Sansui?

Thanks for this video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2Y95eQjNA

I own the more affordable Sansui alpha 607i with the same basic technology and i used it as i said for his headphone out exclusively ...

And i miserably failed when i want to upgrade it to one of the best tube headphone amplifier in the world by all reviews account ...Think about it ...

This is testimony of this S.S. Sansui design quality even for the headphone out ...

Dont try to buy a top alpha they dont go on sale here very often ... they are sold in hours ... And at high price for vintage ... And this model is so rare good luck to buy one ...

Now ask yourself this question : Save for those crazy japanese audiophile company, who sold at high price today the same quality of components with on par sound quality at least ?

Answer : not many are crazy enough to discard  profit margin  to use so costly basic parts ...

is there better amplifier today ? Yes for sure but what are their cost ? Not peanuts ...

There is also a three part 1h thirty minute restoration video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk8KXkT0ZuY

Anybody know that technology improved a lot ...

Even me the "tin foil hat" idiot know it...😁

But few people here seems to need to think about the ratio money invested and the resulting final sound quality...

Because many people here seems to dance on a lake of money but not me and some others ...

There is also the minimal acoustic satisfaction threshold when reached which is not so far off the optimal acoustic satisfaction threshold that some "billionnairs" or some financially confortable people  thought anyway,  the same persons  who  without acoustic knowledge bragg about speaking of their costly  gear piece without even a dedicated acoustic room......

Then instead of claims about evidence everybody knows about : "today engineering audio  was an improvement "... We the informed poor dudes group😁 we think about the ratio sound quality versus cost and the minimal acoustic satisfaction threshold ..

Did you catch ?

😁

Sansui amplifier in a well embedded system and room beat most  system in a non well embedded system and room  if not in pure sound quality in cost without being far from almost anything of great sound quality ... The only exception is super costly sound system with no ceiling in cost...

Yes they improved it as headphones were improved too... But why my Sansui alpha was able to  beat the tube  Berning amp for synergy with the K340 then ?

And if they improve so well the headphone too why is my K340 was able to smoke to a bin trash my 9 other headphones ? do you have an answer ?

Synergy matter ; and  top flagship of the past are not trash nowadys.... Acoustic experience dont reduce to electronic design of the separate components ... We must also EMBED  the components then we listen to them not to their price tag ...

Sorry i could not resist to answer to your common place "evidence" ...

Sansui was big for the military at the PX during Nam. They made a few good pieces back in the day but SS has improved considerably since then.

The Sansui alpha will drive well most speakers i guess , it is a synergy question ...

Myself i will buy a Tannoy dual concentric if i would need speakers... They are mythical product too and i owned a pair for 45 years ... 😊

be very careful to order one out of the Us or Canada ... Scammer know that these products are in demand ...

My actual system for the price is so good , low cost yes, but not low-fi at all ... I pity those who own costlier system...I am not far behind them as much as they think ...😁

What matter in audio is synergy first, buying the right components for sure but the price tag dont tell the story here about the acoustic final experience and satisfaction ...Acoustics knowledge rule after synergy and the way we learn how to embed mechanically, electrically and acoustically the system matter more than ANY UPGRADE ... Those who brag about price tag dont impress me now at all ... I learned a lot by experiments for few years because i am retired ... I know what is timbre, crosstalk, and spatial acoustic factors for example by learning how to control them at will in my room ... Buying and plugging costly component is not the hobby, learning acoustic or electronic design is...I learn acoustic but i dont design speakers nor amplifiers , i only learn how to put them rightfully in a room ..

My best to you ...

@mahgister many thanks. There’s an alpha 907 for sale on USAudiomart! What period speakers would pair well with this amp?

I own the Au alpha 607i... It is not the top model...

But i did not even succeed to upgrade it with a ZOTL Berning tube amp... Synergy matter too then even if the zotl with his refined linear independant power supply was more silent there is no comparison on all aspects of sound using my K340 which are any way are probably the hardest headphone to drive well ...Not in raw power but with volt swing ...( they had two different cells of 350 Ohms impedance , a dynamic one and an electret one and a complex dual acoustic chamber , there is no other hybrid headphone today by the way in the way they work)

Sansui never even export to America the best of their alpha top models for many reasons one being Us/yen change in these years ...

Those who think Sansui is outdated make me smile ... Their ratio S.Q. /sound quality especially today bought used at 1000 or 2000 bucks beat many modern offerings...I pay my alpha 300 bucks 8 years ago but i used my AU 7700 with my big speakers not the Alpha because i loved the Au 7700 so much...

But my K340 ask for a more clean amp more refined and more detailed then i disconnected the Au 7700 and the Alpha was so good i will die with it....There is better but at 10,000 bucks not at few thousand... Why i bought them ?

Because products that are of mythical status with no negative review after 45 or 35 years and sold good price used, these products reviewed by users decade after decade says more than any reviewers can spell today about a new hyped product which nobody will remember in 10 years ... ...

And when i bought my Sansui alpha and paid it 300 bucks there was no top audiophile amplifier a  so good product under 1000 bucks at all ... It is true today too even if the actual price used of the 607i will be around 1000 bucks now ...For the 907i a notch over it will certainly double the price used ...

@mahgister +1! That Alpha 907i from 1987 looks pretty impressive! List price was 260,000 yen, around $2600 dollars. Which one do you have?

Look at the Sansui alpha integrated ...

I never look back ...

This is the best of Sansui :

https://audio-database.com/SANSUI/amp/index2.html

Receiver of any Branded name will not beat their best integrated ...

I bought two Sansui amplifiers ...

The last one is a Sansui alpha 607i i fail to upgrade from it 2 months ago  when buying one of the best tube amplifier for headphone there is and  i returned the tube amp after few minute listenings almost because there was no comparison ...

I paid 300 bucks this Sansui who i use now only for my top Headphone very hard to drive well ...( Akg K340 ) .... I will keep it till my death ...😁

The Vintage modified K340 beat all my other 9 headphones and i will never use any of them for music... Driven by the Sansui they are speaker like ...

Vintage does not means outdated or outclassed ...

Audio is about acoustics science and synergy not about marketing gear design so called new upgrades...