Stop calling the Sansui Eight Deluxe the "Engineer's Receiver"

Second hand marketing.

"For sale, (cheap model X) made by the same people that made (best one ever)."

when crap sells, it pays to be in the shit business.
 
Rob, what about the Six? I know it's the baby of that lineup but any obvious cost cutting there? Other than power, is there anything that I'm missing out on compared to the Seven and Eight?
 
I'd be interested in a comprehensive list of the differences.

From what I remember reading:
- Solid aluminum knobs (8) vs aluminum w/plastic inserts (8D)
- Engraved faceplate (8) vs many that had silkscreened faceplates (8D) - though some 8D's did have engraved faceplates
- Different wood covers (8D's is a little flimsier with more wood grates/slats that are easier to damage)
- Different amp designs (though one could argue the 8D's is better)
- Different button functions in some cases

What else was different (inferior on 8D)? Quality of side grates that cover the transistor covers? Glass vs plastic dial 'glass'?

While there were cost down efforts, the 8D is still pretty awesome. Those side heat sinks and logo'd transistor covers are very cool.
 
Nothing to add to the OP's post other then one of my first pieces of vintage gear, when I got back into the hobby was a Sansui 7000 which I believe is a variation of the Seven?

Man was that unit a treat!.
 
well so what? what's the point of the bottom line top line comparison? and this thread belongs in opinions if some kind of epic OP need to post frustration?

You might get coal in your stocking after all.. better cheer up your better half.??
 
The 7000 and the Seven have nothing in common. The 7000 is totally unique. All though it does use chassis elements from the Eight, all the electronics are different from any other model.

My Eight Deluxe has an engraved face plate. The cover is different than the Eight or 7000 but I wouldn't call it cost cutting. It just has different vent cuts. I don't recall the knobs having plastic inserts rather than being solid but I can look. I should get them both out and take side by side pictures. Also, some of the variations Rob listed may have occurred later in the production of the Eight Deluxe.

- Pete
 
Rob, that ad jpeg image is too small to read. I tried saving it as a jpeg but the resolution deteriates to mush when you try to enlarge it. Any hope to getting it as a pdf? I'd really like to read it.

- Pete
 
I agree with Rob, the Eight is THE Engineers receiver. There can only be one. It is build with less compromise than the Deluxe, even if the deluxe sports a next gen amp topology.
However, what in my opinion really sets the Eight apart is the capability to balance the differential amp. So if anyone wonders why the Eight has 4 trimmers per channel vs all other amps 2 trim pots - it is because it was an engineer's amplifier, allowing adjustment to one of the most critical circuits for sound quality.

Strictly speaking of sonics, Id give a slight nod to the 8D. But the Eight is nevertheless the special and awesome one.

Notice the build and the 4 trimmers on the driver board.

DSC_0371.jpg
 
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I agree with Stereofun. I can tell you, that from this engineers perspective, the Eight is the engineer's receiver. Sansui, in addition to everything else, made a groundbreaking statement with the amp section parameter adjustments. Most people have no idea, but there are some current values and adjustments typically done with 5% resistors (which means not even close) that hugely affect amplifier distortion, slew rate, and over all transparency of sound.

These parameters need to be adjusted to the equivalent of 0.1% on those same resistors. Sansui made those adjustments settable, with the 4 trimmers mentioned above. Now if they had just added a constant current source, it would have been the amp of the entire Golden Age of Stereo. Yamaha made such an amp with adjustable parameters and a constant current source in 1971, the CA1000. They went backwards after that.

None the less, it was a huge step forward. The most siginificant change, to me, in the 8D, was to go back to setting these parameters with 5% resistors. A real step backwards.

I imagine the problem was that technicians in the field could not figure out how to make the adjustments. The description in the Sansui Service Manual is worse than cryptic... you literally cannot make the adjustments from the description. I put a post up about how to do it some time ago. It is actually quite easy to do.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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I will take my 8D over anything I have heard. That includes 221, 551, 771, 881, 7070, 8080, 3300, 6 and 7. But, I wouldn't mind hearing a 8 in my setup.
 
well so what? what's the point of the bottom line top line comparison? and this thread belongs in opinions if some kind of epic OP need to post frustration?

You might get coal in your stocking after all.. better cheer up your better half.??

This post comes from ignorance. Not being rude, but it is the case.

The post is not my "opinion".
The ad I posted that can't be seen without a magnifying glass states, paraphrased, Sansui engineers were given a blank check to create the finest
receiver in the world. Put in all the details you would want in your own unit. And they produced the Eight.

Hence, the Eight IS the engineer's receiver.

I have both the Eight and the Eight Deluxe. I would keep the Eight Deluxe over the Eight, even though the Eight is the engineer's receiver.

Rob
 
Wonder what it would have looked like if Hughes Aircraft had built it ... here's a good example of one of their forays into the realm of audio ... the AK-100 ... gotta tell you, I was impressed when I popped the top on this one.

hughes-ak-100-naked.jpg
 
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