My refurbished Sansui AU 9500

[kuruvilajacob]

Dear friends,
I had been wanting to own a Sansui AU 9500 amplifer very much as I had heard and read only the best reviews about it. Few months back, I came to know there was one with a dealer in Kochi. I contacted him and he told me that it was not for sale and informed me that he will contact me in case he decides to sell it. I kept in touch with him. I heard from another dealer that he has sold it to someone in Calicut. I contacted him immediately and to my dismay, he informed me that he was offered a good price by someone in Calicut. I offered more and had to rush to Cochin with the money before the Calicut guy arrived. I managed to reach earlier and bought it. I knew that to get the best out of it, I will need to refurbish it and the process took me more than 6 months and with the help of FMs John.K. Anthony and Sachin, I managed to get the best available replacement capacitors and transistors. i want to thank both the FMs for their help . I had entrusted the refurbishment with one of the most talented and dedicated technician I have come across in my life. He took extreme care to replace the components testing each of them. He has serviced several Hi-end amplifiers but he told that this was a special amp and it's sound quality is exceptional even before the recapping. I have just started using it yesterday. I can already experience it's tube like sound with superb mid and all round class. I used to pair it with Pioneer CS 99 A before refurshing it but found the J M Raynaud Twin Signature stand mound speakers an even better match and the source is the recently serviced Garrard 301.

 

[Sumanta]

That's the camaraderie we have in HFV. And Kuruvilajacob has all my salutes.
Live for music and for those wonderful representations through the chain of your system.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

You're speaking my language.
Does the au 9500 have a 110/220 switch ? I had one a few yrs ago and sold it. BTW what did it cost in India. Cos in my area, $ 300-450 was the going rate for it. I sold mine @ 300, it wasn't in mint condition.
However you start buying these up, the price starts to go up. Its like when in 08 I published a step by step method to modify a Suzuki katana Fork set for use on a GS500. Overnight all the katana forks on ebay under 200 disappeared. I did about 20 myself for various people.

Anyway just curious what these sell for in different parts of the world.

Last year whe nI sold my mcintosh on ebay. almost immediately 2 people wanted me to ship it to Taiwan and Honk kong respectively I think.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

You're speaking my language.
Does the au 9500 have a 110/220 switch ? I had one a few yrs ago and sold it. BTW what did it cost in India. Cos in my area, $ 300-450 was the going rate for it. I sold mine @ 300, it wasn't in mint condition.
However you start buying these up, the price starts to go up. Its like when in 08 I published a step by step method to modify a Suzuki katana Fork set for use on a GS500. Overnight all the katana forks on ebay under 200 disappeared. I did about 20 myself for various people.

Anyway just curious what these sell for in different parts of the world.

Last year whe nI sold my mcintosh on ebay. almost immediately 2 people wanted me to ship it to Taiwan and Honk kong respectively I think.

Cool.
Srinath.

Dear Srinath,
These vintage amps don't come cheap in India thanks to the internet. I could have got it for about Rs 20 K but I ended up spending Rs 30 K because of the competition. But I am sure it will outperform many amps costing much higher today.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

Dear Srinath,
These vintage amps don't come cheap in India thanks to the internet. I could have got it for about Rs 20 K but I ended up spending Rs 30 K because of the competition. But I am sure it will outperform many amps costing much higher today.

OK that isn't too much off the price here. In mint shape ~450 USD. That is close to 30k Rs.

However, I can spend 1/2 that on a Yamaha dsp a1 and end up with a far better amp. I also have had denon's and onkyo's and marantzes from the last 20 yrs easily out perform the vintage ones at less that 1/3rd the price.

I've been surprised at some of the so called "rejects" that absolutely stomp any vintage amp. Example - sharp 7700 CD. Looks like garbage complete with plastic fins in front. The thing has 1 ft long RCA cable for input. Its a power amp that is meant to work with its own pre/graphic eq/Cassette/CD/tuner/espresso machine/bender combo. Tiy take that and toss it in the trash. The power amp is an awesome STK 4048 (125 watt a ch) based amp that will blow any vintage amp out of the house.

Same with a lot of fisher studio standard amps. BA-600/800 types.

I have a few vintage amps I like. Marantz 2325, 9000g, 2230, etc etc, but most of em IMHO are for fixing up and selling and making $$$.

I like Tube as well, but I wont say older is better. I keep an open mind on all.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Sir , Thats fantastic job and effort. The Vintage Amplifiers have some thing which comes close to the heart. Might be the designed, The Less buttons, Big Size cabinets, Shiny switches,Faceplate and finally ample of sweet watts weighting like a tank.

I am looking for one such amp. Kindly let me know if you find one for me Please.


Vintage amp gives pleasure looking at them, and while playing no words to describe

Its like Sheya ghosal - Looks and sings beautiful.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

Sir , Thats fantastic job and effort. The Vintage Amplifiers have some thing which comes close to the heart. Might be the designed, The Less buttons, Big Size cabinets, Shiny switches,Faceplate and finally ample of sweet watts weighting like a tank.

I am looking for one such amp. Kindly let me know if you find one for me Please.


