AU 111 - Is it worth it?

Edroom

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I do not know why but I am fascinated with the prospect of getting a 111....
I have had lots of Sansui gear and many Mcintosh, seperates , tube amps etc. but it seems stuck in my head that the 111 is the Holy Grail. They sure are rare and expensive....
Anyone have any personal experience with the 111? Please share your experience and impressions!
Thanks!
Ed
 
I have had the AU-70 which is a close cousin to the AU-111. It was an awesome sounding amplifier. The AU-111 would have been even better.

To me, the only thing that would deter me from an AU-111 is the asking price. They appear to have risen in value again. I'd want to find one that needs restoration under $1500 but that might be asking a bit much these days.
 
For example...would it be better than a Mcintosh 240?
I know...it’s all subjective! I’m looking for opinions!
 
For example...would it be better than a Mcintosh 240?
I know...it’s all subjective! I’m looking for opinions!

No clue. I've never owned any McIntosh equipment so I couldn't say.

I'm sure that between an AU-111 and MC240 it would largely come down to preference as opposed to one being superior. Also, the 240 is a power amplifier, and the AU-111 is an integrated.

Overall I'd consider the AU-111 worth pursuing, it's a very well made amplifier. Sansui was always attempting to be ahead of the curve. The AU-111 also does draw similarities to McIntosh in its cathode-feedback circuit, so I imagine there are likely to be some similar characteristics, but because of the pre-amplifier stage and other differences it's very hard to say.
 
I own an AU-111 which I have restored over last xmas break. I should probably update my thread with details. I also own a few other Sansui (and other brand) tube amps like the AU-70, HF-V60, Q3535...

The AU-111 is a thing of beauty. It is, I think, the amp that start the Sansui 'black face' trend... someone please correct me if I'm wrong. The AU-70 which came before it has a silver face. Yet, the AU-111 does to me look unique to all other Sansui amps before and after. No doubts it is a holy grail in terms of Sansui aesthetics.

The AU-111 also has plenty of power, the same as a MC240, whereas the AU-70 and most of my other tube amps are lower in power. Whether or not power is important to you isn't clear to me as I don't know which speakers you are using. One thing the AU-111 will give you over the MC240 is features like tone-controls etc. The MC240 though is of course a series piece of kit and I would love to try one out; I think you find many will argue the MC240 is likely the technically superior amp (the power vs distortion specs on the McIntosh are slightly better), dismissing the asian amp from across the pacific, but those people have probably not man-handled an AU-111... the iron on the AU-111 is the biggest I have ever seen with a 6L6GC class amp. That said the MC240 weight about the same and no doubt the McIntosh setup is very very serious gear too and they have some unique circuitry as we know... but anyway, vintage hifi isn't about specs, it's about sound....

As for the sound, I haven't had an MC240 in my home but I have heard a mono-bridged pair played through some JBLs and it was too bright for me. Maybe that was the JBLs. The AU-111 on the other hand has tone-controls, 'loudness', and 'presence' (which works different to presence on some other amps so read manual carefully) so it can sound however, you want. With the tone controls flat, I would say the AU-111 is less bloated in the bass than the AU-777A or AU-70 (these two models sounds almost identical when rebuilt, and they have a bit of that typical early sansui transistor tone with heavy bass). I think the AU-111 is more neutral than the AU-70 and AU-777A across the board actually. The 'syrup' of the AU-777A (with it's slightly recessed booming bass and slightly recessed mids) is lesser in the AU-111 but hand-in-hand with that comes another level of clarity and 'tightness' that I feel takes the AU-111 to another level. Maybe it was 'burn-in' as I had just done a full restore, but I quickly became a big fan of the AU-111 for it's clarity and image.

I will do a proper A/B/C/D comparison of the AU-111 to some other amps shortly (need to sort out my amp selector box with some resistors to provide load for tube amps when they are switched-out of circuit) and report somewhere (maybe over in my AU-777A vs all contenders thread which seems to be my usual place for rantings).

Is the AU-111 very good? Yes.

Is it the 'holy grail'? Well you know how it is with these things.... it's a very personal tone/flavour decision and one man's turd is another man's caviar (sorry to be vulgar, but people do have very strong feelings about similar sounding amps). What I can tell you before doing my more rigorous comparisons is that the AU-111 doesn't sound like it is from a different planet compared to the AU-70... it is very much a sibling. A more powerful and heavier sibling with a slightly different flavour.

