Sansui AU-517 with sensitive speakers

Tdogzthmn

Active Member
I'd like to know if anyone owning an AU-517 has used this amp with speakers with an efficiency close to 98 decibels at 8 ohms.

Since I'm mostly using 2-3 watts for daily listening levels I would hope the amp will still sound great at lower levels.
 
The big downside of coupling the 517 to very efficient speakers is the detented volume dial. You can sometimes find that the volume jumps too far between each detent. The larger 717 has a -20db attenuation switch which works wonders to address this issue, but the 517 does not.

The easiest way to address this on the 517 is to add -10db or greater attenuators in-line with the source input to the amp. This, however, is a bad idea for the phono input.

The other way is to adjust the connected/separated switch on the rear panel to 'separated' and make up a short RCA to RCA cable with an integrated resistor-divider network to attenuate the signal, or grab a short pair of interconnects and a set of the aforementioned attenuators.

Either of these solutions will give you far greater useable volume range with very efficient speakers. I used Audio Principe -10db interconnects once upon a time with great success, along with a DIY attenuation cable as mentioned above:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/diy-10db-attenuators.392186/


With very efficient speakers, I'd possibly aim for -16-20db or so.
 
I appreciate your detailed response and potential solutions!

I'll report back once I have the speakers in my setup and have given it a listen. The attenuator RCA's seem to be the most viable solution if it seems like I'm getting too much gain from the amp. I found some RCA attenuators on Amazon that look like they would do the trick.

https://www.amazon.com/Harrison-Labs-Line-Level-Attenuator/dp/B0006N41B0

I've had an experience in the past where with 100 wpc hybrid amp was just too much gain for some speakers I had and ended up letting the amp go. Hopefully I can get the 517 to play nice with my new speakers!
 
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Picked up my 517 this afternoon from the shop. Prior to this I had not heard the amp in person so it was a nice surprise when I was able to get it all hooked up and ready to play. My current speakers at 90db and I only had the volume level set around -43db for my normal listening level. I have since added a pair of 12db attenuators on my Aux line in. With the attenuators I'm now running the level around -43db or -40db for average listening with music which isn't a big change but it gives me some more play on the volume which is helpful. Its a really nice piece of gear and I'm looking forward to letting it burn in for a bit before give it some more critical listening time.
 
I'm now running some full range speakers which are rated at 98 dB at 8 ohms. The volume dial is set at -60db which is the lowest volume level possible with the 517. The amp still sounds great even though its at the lowest volume possible. I might try to put the attenuators back on the output from my DAC but this will impact another pair of speakers which are are using the tape output on the amp. The 517 is a fantastic amp but sometimes I worry it's not able to really show off with such sensitive speakers.
 
Quick update:

I've decoupled the pre and power amp sections and added some 12db attenuators on the power amp inputs. This does allow for some more play on the dial but I still have the volume set to around -43 which is still quite low. I've heard that the capacitor coupling is a little warmer sounding compared to the direct coupled but I didn't notice an significant change in the sound fo the amp just yet. I'll let it warm up a bit and see if anything changes when I switch it back to direct coupled.
 
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