Vintage amp gives pleasure looking at them, and while playing no words to describe

Its like Sheya ghosal - Looks and sings beautiful.

You've never seen a Kenwood Galaxy commander have you ???

But generally old amps don't have as may buttons and even more than that, they are usually not plasticky tacky feeling.
But, the DSP A 1 has metal knobs and very few buttons covered up by a metal panel. Most of the functions are in the remote and menu driven. Manufacturers of late have moved away from buttons on the face and put them in remotes or made them menu driven. But yea in the early 90's it was covered in tacky plastic buttons.

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Hi Srinath,

You are right, Just now googled "Kenwood Galaxy", Its not appealing for my eyes Might be good for ears .

What so ever reason I love the Sansui a Lot the G Series, AU Series With Big Metal Knobs at center and other knobs for Bass ,treble etc.

And 9500 is one ,Wish to have one day.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

Yes the integrated amps of the 70's are awesome.
So are a lot of the classic receivers. Pioneer 50 and 80 series, Yamaha CRXX20 and XX40 series, marantx 22XX-42XX etc.

Kenwoods were wide and rather complicated looking, but they do sound very very good. They sound better than Pioneers IMHO. OOooo look for this guy - since I blinded you with the galaxy commander - this I promise you - will correct your eyesight -

Kenwood KA 9100.

Integrated amps of the 70's almost universally are lovely to look at and very very good sounding.
However, I feel a lot of newer amps will easily give them a hiding even as simple 2 channel. Without even kicking them to the 5 ch or 7 ch modes. And these are cheap IMHO.

Oooo you want good looking modern amp - Look for a Yamaha DSP A1 in silver. Or a HK AVR 7000. Or Marantz pm 5000 in silver. I have one of those in Black. Everyone that sees it says - wasn't this silver ??? You paint it ???

Cool.
Srinath.

 

[frend2001]

I've witnessed the mighty Kenwood KA 7300

"It Really Whips the Llama's Ass"

The preamp of it is considered one the best ever made.

Be on lookout of these beasts.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Dear Srinath,
When I choose an amp, I also see how good a phono stage it has. I do not know how good the phono stage of some of the modern amps if they have one . The phono stage in AU 9500 is top class . My other vintage amplifier is Nakamichi Amplifier One. Even that has a good phono stage. Also the tape input in Nakamichi and some of the vintage amps are of exceptionally good quality.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

I also have a KA 7500 or 8100 or some such ...
Its a great sounding amp. Preamp - well I dunno that specifically.
My KA9100 has 1 channel dead in phono only. Have to find it and fix it.
Cool.
Srinath.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

I have had several amplifiers over the years. I have also had several vintage speakers. I believe some amplifiers match with some speakers. There appears to be no hard and fast rule which will be a good combination and which won't. Many claim Harman Kardon amps match JBL speakers. But not all do JBL speakers match HK amps. Similarly with other combinations also. And the most important factor is the best combination. It's not an easy task. My Prima Luna Prologue One and KLH model 5 are the best combination I have experienced and I have not changed it for more than 6 years. Sansui AU 9500 and J M Raynaud twin Signature stand mount speakers also has that magical effect to some extent. So, it's getting the right combo which is more important than the brand and reputation of the system IMHO

 

[Audio_Freek]

Sansui 70-80's Model are the best of their own atleast. I personally felt the sweetness of 717,719 ,AU999,9500,X1 are still in my wish list forgot to Mention AU 111.

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Sansui 70-80's Model are the best of their own atleast. I personally felt the sweetness of 717,719 ,AU999,9500,X1 are still in my wish list forgot to Mention AU 111.

It's not easy to get these models in very good condition these days. Even if you get them in decent condition, you will need to recap them to get them to perform well. The reason why I went for the AU 9500 because my friend from Hong Kong says that one of the biggest audio dealer there uses a refurbished Sansui AU 9500 while he sells many new amps worth much more in price. That influenced me to buy it and I don't regret it at all

 

[Audio_Freek]

, Yes you are absolutely right.But am waiting for the fortune.If i get one , then for sure will engage a nice technician to replace the capacitors and have full service.

The way they been built, it might run for another couple of decades.

 

[Srinath_seshadri]

Dear Srinath,
When I choose an amp, I also see how good a phono stage it has. I do not know how good the phono stage of some of the modern amps if they have one . The phono stage in AU 9500 is top class . My other vintage amplifier is Nakamichi Amplifier One. Even that has a good phono stage. Also the tape input in Nakamichi and some of the vintage amps are of exceptionally good quality.

Nak Amp 1 ?? I have not tried one of those. But I can also tell you Yamaha DSP series phono stages are awesome. Easily in the same class as the sansui au9500 or many other vintage amps. One mistake people make is - they compare amps from different topologies. I have a Nak avr 500, I'll try its phono to see what its like.

You cant compare a cap coupled amp with a DC coupled amp just as a quick example. Much the same as you cant compare a SET with a PP just cos they are both tube.

Anyway, some modern amps have awesome phono preamps. Some don't have phono at all ... and some are marginal.

Cool.
Srinath.