The looks and build quality are really something unique though (seriously, the OPTs on the AU-111 are truly giant compared to the Sansui AU-70 (which already has OPTs slightly bigger than Dynaco ST-70). Back to the MC240... again I think it is personal taste. I'm sure the MC240 is a fine amp with stellar specs.... so it's just a matter of flavour IMO. I may argue that the AU-111 is a lot more unique though, in looks and maybe rarity? And, personally, I'm a big fan of tone controls etc. And I'm a fan of Sansui.

Now, the fact is that you can buy 4x AU-70s for the price of one AU-111. The AU-70 is I think the true bargain of the vintage hi-fi market. I should probably shut-up and stock-up on AU-70s before everyone figures it out. That said the AU-70 is a LOT more difficult to work on than the AU-111. The AU-111 is not very tidy underneath but it is a pleasure compared to the rats nest that is the AU-70! And, even at the present asking price of an AU-111, I know it seems like a lot in vintage hifi circles, but it seems still a great price to me when comparing to the stuff you can buy brand new at your local hifi shop in the same price range. Consider taking the wad of cash you could buy an AU-111 with...taking that down to a hifi shop and telling them that is your max budget; they might even look down at you and tell you that will only buy some mid-fi... whereas with the AU-111 you are getting enough amplifier that the monster comes with wheels installed at the factory (no joke!). So I think the AU-111, in material terms, is well worth the asking price when put in that light, but when you consider you can get something like an AU-70 or other great amps for a fraction of the price I think it becomes a personal choice.
 
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Hi ED, I feel the AU-111 was designed in a time where Sansui was at the top on their game. Its a solid well built piece. The transformers are huge (Good Iron) looking under the hood you will see its a busy little machine. I had two but decided to keep the AU-111G Vintage. I heard the guys who designed the original Transformers had something to do with the newer ones. Hard to compare an integrated to a MC 240 or other amps. Both can sound amazing with the right speaker choice. I myself like Altec Horn loaded speakers. Smerfer touched on lots of great points. You can research a lot on the history of the AU-111
 

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To johnny_fever,

Hi. You may be the only member able to answer this one. Why did you choose to keep the AU 111G Vintage over the original 111? Was your 111 restored? Was there any noticeable difference in sound? I myself sufferred the “tragedy” of buying what I thought was an AU 111 Vintage from Yahoo.jp only to discover it was the G version when it arrived. I should have paid more attention to the gold versus silver color in the picture. It sounds great with the original tubes. I have back ups but haven’t felt the need to change them.

Marc
 
... Both can sound amazing with the right speaker choice. I myself like Altec Horn loaded speakers.

This is so important! It is easy to say one amp sounds better than the other one, but matching the right speakers to an amp can completely change the sound. Then you might see smaller differences. This is why I try so many speakers! I buy something that interests me, and if I like it, I will try it with my keeper systems. It’s getting harder to displace something in one of them now, but it isn’t impossible. If you have choices of speakers, I highly recommend you try them all. You will likely be surprised!

I recently tried my fully restored and optimized MA-6200 with a pair of Kef 103.2s. It was horrible. I quickly swapped them out. But meanwhile, they sound quite good with my Sansui AU-9900. With every other speaker I’ve tried (Technics SB-5000A, Tamon TSE-250, Realistic Nova 7B, Wharfedale 770?) and all of them sounded more lively and rich. The Kef’s and the McIntosh really didn’t like each other!
 
I have asked Santa for an au-111, but non has arrived .... either I haven´t been a good boy :whip:.... or it might just be that their are too expensive for my blood.... anyway, they look fantastic, and they probably sound beautiful... sorry for adding nothing to your thread :dunno:
 
th
I have had the AU-70 which is a close cousin to the AU-111. It was an awesome sounding amplifier. The AU-111 would have been even better.

To me, the only thing that would deter me from an AU-111 is the asking price. They appear to have risen in value again. I'd want to find one that needs restoration under $1500 but that might be asking a bit much these days.
There was one on Kijiji in South Edmonton last summer ( possibly summer before?) for 800.00... I was inquiring about it but it was basically sold very quickly..
 
