Retro Sansui Products

Andrew L

New Member
Greetings, I am new to this forum and the retro Sansui world. I recently did a trip to RI to visit my parents and was helping clean out their basement and came across both these products below and took them with me since they were going to throw them out. Just some background I work in IT so I am a technical person but I am new to the audio world so I have some questions but feel free to talk technical to me I can probably figure it out.

First is a 70s Sansui Solid State 350A
Second is a 3 piece 80s unit a T700 Quartz tuner, SE300 Equalizer, and a A1200 Amp
http://imgur.com/a/HU2oz

What I can tell you from what I have seen on theses is as follows.
The 350A works flawlessly needs nothing. I hooked up a 3.5mm adapter in the headphone jack so I could listen with my ear buds and it picked up all my local stations fine. I also have a set of 2 speakers that are straight form the 70s which have the regular wire connector and a RCA jack in the middle of the positive and negative. Can I hook up via RCA? I am thinking not since the speakers section on the back use the straight wire connection but it does have RCA jacks off to the side for other things.

The 80s 3 system setup all turns on however I don't have any wires to hook each other up and the antenna I just noticed is missing so I wasn't able to test it out too much. I LOVE the 80s graphics on it and can't wait to use it. I am just curious what wires I need to hook all three up together. There was a "remote receiver" in the drawer that this system was sitting on but I just noticed now I forgot to grab it... I imagine there was a remote as well unless that was something else. I texted my mother asking her to ask my father since he doesn't text and he said he wasn't sure if it had a remote or not.

And anything else I would just love to know more about these systems. So any info you guys can provide I would appreciate!
 
Sounds like some nice finds, but I do believe you need to pay a fee to be able to link pics on Photo Bucket now. All I'm seeing is some kind of generic "you need to update your account" message for each pic you posted.

Had to see that coming eventually, but it does indeed truly suck.
 
Sounds like some nice finds, but I do believe you need to pay a fee to be able to link pics on Photo Bucket now. All I'm seeing is some kind of generic "you need to update your account" message for each pic you posted.

Had to see that coming eventually, but it does indeed truly suck.

Just noticed I uploaded to imgur instead. What a bummer!
 
That worked.

Do get some DeOxit 5 and clean the controls. Just be careful where you spray it as that an craze meter glass and faceplates. Use that to clean the panel jacks as well.

Sounds like you'd be comfortable with an iron and such. Most of these old beauties can benefit greatly with a recap. Start with the power supply electrolytics, as those take the most abuse. I like to up the value some as mostly they put the biggest they could in the available space, but caps are much smaller now. My personal rule of thumb is maybe 30% more capacitance and at most one step up in voltage if you can't find matching caps. Get bored, do the tone section next as that will have the next best bang for the bucks.

Other than that, a gentle cleaning can work wonders. Just keep in mind that you should avoid using ANY cleaners on the faceplate as the old print can rub right off if you're not careful. Maybe a weak solution of Dawn dishwashing fluid if anything, just a couple drops is all, and test that in a small area first.

Oh ... those old fuse lamps can be a PITA to find. Sui used 7vac, but mostly you're stuck with either 6 or 8vac. I use 6, because they run cooler, and those old light boxes can get pretty fragile over time. Bit dimmer, but not too bad.

Mostly, have fun with it!
 
That worked.

Do get some DeOxit 5 and clean the controls. Just be careful where you spray it as that an craze meter glass and faceplates. Use that to clean the panel jacks as well.

Sounds like you'd be comfortable with an iron and such. Most of these old beauties can benefit greatly with a recap. Start with the power supply electrolytics, as those take the most abuse. I like to up the value some as mostly they put the biggest they could in the available space, but caps are much smaller now. My personal rule of thumb is maybe 30% more capacitance and at most one step up in voltage if you can't find matching caps. Get bored, do the tone section next as that will have the next best bang for the bucks.

Other than that, a gentle cleaning can work wonders. Just keep in mind that you should avoid using ANY cleaners on the faceplate as the old print can rub right off if you're not careful. Maybe a weak solution of Dawn dishwashing fluid if anything, just a couple drops is all, and test that in a small area first.

