Is Sansui Gear Really This Good?

[sunbeamgls]

Is this price really justified? Is this kit any good? Are the 19 offers likely to be geunine?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sansui-HiFi-System-B-1000-C-1000-CD-V-1000-T-1000-New-condition-Hardly-used/230990529084?_trksid=p11021.m2364&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D216%26meid%3D4780133148413298164%26pid%3D100084%26prg%3D1115%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D151230285227%26&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:3160

 

[Pussycat]

Absolutely ghastly !!!!! If these stack systems are making a comeback I'll hang up my hifi hat in total disbelief ! EQUALISER !?!? Bloody Norah, that HAS to be the attraction here, surely (insert appropriate emoticon/smiley)

 

[JANDL100]

Is this price really justified? Is this kit any good? Are the 19 offers likely to be geunine?

You don't know what the offers are - maybe the highest one is £5.

 

[rockmeister]

Sansui were good...occasionally up there with Pioneer, maybe even Marantz quality with one or two bits and pieces.

Looking at the listing I'd expect to think around 50-100 for each item, maybe 300 for the speakers??? So I'd say it's gone beyond it's real value IMO but not crap at all, and might even sound decent if the speakers are well designed (don't be put off by fins and etc, at heart these may well be copies of designs by good makers such as JBL?)

 

[themadlatvian]

I totally disagree with you Mike. I have two excellent Sansui amplifiers.

Granted the stacking bit is a big downer, but actually the 1000 series was very capable, and bloody expensive. The price has gone quite a bit enthusiastically high, but this is far from being old worhtless junk and is certainly not 'ghastly'.

Strangely the equalizer is likely to be the least valuable component, with the cassette deck.

Would I buy it? - no, particularly at that high price, but do I understand why people would like to have it? - absolutely.

:^

 

[JANDL100]

Yep, decent vintage kit, certainly collectable - and all as-new allegedly. Probably worth £600-£700? I wonder what the seller would accept?

Interesting - the same kit from the same seller back in May last year! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sansui-HiFi-System-B-1000-C-1000-CD-V-1000-T-1000-New-condition-Hardly-used-/230817200432?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item35bdc6f930&clk_rvr_id=585989428535&afsrc=1

Obviously wants more than folks are willing to spend!

Someone offered over a £grand. :shock:

 

[pure sound]

Sansui have made some very fine products.

Items like the AU111 amplifier are still sought after.

The mighty TU-X1 tuner is thought by many to be the best FM tuner ever made and the prices they fetch reflect this.



But the stuff in the eBay auction looks to be some way from their totl items.

 

[RobHolt]

The sought after stuff dates a little earlier than the system pictured.

Mostly amplifiers and tuners from the 70s.

Having said that, if the kit in that eBay link is working properly it'll be no worse than you'll get from budget-middle range kit today.

 

[a91gti]

All together like that and boxed it probably is well worth it. I'd sell organs to own those speakers.

I've not had experience with those exact units but I had an AU919 and I was a twat getting rid of it.

 

[notevenclose]

Is this price really justified? Is this kit any good? Are the 19 offers likely to be geunine?http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sansui-HiFi-System-B-1000-C-1000-CD-V-1000-T-1000-New-condition-Hardly-used/230990529084?_trksid=p11021.m2364&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D216%26meid%3D4780133148413298164%26pid%3D100084%26prg%3D1115%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D151230285227%26&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:3160

No. No. And who knows?

Sansui made some superb kit in the 70s and 80s, and while never as well known or 'glamorous' as the likes of Pioneer or Sony, their classic stuff stood comparison with anything else from Japan inc. Plus all 'classic' Sansui separates (with the exception of their receivers) were resolutely black at a time that wasn't trendy.

Like virtually all the other Japanese manufacturers, they got caught up in the likes of the 'tuner wars' and produced some superb kit from budget to high-end kit.

Most importantly, their stuff always sounded good, whereas a lot of the other Jap stuff was often prone to being just an exercise in 'specmanship.'

Pretty much my all-time favourite Japanese manufacturer of the period other than Luxman.

Sadly, the company had a somewhat difficult time from the late 80s on (even owned by Polly Peck at one time) and ended up owned by China plc AFAIK.

As a general rule of thumb, if it's CD-era Sansui it's unlikely to be a real classic, with the exception of some of the high end integrated amps perhaps.

 

[RobHolt]

I don't buy the prejudice against mass market Japanese electronics from the 70s and 80s at all.

It's generally comparable to equipment sold today, and better than some of the odder stuff at the higher prices.

There is nothing wrong with excellent specs, other than they sometimes aren't necessary for good sound beyond a certain point though it depends in which area you look.

Back in those days cassette and FM were serious sources and the spec was a good indicator of audio quality. Both mediums are pretty flawed, therefore the higher end products were very audibility superior. Different thing for amplifiers - if 40w was enough then a Sansui AU317 with it's 'ok' spec will sound no worse than a model topping the range.

