1st ever sansui

[boston1450]

friend joe asked if i wanted to buy a sansui 661 only 20-27 watts per channel. so i said what the heck. cheap price..got home n hooked them to a pair of advent as2's and let me tell ya. not bad. tons of power for a little sansui. i was kinda surprised.ive heard good about sansui. but never took the plunge on a bigger powerhorse. i may think twice next time.....question...any idea when these models were on the market..its wood box. id post pics but cant with this iphone

[Erik Tracy]

Nice find.

My first real 'audio' receiver was a Sansui 6060.

Love the vintage look - there is a presence and feel to receivers of that era.

Looks like the 661 was c. 1972
http://audio-database.com/SANSUI/amp/661-e.html

[cnh]

There are a lot of Sansui fanboys. There is no doubt that they would be ranked among the top three in the silver face era. But not everyone will agree that they are the "best". In general, earlier, models like yours are "warmer" sounding and later models--especially the monster class--which have lots of clean power but are not as "warm". If that matters to you?

Somewhere around here I have a 5000A (55 watts x 2) that has the somewhat warmer sound. It's OK but I prefer my HK 730 to it.

Where you might want to head with the Sansui is to their "integrateds", many of which are also DUAL power models like the HK.

I have a Sansui AU-517 which sounds very nice indeed. If you can, look for the higher power model, AU-717, etc.

Warning. These babies are pretty pricey--might not be worth the dollars most people ask for them since they'll probably need some work. Currently, my 517 has some phono pre problems and probably needs a few new caps?

cnh

[boston1450]

thank you. ive been looking online with not much luck. came up with 1975 or so. read some reviews. but the sound is pretty good. and at a cheap price made it a nice little addition to my collection. just a start. i will see if wife can post pic with laptop. one little chip on it. otherwise its vgood condition. thanx again. i take notes as i may replace or upgrade if available. enjoy the holiday weekend n be safe all. randy

[boston1450]

thanx Erik. i looked at that site. thats the best one i saw. big help. i bookmarked it and printing it out .......question..if i have one set of speakers hooked to it. and thier 8 ohm speakers. how may watts will the reciever be pushing to those speakers..i see 20watts. then 27 watts. then 32 watts....i will relook.i relize the reciever pushes signal to speakers.. but ive never seen a diagram quite like that. bare with me as i just didnt understand all the mumbo jumbo....thanx

[Polkie2009]

The woodgrain ends were used a lot by many manufacturers in the 70'sBoston, that was when watts were listed at RMS:).

[mhardy6647]

That line of Sansui receivers (221 through 881) tend to fly a bit under the radar; this makes them pretty good values (relatively speaking).

I'll admit that I have an occasional hankering (dare I say, yen?) to snag one of those little, 8 wpc Sansui 221 receivers ;-)



source: ca. 1976 Warehouse Sound catalog.

[boston1450]

id like to have whats in that warehouse.....great info. thanx all. very helpful

[boston1450]

i remember the 70's very well. that was big money back then. in 1974 i went shoveling snow one day. i came home with 140.00@ 5.00 a driveway some gave more. i remember buying christmas presents to our family. what happened in todays world. have we all forgot the good years....oh i was 10 y/o

[schwarcw]

Nice pciture advertisement Mark!

[schwarcw]

Here are some pics of Randy's Sansui:



Sansui on top Marantz underneath:

[boston1450]

thanx carl. youve been awesome dealing with all my pics....you make it up here to maine and i will hook you up with some lobster from my brother in cundys harbor. he has 800 traps :) i wont forget all your help

[schwarcw]

Thanks for the kind words Randy! I love Maine and I haven't been there in maybe 10 or more years. I used to buy lobster at a roadside place near Bath, ME. They would pack them live for an airplane ride. Good stuff!

[gudnoyez]

If you can find any of the old Sansui's Integrated amps from the AU series grab it nice sounding stuff, however they do tend to be overpriced when you find them.

[boston1450]

the bottom picture is a mess up. i sent too many. lol. that is a pioneer sx1010 on top...and in the rack is the marantz 2252. sorry. i sent too many pics :)........the top picture is the sansui661....the sansui will not fit in rack as its wider than the marantz. i am thinking of making a rack myself as a new project....

[boston1450]

Carl. that was probably Plants seafood on high street or Gilmores on court street next to Rt 1 highway. i lived near there as a kid.....you saw the Bath Iron works. so youve probably been to LLBeans in freeport....thats way too cool...what a small world we live in.......i will PM ya

[schwarcw]

Carl. that was probably Plants seafood on high street or Gilmores on court street next to Rt 1 highway. i lived near there as a kid.....you saw the Bath Iron works. so youve probably been to LLBeans in freeport....thats way too cool...what a small world we live in.......i will PM ya

I've been to Freeport several times. I like LL Bean and many of the other shops. Good fun!