Sansui Mass collection sold. Possibly old AK member

[johnny_fever]

Last year while on FB I seen a guy post about a Hugh Sansui collection he inherited from his father who past away 5 years earlier. He was instantly overwhelmed by the responses and pulled the post. I luckily sent him a msg beforehand. He believes his father was a member here on AK. I told him I was possibly interested in the entire collection. He came back with a price tag of $125.000. Well that was more than I wanted to spend LOL. Anyway His Dads name was Don Restle (48) from Canfield Ohio. His company was Restle Builders. I can only speculate he was on ebay in the early years when he was snagging these incredible Sansui pieces. He had many G-33000's, G-22000's, G9000's, G8000's, BA-5000's, Besides tons of other SS stuff including Turntables. He was no slouch in the Tube department either. He had many AU-111's, Q-3535's, 1000A's, AU-70's, & tons of other Sansui stereo/mono Amps. I purchased many of the cleanest mono blocks & best looking Q-3535. Even found a unicorn Sansui FM-8 tuner with matching Multiplex. Many of the pieces in his collection were boxed. So with a collection of Dons caliber maybe someone here knew of him. I would love to share any info with his son. Thanks Fever

Ps here was just a little sample of Don's collection

 

[Harvestor]

Last year while on FB I seen a guy post about a Hugh Sansui collection he inherited from his father who past away 5 years earlier. He was instantly overwhelmed by the responses and pulled the post. I luckily sent him a msg beforehand. He believes his father was a member here on AK. I told him I was possibly interested in the entire collection. He came back with a price tag of $125.000. Well that was more than I wanted to spend LOL. Anyway His Dads name was Don Restle (48) from Canfield Ohio. His company was Restle Builders. I can only speculate he was on ebay in the early years when he was snagging these incredible Sansui pieces. He had many G-33000's, G-22000's, G9000's, G8000's, BA-5000's, Besides tons of other SS stuff including Turntables. He was no slouch in the Tube department either. He had many AU-111's, Q-3535's, 1000A's, AU-70's, & tons of other Sansui stereo/mono Amps. I purchased many of the cleanest mono blocks & best looking Q-3535. Even found a unicorn Sansui FM-8 tuner with matching Multiplex. Many of the pieces in his collection were boxed. So with a collection of Dons caliber maybe someone here knew of him. I would love to share any info with his son. Thanks Fever

Ps here was just a little sample of Don's collection

Wow!...

And died at only 48 years of age...wow

 

[Overundr1]

Might consider sending a pm to one of the moderators about former members, as far as the collection goes oh my oh my, can only imaging what would happen if the son joined and started listing on BT. Thanks for sharing the story as well.
-Lee

 

[bluesky]

Serious!

 

[johnny_fever]

Wow!...

And died at only 48 years of age...wow

I know. Right. Thats why I believed the bay had something to do with a collection that size.

 

[kevzep]

I know. Right. Thats why I believed the bay had something to do with a collection that size.

I'd have to agree, before the craze took hold and the prices went sky high, it was a good time to buy all that stuff up...
48 years old, sheesh, man thats terrible....

 

[johnny_fever]

I bought a lot of Mcintosh from him including 20w's with the cages & museum like mono preamps in the box. I passed them on to a friend for what I payed (good Karma) It was a 1000 mile round trip to Ohio. But it was well worth it in my opinion. Here are pics of some of the museum like pieces I bought. I passed on many of the bruised pieces. Hey Bluesky. What can you tell me about the FM-8 & multiplex?

 

[kevzep]

I bought a lot of Mcintosh from him including 20w's with the cages & museum like mono preamps in the box. I passed them on to a friend for what I payed (good Karma) It was a 1000 mile round trip to Ohio. But it was well worth it in my opinion. Here are pics of some of the museum like pieces I bought. I passed on many of the bruised pieces. Hey Bluesky. What can you tell me about the FM-8 & multiplex?

Oh good Lord, thats some of the most serious Sansui Porn I have ever seen!!

 

[larry777]

I bought a lot of Mcintosh from him including 20w's with the cages & museum like mono preamps in the box. I passed them on to a friend for what I payed (good Karma) It was a 1000 mile round trip to Ohio. But it was well worth it in my opinion. Here are pics of some of the museum like pieces I bought. I passed on many of the bruised pieces. Hey Bluesky. What can you tell me about the FM-8 & multiplex?

Wow, who knew this even existed in one place.....and in such condition !

 

[Qsiris]

Oh my goodness. More pictures please.

Just looked at my avatar and it says it all...

 

[slimecity]

Holy crap - all that stuff in their original boxes.

And this guy wasnt an AK'er?

 

[danrclem]

I feel bad for the guy and his son but it would have been fantastic to have had a shot at some of that stuff.

 

[BLAH BLAH]

His father had very good taste...may he rest in peace!

 

[johnny_fever]

You guys touched on all the same things I was thinking. He was a first class Sansui collector. Maybe someone here will recognize this guy as an AK member or Buyer/seller. His completed listings showed he did sell some of his G-33000's from what I can remember. Fever

 

[zebra03]

I hope the son gets what they are worth .

 

[Sansuiman]

That's one hell of a collection. I don't know how much of this came off ebay though. I've been on there since 1996, the same year I began heavily collecting Sansui gear. Kind of think I'd have noticed a heavy hitter snatching up that many big 'uns. Besides that, in the early days (pre 1999 let's say) there wasn't that much gear listed at any one time, much less G-33000 and BA-5000 class gesr to be had. I remember times when there were under 100 total hits on a search for "Sansui".

As to the tube rarities, you hardly however see those models on ebay now, much less 20 years ago. Seems to me he was sourcing much of this elsewhere. Wherever it came from, he did an exceptional job turning up some serious treasures.

The real shame of it is that he checked out so soon. Nobody should be going that young - my dad passed at 53 and that was a tough go for my siblings and I for sure. I get the impression the son posted about upthread musn't have much interest in vintage gear if he was willing to sell the whole collection to the esteemed Dr. Fever. That's kind of a shame too the way I see it, as all that gear was a tangible reminder that could serve as a memento of his dad.

Maybe he'll keep a select few pieces in his dad's memory. I suppose it would be tough to choose between sentimentality and the dollar amount that such a collection is worth, so I can understand wanting to sell some of it. As well, a collection of that magnitude eats up a lot of physical space, and may have been impractical to hang onto just for that reason alone.

In any case, he has my respect for such dedication to doing something he clearly enjoyed.

 

[Hajidub]

Wow!...

And died at only 48 years of age...wow

Hernia related I'm sure!

 

[BushmasterM4]

I am in Ohio !!! PM sent

 

[cnyel1967]

There's a couple of large auction houses in the Akron area that specialize in high end hifi and audio equipment, so I suspect some of his impressive collection came from there over the years.

 

[onwardjames]

I'm 46....and yes, 48 is FAR too soon. What an amazing collection, and what a reminder that, in the words of Jim Morrison -

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near."