So You Have a Sick Vintage Integrated Amp?

So did I - my Sansui AU-517 did not sound right at all, really muddy sounding. I was really bummed out, because a Sansui 5000X receiver was my first amp way back in 1971. But I decided to think the problem through, mainly because I retired a few years ago and there is no dough in the budget for repairs. One of the great features the engineers decided to include in that Jurassic era was main in/preout connections, allowing you to use it as a power amp or preamp if desired. Based on what I was hearing, I figured the problem was the preamp section of the 517, since that's where most of the complexities/electronics reside. Today, I went through the process of hooking up a nice little Rotel preamp to the amplifier inputs on the 517 and I am happy to report it is like having a new amp. Happy days are here again!