of the 1010) from e-Pay. Fortunately, I only look at stuff in town and this guy literally lives two neighborhoods over. Anyway, he is an installer for one of the big-box stores and apparently gets older gear all the time. SWEET!!!

"Do you want a turntable?", he queries.
"Does 200 pounds of flour make a big biscuit?", I respond in smart-**** fashion.

Yashu

Wow, that stuff looks like it's in great condition. That TT is a nice minamalist design, me likes.

Man this is making me wish I bought that restored Marantz 2270 in the wooden cab when I had the chance

hale2thechief

It's an entry level HK, but it's in nice shape. There are a couple of bulbs to replace in the receiver, but no real issues there. I'll probably crack it open this weekend...while Yashu builds his new antenna.

Yashu

I have a vintage Pioneer table that I use... I am planning on hooking it back up soon, since I have a pre on the way with a phono section built in, and it is better than the little phono pre I had been using in the past. I have some work to do on the table though, including: refinishing and polishing of the clear dust lid, replacement of old power cord with a new one (nothing fancy, just modern stock), new ICs, and proper alignment of the cartridge (I need to get some alignment tools).

The antenna experiment, and SAW IV come before the TT, I am sorry to say

hale2thechief

Yashu,

There is one other vintage guy in town, Carl's Radio World, down in the Almeda Antiques Mall. He lists a lot on eBay, but he apparently sells a good bit of gear straight out of his booth/store. I've only exchanged a couple of e-mails, so I can't vouch for him or his products.

Also, let me know how the dust cover refinish goes...my Pioneer TT has a lot of paint spatters and scratches. I'll be interested to see how yours turns out.

Yashu

Will do. I have to get it out of storage by the end of november... so, I should be working on it soon enough. I already got the new pre... now I just need the table.

johnny_fever

I love my Sansui equipment. At the time Im cranking some Who on the Polk 7B's. I rotate the Sansui's 9090db, 990db, G8000, 5000x, 2000's & a nice little 881. I stay amazed at how great the 7B's sound. I find alot of Sansui info hear http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39 Later Rick