[wotts]

I'm thinking about it. Bit of a commitment though!

 

[musicman59]

  I'm thinking about it. Bit of a commitment though!

You should buy these too... 

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-mcintosh-xr5-vintage-full-range-speakers-2015-04-02-speakers-97229-portland-or

 

[PhoenixG]

  You should buy these too... 

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-mcintosh-xr5-vintage-full-range-speakers-2015-04-02-speakers-97229-portland-or

Or get these - http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/ele/4938088302.html
Slightly smaller, come with the required EQ, recapped, refoamed, just better haha.
Love me some Mc speakers.

 

[SirMarc]

Quick question for you sansui guys. Is 500 a good deal for a recapped au-717?

 

[jgreen16]

If it is in good cosmetic condition, I'd say that is a fairly reasonable price. Do you know if during the recapping process, the infamous Sansui glue was also completely removed?

 

[jgreen16]

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=407467
 
A quick Google search for Sansui AU-717 glue will return many resources for learning about this glue, and it being corrosive over time. It isn't just isolated to the AU-717 either, but was used in a lot of their equipment of that era.

 

[SirMarc]

Haven't spoken to anyone yet. Looks pretty mint from the pics. I'll probably call tomorrow. Any questions I should ask?

 

[Skylab]

This place, which sells refurbed units at quite steep prices, sold an AU717 for $850. So if the recap was done nicely, $500 is probably very reasonable.

http://www.classicaudio.com/forsale/san/AU717.html

 

[SirMarc]

Thanks. I'll research the glue issue. Anything else?

 

[jgreen16]

You may want to ask if the output transistors were looked at/checked. Even if they are good, it would be nice if they had been removed, cleaned, and new heatsink compound applied when reinstalling.
 
Other items to ask about would be if the speaker protection relay was checked, and if the bias and DC offset had been set to spec.
 
The AU-717 is a very nice piece of equipment, and its rated 85 wpc is widely believed to be pretty conservative.

 

[jgreen16]

A couple of sites to take a look at what a resto of the AU-717 can involve -
 
http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/topic/45189-sansui-au717-restoration/
 
http://liquidaudio.com.au/sansui-au-717-amplifier-repair-restoration/

 

[SirMarc]

Thanks guys

 

[moodyrn]

Yes, all very good suggestions. I've worked on a few sansui's and the glue is just a pain to remove. And yes, it is very corrosive. I've seen it eat through resistor leads, capacitors and even the pcb itself. Always a good idea to remove that. I'm sure if it was recapped, this probably was done. I would also make sure out of spec resistors and any germanium trannies were replaced. I just recently worked on an au2000 were one 4.7ohm resistor on the driver board was badly out of spec. It caused the bias to be out of whack and made one side of the output transistors run really hot. Setting the bias to factory spec wouldn't make any difference. after about 20 minutes the bias would jump all the way up from 35mv to over 100mv!.
 
So just doing a recap isn't going to make it reliable without giving it a complete going over. With all of that said, if it was recapped and everything else has been brought up to snuff, 500.00 is a pretty good price and would be hard to beat. I hope everything goes well. While I personally haven't heard a restored au717, echowars over at AK, thinks a nicely restored one is everybit as good as much higher regarded vintage gear.

 

[SirMarc]

Haven't called yet, not sure I want to do this, as it seems a gamble. Might rather find a beat one for cheaper and get it done up to my spec. Either way, probably looking at at least a thousand I'm guessing. At that point is it worth it? For that money I could pick up a rogue audio integrated with a warranty. Hmm... Does anyone know of a qualified tech in nj?

 

[buson160man]

  I'll just leave this here:
 
http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/ele/4952853568.html

 Wow all of that equipment  for only 14 thousand that looks to be a steal for the price. But it sure takes up a lot of room .