Oh ... those old fuse lamps can be a PITA to find. Sui used 7vac, but mostly you're stuck with either 6 or 8vac. I use 6, because they run cooler, and those old light boxes can get pretty fragile over time. Bit dimmer, but not too bad.

Mostly, have fun with it!

Haven't taken it apart yet but thanks for the info! I did take a wet paper towel to wipe down the front a bit better after taking the pictures because I noticed it was dirty in the light but thanks for noting that because with my dumb luck I would have used something stronger!

I followed all of it but not familiar with iron?
 
Nah ... THIS is iron! <G>

3016528-inline-i-2-thors-hammer-iron-mans-heart-russell-bobbitt-makes-movies.jpg


You can get by with a decent pencil soldering iron while you figure out how deep you want to get into the refurb thing, but I highly suggest a good soldering station eventually. The Weller WES51 is exceptional, and relatively inexpensive in the long run. DO keep your tip clean and tinned as that can really make a difference in the quality of your work.

PS - I suggest you avoid the newer "green" solders as those can be a PITA to work with. Good ol Kester 51 lead/tin is my go to here.
 
Nice find. Please post the serial numbers for the database. Click on the link in my signature block.

- Pete
 
Done!

BTW my mother went digging in the basement and found the remote to the 80s equipment and is shipping it to me and I ordered a cheap set of speakers and an antenna for it on amazon just to play around with that set too. From what I have gathered most of 80s stuff isn't loved much unless it was the super high end equipment. I was hoping the set I had was before the decline but not sure my father said it was a great setup when he had it all hooked up. Either way I can't imagine it's so bad that it isn't worth listening to or playing around with. The 350A will probably be my main unit but the 80s will be like a backup or be put in another room of mine on display especially for it's crazy 80s graphics on the screens.
 
So just an update here. I found a shop that works on old audio equipment like this exclusively in St. Petersburg, FL about 20 mins away from me. I brought the equipment into them and they loved all of it the 350A didn't need much he said it was in great shape just had to tighten a few things down and did a great job cleaning the front of it. I have that setup over my stairs on the balcony so it can be heard throughout my house. The 80s units he said were all in great shape the only problem was the power meter on the amp was burnt out on both sides. We tracked down the parts from http://www.sansui-parts-shop.com/ but he was hesitant on going forward because he said it wouldn't be worth it to fix. However we talked it over and he cleaned up the unit and he said he was surprised because it sounded a lot better than he expected and we went forward with ordering the power meters. I know not much love for the 80s stuff but it will bother me if everything on it is perfect and that's not working. The remote works great with that system all it needed was batteries. My parents are in Charleston, SC this week babysitting my nepheew so I took a quick drive up to see them and another piece that was thought to have already been thrown out was found tucked away which is the dual cassette deck a D-70BW. They brought that with them along with a turn table. Looks like it just needs cleaning up, I have one cassette which is my sister's band playing which I will test with once I get the amp back and everything hooked up.

The turn table from their basement which I thought was a Sansui but is actually a BSR 250S McDonald. My dad said that was bought with the 350A and was hooked into that unit they both match with their faux wood graining. I found a thread on here about BSR and it seems like they are hit or miss. I don't have any vinyls to test with yet but first I need a new needle for it. There was a black Sansui turn table that went with the 80s units but my uncle grabbed it, my dad told him to give it back and they will probably ship it to me and I can add that to the database as well. I am going to guess that the Sansui will be a better turn table than the BSR.

EDIT: I updated the imgur in the first post and added pictures of everything. I got that sweet lighted cabinet on craigslist for dirt cheap and the light insight is dimmable so I got a nice dimmable LED for it. The speakers are Sansui speakers that are exactly like the ones my dad used to have in his living room the front covers are getting re-done so they are off in that picture. The 80s unit will go in there, that's my living room while the 70s unit is above the stairs with new Polk speakers hooked up to it. The turn table is at the end next to the 350A in the pictures.

One last thing, not sure if anyone knows but the only part missing from the 80s rack unit that I can tell is the CD player. I would like to complete the unit once I get the turn table my dad never got the CD player because at the time he had no interest in CDs everything was cassette or vinyl for him. Later he got a 5 CD changer which was with the Sony units that replaced the Sansui in the 90s. Anyone know which model would have gone with the ones I have so I can try to complete it?
 
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