Sansui 9500 with the klipsch RP280Fs

quadklipsh

Super Member
Hi guys.
Last night i went to listen to a pair of the Klipsch RP280Fs at a friends. I also took my recapped sansui 9500 there.
We played the routine flacs of various genre and noticed the sonics. Let me tell you that this friend recently tried out a
Quad 303,
Luxman L550x,
Kenwood Supreme 600 with the same speakers. And really loved all three.
I wanted him to give the 9500 a try with the klipsch for various types of music and see how we liked it. 2yrs ago when i had klipsch RF3s i didnt have the sansui recapped and working well. So i was very excited to listen to the newer and better 280s.

Ok we played and sat.
The sound of the klipsch seemed quite clear and detailed. And music was flowing across nice n easy.
The first thing we noticed was the bass thump.
However, the we all felt that the midrange sparkle and volume was lesser than expected. It sounded rather flat and somewhat sterile compared to the 303 in the vocals in which the midrange goes domineeringly. The soundstage was wide and instruments were well placed. The highs were sweet and well controlled and the klipsch did well at all volume levels. The bass was bloated and fat yet superbly pleasant.
The amplifier was having some poor contacts in the two far left switches that turn on the 50hz and 25hz filters. And we wiggled to get it right. It worked ok. And we liked to keep the 50hz filter ON. It made the 280s bass less boomier like heresys.... Without any sacrifices to the upper registers.

My query is, does the quality of the capacitors nippon chemicon, nichicons and rubycons between audio grade and industrial grade caps vary so much that it can lower the the sound quality of this amp... I know that i have not installed any audiograde caps in this one. And above all the main PS filter capacitors are made in china by "Beryl". And they arent the best around although they measured well and were new and the only ones i could find back in the day.
 
I would still like to improve the sheer sonics of this amplifier as it is well known and tested.
I may also mention that the speaker cables were not great either and the wav files were also not as good as expected to sound.

The amplifier was played through an almost brand new Denon AVR 4300 which was connected to the HDD. The left and right channel RCA output from the rear of the denon was feeding the sansui auxiliary input.
My feeling was that keeping the same gear and wires and source the quad and luxman were sounding rather preferably better than the sui. Please explain whats going wrong here.
 
keeping the same gear and wires and source the quad and luxman were sounding rather preferably better than the sui.
The Quad 303, the Lux L550X and the Keny aren't slouches. These are very good integrated amps. Tough competition! Did you solve the power supply issue (transformer) and the correct voltage for your Sansui??? Having this type of shoot out without addressing the the PS issue is rather futile and none reflective.

Signal path capacitors should be low ESR and made to maintain audio grade characteristics. Reputable mfgrs like Nichicon (MUSE/KZ/FG), Elna (Silimic/Cerafin) and even the more common Panasonic (FC/FM/AM) provide very affordable, none sneak-oil, well built and meticulously spec'd audio grade capacitors. It never killed anyone to also use power supply designated capacitors in power supply PCB's. As per main filter caps... I'd personally stay away from no-name obscured Asian brands and stick to this forum's common trends (Panasonic, Nichicon KG if you can get them, Kemet, Vishay, Elna etc...). Good large capacitance, higher voltage audio grade filter caps can get pricy and if you skimp too much - you will hear it. Most importantly - get your electronic components from reputable sources (Mouser, DigiKey, Farnell etc..). There are too many counterfeits out there. If it's desired - it's faked. Buy the real deal.
 
Sorry guys.
I have to make an appology....
The Sansui did nothing wrong. It was the denons equalizer that was running in the background and we were complete jerks not to have realized........linea complete V shaped equalizer was running With 6db bass boost and 6 db treble boost and mids were at minus 6dbs.
This was realized next day before my friend could turn the system on again.

After the equalizer was switched off and the pre amp section connected to the power amp ad denon now working as a neutral device between the hardvdisk and the sansui, things started to settle down fast and in no more than 20 minutes the klipsch owner had found a new love.
I am so relieved
 
Damn.
I just called my friend to update me the sound quality... And he tells me that after last nights demo he was a sansui 9500 fan. But today he went back home this noon and played on the same songs and was dismayed and unhappy with the sound. He didn't like it at All. Says its bloated and un settled.
He checked his voltages. They are 220 for denon and 106v for the sansui.
Then he checked equalizer... It was off.
He came to suspect that there is not enough harmony betweeen source hdd... Denon the interpreter and sansui the old amp.....

We are surprised at the inconsistent behavior of the amp or our combination....
Plz suggest
 
I went to his place tonight. We disconnected denon. Played the cell phone flac files of Patricia barber directly through aux of sansui.
It was awesome
 
I honestly think most of these differences are in the brain of your friend - and I am not saying that in a mean way, its a long story, but the brain is basically an interpretation of patterns machine and cant always be trusted. Another more down to earth explanation could be that power grids that are of old design (not sure how this is in Lahore, Pakistan) can be quite noisy with lots of ripples, spikes and RF - this can very well change from day to evening depending on usage on the grid. Some audiophiles I know from Denmark, claim their systems sounds better in evenings after 8 pm. So since your friend listened at noon....
 
Hahahah... Sansui was way better than miss barber....
Guys we had the audition last night and i found out the denon to be the culprit. The vintage amp just needs clean source signal.

Unlike the mess created by denon 4300, its internal processing and hard disk interface.
We comnected a mobile phone and used a slightly better aux cable and fed it to the sui. And it was all music.
Now our plan is to put in a dac or a marantz cd player 6000se.
And play some serious stuff.
 
I agree with stereofun on the voltage stability. I have friends all over lahore who agree that it is much better audio after say 10pm. Dont Know the reason.
One possibility could be diurnal variation. ... Moods as well as voltages arent the same around the clock....
And that has a strong bearing...
But this case was sheer electronical mess.
The sansui didnot like the output from the hi tech denon and the hard disk feeding the denon.
 
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