I acquired a Sansui 9090 a few years back. The unit was truly in as-new condition. Everything worked and worked perfectly. There were, and still are, no nicks, bumps, bruises, bangs, or other cosmetic issues with this unit. Save a bit of plastic that broke off of the socket joint for the AM ferrite bar antenna, this 9090 looks great to me.
With one small exception.
The unit, to me, sounded, for lack of a better term, "tired". Surely while the exterior has resisted showing its age, the circuitry inside is not, and cannot be expected to remain, ageless.
I began corresponding with Echo about this. He suggested that he had a tried and true receipe to bring the unit back up to spec. I gave the unit to him at the February meeting in Michigan, and off it went for an overhaul.
His recipie includes swapping out capacitors in key areas and in others, creatively removing capacitors in the signal path. Power supply capacitors were also replaced, as they were showing visible signs of age. Echo also suggested that these were undervalued for the output of this particular receiver.
The unit arrived back at my home yesterday, and it is obvious that the unit has been in good hands. Knobs were polished, contacts cleaned, and other areas the 9090 was made to look like new. Couple this with the electronics upgrade, and for a relatively small investment, I have a "better than new" 9090.
No question that the performance of the unit has been enhanced. It sounds like a sheet has been removed from the speakers. More accurrate, the sound is like a screen image that used to be a bit out of focus, and now the image is razor sharp.
This unit is poised to become the center of my second system in my newly refinished basement. Unfortunately, the basement isn't quite done, so I will have to wait to hear it in its full glory for another week or so. However, preliminary listening leaves me very excited about what I'm going to hear next week end when things are finished up downstairs.
Add me to the growing list of satisfied customers. The 9090 sounds just awesome, and looks spectacular.
Thanks Echo!!
With one small exception.
The unit, to me, sounded, for lack of a better term, "tired". Surely while the exterior has resisted showing its age, the circuitry inside is not, and cannot be expected to remain, ageless.
I began corresponding with Echo about this. He suggested that he had a tried and true receipe to bring the unit back up to spec. I gave the unit to him at the February meeting in Michigan, and off it went for an overhaul.
His recipie includes swapping out capacitors in key areas and in others, creatively removing capacitors in the signal path. Power supply capacitors were also replaced, as they were showing visible signs of age. Echo also suggested that these were undervalued for the output of this particular receiver.
The unit arrived back at my home yesterday, and it is obvious that the unit has been in good hands. Knobs were polished, contacts cleaned, and other areas the 9090 was made to look like new. Couple this with the electronics upgrade, and for a relatively small investment, I have a "better than new" 9090.
No question that the performance of the unit has been enhanced. It sounds like a sheet has been removed from the speakers. More accurrate, the sound is like a screen image that used to be a bit out of focus, and now the image is razor sharp.
This unit is poised to become the center of my second system in my newly refinished basement. Unfortunately, the basement isn't quite done, so I will have to wait to hear it in its full glory for another week or so. However, preliminary listening leaves me very excited about what I'm going to hear next week end when things are finished up downstairs.
Add me to the growing list of satisfied customers. The 9090 sounds just awesome, and looks spectacular.
Thanks Echo!!
