Specs are so similar here but fame isnt so

I know one thing the AK boys will point me to is that specs dont express the sonic signature of the amp, the musicality nor the feel of the music created in the room.
Does damping factor tell us any thing.
I find that my favourite amps have always had a lower DF.
And many a times i have gone straight past the very high DF amps..
Even the THD parameter is no help.

Do we always have to hear before a legitimate buy ?:)
 
Do we always have to hear before a legitimate buy ?:)
Pretty much yes, but I have a confession to make, when I bought my AU-717 brand new in 1978, I bought it just from reading the reviews, specification and brochures. It was my first 'bought' amplifier, and in truth I had no idea what it was going to sound like.

I expect I might have been able to listen to one, but I bought mine in Tottenham Court Road, in Central London, back in the day there were dozens of HiFi shops in that area. The dealers there were just 'box shifters' and in the main had no listening facilities aside from the front of store area. And in any case it wouldn't have been with my source, speakers, and in my house, so I thought I would just go for it! - As it turned out I struck gold, the rest is history as they say :D Note that the only other amplifier on my shortlist at the time was the Technics SU-8088 which would have been nice too, but didn't look as 'butch' as the black and mysterious looking AU-717. :D
 
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If weight was so important .
Then my 907 imos limited weighs in at around 34kilos and an aud11II makes half of that . Imagine the difference and yet sound quality isnt even equal. Some prefer the 11 over the 907
 
I bought my Sansui's on spec and reviews, there was no other way to do it. Sansui was not sold in New Zealand until after 1984 by which time it was all over.....
Spec's can give you a fairly good indication of how an amplifier will perform.

Damping factor plays a great roll in how an amplifier sounds, particularly in the bass department.
The damping factor of my Crown Macro-Tech 5002VZ is 1000, and it beats every amplifier I have ever tried on my subs including my McIntosh MC452/352/2205/2120........
 
I had an AU-D77X. I liked it.

It sounded better than a good sounding Sony Amp but not near as good as an AU-717, which I also used to have. And the built in EQ was fantastic! :) A nice sounding amp, especially for like a secondary/bedroom stereo system.

I.E. a very good amp but not worth the $$ to restore if you had to pay someone to do the job, which is why I do not have it now. Gave it away.
 
Honestly, I think Sansui got most of it right across their lines. At least to my ear.

I’m not an expert but I’ve listened to and/or owned some of the following Sansui models:

Receivers: 7070, 9090 & G7700
Integrateds: AU-517, AU-717, AU-719 & AU-X1

I enjoyed them all within their intended use and limits.

I’ve also had many modern well regarded integrateds in here - Yamaha A-S801, Yamaha A-S1100, Marantz Reference PM 14S1 & Peachtree Audio Nova 150 to name a few in the lower price range.

As much as I liked all of them, the AU-X1 slayed them all.

I currently own the AU-X1 and have the Yamaha A-S801 in my second system. This Yamaha has spectacular AP bench test measurements but it cannot touch the X1 in organic, realistic SQ. I’ve never seen AU-X1 measurements on an Audio Precision but I would love to. Maybe then I could determine where the magic lies, but I’m guessing that even then I won’t. Just like speaker measurements, there’s more than meets the eye.

It’s hard to describe how good the X1 is. I’ve heard a lot of different amps driving my 805D2 (here and in showrooms, some of those units were well above the level of the gear I mentioned previously) and I’d put the AU-X1 up against anything. I wish I knew what spec to look at so that I could identify my next amp purchase.

Not bad for an integrated from what some call a “mid-fi” manufacturer in 1980... Even inflation adjusted it’s taking no prisoners.
 
Regardless of the speciffications being similar, I believe that the AU-G77X use a very simple form of the diamond differential stage in comparison with the AU-D707X or AU-D11 II.
 
It’s hard to describe how good the X1 is
LL
 
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