Technics made some absolutely stunning cartridges the like of which simply don't exist today. Technically superb with amazing specs compared to what is common 20-30 years on, so there are cases where pushing the specs was very worthwhile.

 

[Guest]

Different thing for amplifiers - if 40w was enough then a Sansui AU317 with it's 'ok' spec will sound no worse than a model topping the range.

Oooh, my Dad used to have one of those driving some JBL's year and years ago, spent a lot of time listening to that set up, happy memories. I remember the amp have great 'knob feel' .

 

[notevenclose]

I don't buy the prejudice against mass market Japanese electronics from the 70s and 80s at all.It's generally comparable to equipment sold today, and better than some of the odder stuff at the higher prices.

There is nothing wrong with excellent specs, other than they sometimes aren't necessary for good sound beyond a certain point though it depends in which area you look.

Back in those days cassette and FM were serious sources and the spec was a good indicator of audio quality. Both mediums are pretty flawed, therefore the higher end products were very audibility superior. Different thing for amplifiers - if 40w was enough then a Sansui AU317 with it's 'ok' spec will sound no worse than a model topping the range.

Technics made some absolutely stunning cartridges the like of which simply don't exist today. Technically superb with amazing specs compared to what is common 20-30 years on, so there are cases where pushing the specs was very worthwhile.

Having sung the praises of Sansui and Luxman, that's an anti-Japanese prejudice?

Pioneer made some amps with, for the time, amazing specs. SA9100 for example. Just didn't actually sound very good if you did something inconvenient, like connected it to a pair of 'typical' loudspeakers of the era, say BC1s or Kef 104s. (Much happier with JBLs or Altecs or something else easier to drive. Although I once made the mistake of hooking up a pair of Lowthers and f*** that was a horrible noise...). But certainly the matching tuner was superb and they did make some very fine cassette decks. But to my ears, a lot of the time the same was true of the likes of Akai, Trio and Technics amps, beautifully made, often (there were exceptions) didn't actually sound that good in comparison to European opt.

At the time, I worked for a dealership which held agencies for Sansui, Pioneer, Luxman, Akai and Technics as well as Sansui. On the 'other side' we had Armstrong, Rogers, Cambridge Audio (when they weren't on fire), Sugden and er, Tandberg and HK. Leaving Luxman aside, of the mass-market Japanese options, I'd maintain Sansui maintained a higher level of consistency and quality with regard to a 'house sound' across the range than the others and it would be my preferred choice for a 'one brand' system.

I'm afraid I don't accept the argument the 317 typically sounded no different to say, a 919.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

I think the prices often reflect a kind of nostalgia. "I remember XYZ stereo/car/bike/whatever, and would like to rediscover that feeling." Independent of actual performance. They may be that good, but that's not what we are buying into. This is totally the wrong period for me, Radford/Garrard/Tannoy would work, though!

Look at post #9 to see my point. (Not knocking that, BTW.) If it works for you, great.

And Raleigh Chopper nostalgia? Heh!

 

[It Cost How Much!?!]

Would you really want that sat in your lounge? Probaly worth half to a third of what is being asked, but somebody somewhere will have wanted one thirty years ago.

I remember the Sansui speakers being pretty awful, not a patch on the Pioneer's / Sony's of the time.

 

[TheMooN]

Sansui have made some very fine products.Items like the AU111 amplifier are still sought after.

Indeed Guy ~

 

[a91gti]

I think the speakers are damn fine looking, if anyone has a pair of them or similar I would gladly hand over my 'noy's.

 

[notevenclose]

Would you really want that sat in your lounge? Probaly worth half to a third of what is being asked, but somebody somewhere will have wanted one thirty years ago.I remember the Sansui speakers being pretty awful, not a patch on the Pioneer's / Sony's of the time.

Probably depends which ones we're talking about. The ones shown are after my time and probably less than stellar. But Sansui had a long term distribution relationship with JBL, I have half a recollection that some higher-end Sansuis were in effect rebadged JBLs or as near as dammit. I remember being in the Sansui room at some trade show and noticing the speakers they were using looked kind of familiar (we had a JBL agency).

I think quite a few people were a little surprised by the sound given you couldn't give Japanese speakers away at the time in the UK, and I don't think Sansui tried to market them in this country. Might be wrong though.

I have an even more vague rmemory of Audio Technica using high-end Sansui electronics and speakers at a product launch, the main man's son was in the UK at the time and he was a big fan.

F*** not only does it worry me how old I am, it's scary I still have all this stuff in my head.

 

[fordy]

Classic Sansui are still regarded very highly here, especially the transformers which Sansui always excelled at. They spun the transformer side of the business out to Hashimoto in the 70's who continue to make excellent transformers derived from the Sansui IP they bought. Hashimoto have supplied most of the trannies to Sansui throughout there long history.