To johnny_fever,

Hi. You may be the only member able to answer this one. Why did you choose to keep the AU 111G Vintage over the original 111? Was your 111 restored? Was there any noticeable difference in sound

The older unit was in need of a resto. It sounded good considering it was all original. You can't fairly compare it to the G (2001) model. I kept the newer one because I had twice the money in it and it was plug and play. Besides the fact only 100 of the G's were made. So MJS1 you have a G Gold version? What's the last to digits of your serial #?
 
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The AU-111 is a great tube integrated, I have no doubt you would love one. Incredible build quality, powerful, asthetically beautiful and a seminal tube amp for Sansui that firmly established them as a leader. It also is a wonderfully musical amp.
A better comparison to the Mcintosh 240 would be the Sansui BA-303, a power amp of equal wattage. Although the BA-303 is much closer in look and design to the Harman Kardon CItation II. I am partial to the Sansui's but honestly I don't think you would go wrong with any of these renowned amps.
 
My full G serial # is 601040001. If I am reading this correctly, this is the first production model of 2001, made on April Fools, in production line # 60. It is mint. As I recall, I got a real bargain on this since it wasn’t listed as a G, I had given up on finding one, and at that time wasn’t paying attention to the gold versus silver foot and trim color. It only sank in after it was in place and I was admiring it. The box did, however, say G on it when I went back to check it.

As an aside, I would like to connect this tube amplifier to a switch box but don’t know how to provide a load with resistors to protect it when it is switched out.

Marc
 
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My full G serial # is 601040001. If I am reading this correctly, this is the first production model of 2001, made on April Fools, in production line # 60. It is mint. As I recall, I got a real bargain on this since it wasn’t listed as a G, I had given up on finding one, and at that time wasn’t paying attention to the gold versus silver foot and trim color. It only sank in after it was in place and I was admiring it. The box did, however, say G on it when I went back to check it.

As an aside, I would like to connect this tube amplifier to a switch box but don’t know how to provide a load with resistors to protect it when it is switched out.

Marc

The original AU-111 has dummy loads inside that provide load when speakers are set to off. I don't know about the "G". But anyway that might not be useful if you want to be able to select amps from the sitting position like I do. What you do is open up the amp/speaker selector box and solder resistors across the - and + of a channel, essentially providing a dummy load for the OPTs. The trick is to use a sufficiently low value to provide 'load', and a sufficiently high value value such that the voltage and power dissipation across the resistors is small enough (otherwise you need to use very high power resistors. E.g. if you use 8Ohm resistors you would need at least 40-100W for the AU-111). I use 5W 200Ohm from memory, but note that if you have high power amps you may have to double check values....
 
the 111G and the vintage have the same load resistors of 8ohm marked as 10W on the diagram. Never looked for it when I had the cover off. Unable to comment against the MC240. For my ears, I "felt" the initial 2 tone knob version sounded better than the subsequent versions including the Vintage and G versions.
 
the 111G and the vintage have the same load resistors of 8ohm marked as 10W on the diagram. Never looked for it when I had the cover off. Unable to comment against the MC240. For my ears, I "felt" the initial 2 tone knob version sounded better than the subsequent versions including the Vintage and G versions.

A little hint.... don't touch those dummy loads if they have been active. Don't ask me how I know this. Anyway, you can imagine with their 10W rating they can get toasty..... I do have a mark on my forearm to prove it (well it has almost faded away now since the xmas rebuilt of my AU-111)
 
Hey _Mano. glad you chimed in. I value your opinion. My findings were based on having demoed both amps on K-Horns. The original needed a restoration so it had the loud caps thing going on. The tone controls had little if any effect. Almost muddy sounding. Its unfair to compare or judge a piece from 1966 that needs a restoration. Its otherwise one of the best Sansui amps ever made. I wound up selling it to a guy in south Africa and kept the G. Its hard to fool horn loaded speakers on an amp or receivers condition.

As far as the MC240 I had a friends hooked up to my Altec 820s. The overall sound was great. So I'm guessing the caps were in pretty good shape. Again. Speaker choice is key. So to the OP get both amps
 
My thanks to smurfer77 and _mano for the information on the load resistors. I have to get up and push buttons to choose between my amps on my switch box so I guess that it won’t be much trouble to turn the G speaker selector to off.

I see _mano’s G serial #, as listed in the data base, ends in 22. I wonder if johnny_fever would list his serial #?

Marc
 
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