My new sub-$200 vintage amp/speaker system (warning, pictures)

[mkyy]

A friend of my mom is ready to replace his vintage Sansui 881 receiver with a new 5.1 home theatre system. I volunteer to take good care of it, and here it goes:

What about some Sansui headphone...
They do look somewhat like gold-plated Grado

Some specs:
http://www.classicaudio.com/value/san/881.html

The last auction on Ebay for this amplifier goes for $65. The speakers are Michaura M55 made by axiom in Canada, $75. According to reviews, they sound very much like the M22ti. Later on, I'll make some IC and speaker cable, and the whole system w/o the CD-player would make it below $200.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Nice photos and job on getting a good system for so cheap!!!! I hope you enjoy the tunes from it for a long, long time!!!

 

[darkclouds]

Excellent job!

I had the same idea. Got the michauras for a bit more than you did, but still a great bargain considering how good they sound. I'm gonna be pairing them up to a vintage Marantz 2245. Total should be about $250 spent. I this combo would beat those minisystems in the same price range easily. Now, if I can find a nice cheap source/cd player, that would be perfect.

By the way, those michauras put out some nice bass considering their size.

 

[mkyy]

darkclouds, I do think the michauras live up the hype, they certainly are good considered the price I paid. I bought a Marantz 1060 for $25 on ebay just before I got this amplifier, would be interesting to see how the Marantz would stack up against the Sansui.

 

[darkclouds]

Man, I'm gonna do a little comparo between this budget system with the ASL 1005DTI, AES AE-3, 2 Pi and see if it's worth the enormous price difference, for me at least. I'm leaning heavily in favor of the second system, and would be extremely dissappointed of the difference is only marginal.

In anycase, I don't think I would be dissappointed with my budget system.

By the way, that shangling cd player looks SWEET!

 

[mkyy]

Quote:

Originally posted by darkclouds Man, I'm gonna do a little comparo between this budget system with the ASL 1005DTI, AES AE-3, 2 Pi and see if it's worth the enormous price difference, for me at least. I'm leaning heavily in favor of the second system, and would be extremely dissappointed of the difference is only marginal. In anycase, I don't think I would be dissappointed with my budget system.

I was thinking about tube integrated before getting hooked with vintage SS. But on a per buck basis, you can't really beat a good vintage system.

Quote:

By the way, that shangling cd player looks SWEET!

They sure do, even more so if you know how much I paid.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by darkclouds ...By the way, that shangling cd player looks SWEET!

Nice system!

But, I would hate to think what the weight of that vintage Sansui would do to the top of the CD player.

Ouch!

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by bootman But, I would hate to think what the weight of that vintage Sansui would do to the top of the CD player.

Assuming the cabinet of the CDP can handle the weight, it probably helps with vibration damping.

 

[SliPkNoT]

the receiver looks really old, is it any good?

 

[mkyy]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch Assuming the cabinet of the CDP can handle the weight, it probably helps with vibration damping.

The receiver is indeed heavy.
That's what I thought, to help reduce vibration.

slipknot, the amplifier is made in the early 70s if I remember correctly. I just have it yesterday, so I'm still in the process of evaluating it. But so far so good.

 

[jerikl]

Wow man.. I'm happy for you. I've been casually looking for a system like yours for my girlfriends apartment for a while now. I had my stuff over there for a while (now it's with me), and now I miss it when I go over there. Tired of dealing with the TV speakers when we are watching TV/movies

Anyway, congratulations once again.

 

[mkyy]

Quote:

Originally posted by jerikl Wow man.. I'm happy for you. I've been casually looking for a system like yours for my girlfriends apartment for a while now. I had my stuff over there for a while (now it's with me), and now I miss it when I go over there. Tired of dealing with the TV speakers when we are watching TV/movies Anyway, congratulations once again.

Thanks jerikl. I'm just one lucky dude

If you lurk around in ebay, you can still find a lot of good condition vintage receiver/amplifier for a good price.

Since you're in Texas, you might be able to take advantage of this. My god, 3 garage filled with vintage equipments for sale!!!

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...&threadid=3370

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...&threadid=3380

Good luck hunting.

 

[Gopher]

so how are those M55s sounding? I'm trying to put together a budget system myself and after reading this thread started looking into these a little bit and they are looking quite promising.

 

[mkyy]

Gopher, I'll use my limited knowledge to describe the sound. Maybe darkclouds can supplement my review.

The construction of the hexagonal shaped cabinet is very solid, considered their size, they are quite heavy. Sonically, I didn't find the titanium tweeter overly bright. Bass is there, but not deep. For the lowest notes, you need a sub. I also found the mid bass a little muffled. I don't yet have stands for my speakers so their placement is limited by the width of my bench, it might be the reason I still don't have very good soundstage.

Driven by my 60 watter Sansui amplifier, the volumn control is staying around 7-8 o-clock position. As a bedroom setup, their volumn is more than adequate. I have not shop around extensively, but given it's current price, I think it's hard to find another speaker matches its quality on the market now (have not heard the PSB alpha mini though).

 

[myself, aka me]

Vintage Sansui aye.. Anyone heard of a Sansui SH-5?