[richard51]

Between a Sansui AU7500 and an AU217, which would you guys recommend? For headphone use primarily and thinking of driving a He6 with them

Same good golden age of Sansui, same power, the au 217 is less old, take the one in the best shape, amplifier this old would need to be recapped....I am in love with my Au 7700.... Sansui give me quality for cheap price...

 Either one you choose you will not regret the sound! i have NEVER read a bad review about the Sansuis made  between 1970 and 1980....And i have read them ALL, thousand of pages read ,  before buying mine....

 

[Rossliew]

  Same good golden age of Sansui, same power, the au 217 is less old, take the one in the best shape, amplifier this old would need to be recapped....I am in love with my Au 7700.... Sansui give me quality for cheap price...

 Either one you choose you will not regret the sound! i have NEVER read a bad review about the Sansuis made  between 1970 and 1980....And i have read them ALL, thousand of pages read ,  before buying mine....

Thanks...may consider buying both LOL! Both have not been recapped, the 7500 has only had its switches cleaned that's all. Will probably just use it till the caps fail..

 

[SpeakerBox]

 
Thanks...may consider buying both LOL! Both have not been recapped, the 7500 has only had its switches cleaned that's all. Will probably just use it till the caps fail..

 
If you use an amp until caps fail you do risk taking out other parts of the circuit with the failure.  Keep in mind these could be parts that are hard to come by.  Just a thought for you to ponder.

 

[Amish]

   
If you use an amp until caps fail you do risk taking out other parts of the circuit with the failure.  Keep in mind these could be parts that are hard to come by.  Just a thought for you to ponder.

This! Of course most people have no idea a cap is going to blow but on vintage equipment it is not a bad idea to recap just to be safe.

 

[atarione]

 
This! Of course most people have no idea a cap is going to blow but on vintage equipment it is not a bad idea to recap just to be safe.

 
 
there are some (I tend towards this camp as well) that feel that recapping can change the original sound of an amp and take a if it ain't broke stance.  
 
obviously there is some downside risk to running stuff with 30yr old caps (or more or less depending) ... but if after taking stock / measurements and things seem to check out ... Personally I'd rather leave well enough alone.

 

[SpeakerBox]

   
 
there are some (I tend towards this camp as well) that feel that recapping can change the original sound of an amp and take a if it ain't broke stance.  
 
obviously there is some downside risk to running stuff with 30yr old caps (or more or less depending) ... but if after taking stock / measurements and things seem to check out ... Personally I'd rather leave well enough alone.

 
Once a vintage piece reaches the 30 to 40 year level it is a forgone conclusion that caps will fail.  I have recapped at least 50 vintage receivers and have not seen one that did not have a least one capacitor that was not at least leaking (a forerunner to complete failure).  Yes you risk a change in sound if not careful but the alternative is much worse.

 

[atarione]

Listening right now to my late 80s Sony ES stack :  TA-N77ES amplifier / TA-E77ESD / 700ES Tape deck / 730ES tuner /C75ES changer  and I have a Hitachi PS-48 turntable  running this w/ JBL L1 speakers currently.
 
 
I paid a whopping $75 for the whole sony stack (w/ a N110 amp and also SDP-777ES surround processor (not currently using these items)  stack was in VG condition (meter lamps out : replaced them then 2yrs later the replacements burnt (lol) and replaced them again (mostly leave the meter lamps off now however).
 
 
I apparently cannot yet post photos as I just joined but I will be back to post photos of this as well as my Onkyo stack (M5050 / P3030..etc) later
 
 
 

 

[Rossliew]

If you use an amp until caps fail you do risk taking out other parts of the circuit with the failure.  Keep in mind these could be parts that are hard to come by.  Just a thought for you to ponder.

Noted with thanks. All depends how busy my buddy is with his refurb works so I may just enjoy the amp as it is in the meantime until I can find a slot in his schedule lol.

 

[StiltsNZ]

  Congratulations! i live with  the same WOW feeling with the sansui Au 7700, it is so good that i dont turn back to another amp. except Sansui...All my other amp were not on the same league at all...

 

I see you're running Morrow interconnects - do you notice a significant difference with those?
 
What are others using as interconnects?
 
Oh, the other thing I'm considering is replacing the spring clips with binding posts for the speaker connections - not that I'm using the Sansui for anything but headphones atm, but if you've got quality, why lose that through poor connections right? Anyone else upgraded to binding posts?

 

[wotts]

I finally got around to building a rack to hold some of my receivers. Here they are in their temporary home (building a basement bar/ listening area). I still don't have it hooked up, but I'm looking to this weekend.
 
 

 
Top to bottom: Sansui RA-500, B22, Pioneer SX-525, SX-650, SX-1250, SX-1980 and SX-D7000. Emotiva XDA3 stuck in there too.
Speakers are HPM-100s.

 

[richard51]

  I see you're running Morrow interconnects - do you notice a significant difference with those?
 
What are others using as interconnects?
 
Oh, the other thing I'm considering is replacing the spring clips with binding posts for the speaker connections - not that I'm using the Sansui for anything but headphones atm, but if you've got quality, why lose that through poor connections right? Anyone else upgraded to binding posts?

yes Morrow, i must say that i listen to 5 or 6 cables(ordinary one or cables around 100 dollars) and i hear difference at each time, positive one and negative ones.... The better cable i listen to were the Morrow ma1 in the first place, after that i upgrade to the Ma3, and it was an upgrade....Sorbothane mods are greater upgrade than cable for me but i trust Morrow cable now, ... It is certain that there is some others good cable companies but i cannot listen to all, hence i stick with Morrow cable because of the reviews and  the not too high price used of the Ma3, the sound is more clean all across the range...it is very audible in my chain gear...

 

[Skylab]

there are some (I tend towards this camp as well) that feel that recapping can change the original sound of an amp and take a if it ain't broke stance.  

obviously there is some downside risk to running stuff with 30yr old caps (or more or less depending) ... but if after taking stock / measurements and things seem to check out ... Personally I'd rather leave well enough alone.

Unless one has the ability and time to check the values of the caps to see if they are in spec, this argument about recapping changing the original sound doesn't hold water. An out of spec cap not only may be nearing failure but will also change what was the original sound. Unless all the caps are within spec, a recapped unit will likely sound MORE like the unit did originally, not less.

 

[SpeakerBox]

Unless one has the ability and time to check the values of the caps to see if they are in spec, this argument about recapping changing the original sound doesn't hold water. An out of spec cap not only may be nearing failure but will also change what was the original sound. Unless all the caps are within spec, a recapped unit will likely sound MORE like the unit did originally, not less.

 
+1 and two thumbs up!

 

[Silent One]

I finally got around to building a rack to hold some of my receivers. Here they are in their temporary home (building a basement bar/ listening area). I still don't have it hooked up, but I'm looking to this weekend.





Top to bottom: Sansui RA-500, B22, Pioneer SX-525, SX-650, SX-1250, SX-1980 and SX-D7000. Emotiva XDA3 stuck in there too.
Speakers are HPM-100s.

Beautifully displayed! Except, the rack doesn't leave any space to stash the BIG AT&T Phone Book (circa 1970s)!

 

[atarione]

some pics of my vintage gear:
 
Pioneer SX-3600 (I really like the meters on this ..nice sounding receiver also).

 
 
Sony TA-N77ES/TA-E77ES/700ES/730ES stack.