Rick
New Member
Hi everybody,
I posted this on our 70sAudioMindSet group in late November. I thought you Sansui guys might enjoy it.
*************************************************************
I was going to wait awhile till I had more time to write this and upload some pictures. But because of the other theads about speakers, power levels, etc., I decided to go ahead now and will upload pictures later.
Two days ago I hooked up a set of Sansui SP-5000 speakers that I have owned for 2 1/2 years but had never really checked out. When I first received them, I pulled them out of a massive set of boxes to visually check them and then slid them back in the boxes. They have been stored in the corner of my entrance hall ever since with stacks and stacks of other equipment... all not hooked up or useable.
I had to get a particular piece of gear out of that mess to check out for sale, so I decided to rearrange and move everything. Now I have a space there to mess with the stuff. These Sansui SP-5000's are the speakers of choice for that location. They are spaced with only about 3-4 ft of space between them with shelving across the tops to form a "workbench" for stacking up some working gear.
I can't really express how impressed I am with these 5000's. They are a large, heavy, efficient, 7 speaker, 4-way system. To me, they sound beautiful with a very smooth and effortless sound whether played at very low background level or thunderous wall-shaking volume. Here are the specs from the User Manual.
(1) 15" woofer
(2) 6.5" low midranges
(2) 4" high midranges
(2) 2.5" horn-type tweeters
Sensitivity = 102db/watt
8 ohm system (6 to 15 range with no loss of efficiency)
Frequency range = 30 - 20,000 (at Anechoic Chamber)
25 - 20,000 (at Normal Listening room)
Dimensions = 19.25" Wide x 32.6" High x 16.6" Deep
Weight = 90.3 pounds
Finish = Oiled walnut (also with the wood fretwork grilles)
Like most if not all the Sansui speakers of the era, they have cloth surrounds instead of foam so rot is not an issue.
The crossover network is not described. They do have the typical Sansui Clear, Natural and Soft control on the back to help with matching to room acoustics. But these have TWO of them on each speaker. One is labeled Mid-range, the other is labeled High-Range. So this gives what... 9 different crossover settings.
They are now hooked up to a classic silver-face Pioneer system consisting of SPEC 1 Preamp, SPEC 4 (150wpc) power amp, TX-9800 tuner, SG-9800 equalizer, RT-909 & RT-707 reel to reel decks, RG-2 reverb, SR-303 dynamic range processor and other misc units. This is all in a 9 ft wide entrance hall that is widely open (6 ft opening) on one end to a relatively spacious living room, a kitchen at the other end of the hall with a standard size door opening and a large open stairwell to upstairs.
The SPEC 4 amp is a clean, powerful amp and has large analog power output meters on the front panel that I assume are of high quality. The meter scale range is 0.01 to 300 watts output power. Note: 0.01 = 1/100 of 1 watt.
As a point of reference, the meter also has a db scale.
0.01 watts = -45 db approximately
0.1 watts = -31 db approximately
1 watts = -22 db approximately
10 watts = -12 db approximately
50 watts = -4.5 db approximately
75 watts = -3 db exactly
100 watts = -1.5db approximately
150 watts = 0 db exactly (0db corresponds to rated output)
300 watts = +3 db exactly
Or precisely (watts rounded to two decimal places)
0.01 watts = -42 db
0.02 watts = -39 db
0.04 watts = -36 db
0.07 watts = -33 db
0.15 watts = -30 db
0.29 watts = -27 db
0.59 watts = -24 db
1.17 watts = -21 db
2.34 watts = -18 db
4.69 watts = -15 db
9.38 watts = -12 db
18.75 watts = -9 db
37.5 watts = -6 db
75 watts = -3 db
150 watts = 0 db
300 watts = +3 db
It takes 2X power to make a 3db change which is the amount required for most folks to notice a change in volume. It requires 10X power to make perceived volume to be twice as high.
I do not own a SPL meter but here is my subjective report of these speakers with the above equipment. Playing a rock FM station with music containing normal levels of bass information...
With zero perceptible meter movement (less than 1/100th of 1 watt), the music is a very perceptible background level, it is quite easy to have a conversation with no special effort. The music does not sound thin or weak. It has good bass quality that is in balance with the volume level.
At average meter readings of....
0.01 (1/100th of 1) watts output = it is still easy to carry on a conversation but music is much more noticeable
0.1 (1/10th of 1) watts output = the music is very present, but conversation is not a real problem.
1 watts output = the music is loud, conversation requires more force and more focused toward the listener.
10 watts output = is very loud, conversation is much more difficult and requires real effort to be heard.
50 to 100 watts = the music is VERY loud, our old style windows rattle considerably, conversation is very difficult and requires semi-shouting.
100 to 150 watts = THUNDEROUS volume, powerful bass notes vibrate the pants on my legs, it is impossible to have a conversation without face to face shouting. I can feel the house shaking and can only imagine how loud it is in the neighborhood. Sometime when enough neighbors are gone, I will try this long enough to to go out and walk around the neighorhood just for shits and grins...
150 to 300 watts = Noticeably higher volume than THUNDEROUS, but I can't hold this at an average level because the SPEC 4's protection circuits kick in. The speakers seem to handle it just fine before amp cuts out. At that sound level, it is difficult to judge quality, distortion, etc, but I did not notice any extreme harshness or speaker breakup, etc.
Hope you enjoy the info
Best regards,
Rick
www.stereomanuals.com
You are invited to visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/70sAudioMindset
rl]
I posted this on our 70sAudioMindSet group in late November. I thought you Sansui guys might enjoy it.
*************************************************************
I was going to wait awhile till I had more time to write this and upload some pictures. But because of the other theads about speakers, power levels, etc., I decided to go ahead now and will upload pictures later.
Two days ago I hooked up a set of Sansui SP-5000 speakers that I have owned for 2 1/2 years but had never really checked out. When I first received them, I pulled them out of a massive set of boxes to visually check them and then slid them back in the boxes. They have been stored in the corner of my entrance hall ever since with stacks and stacks of other equipment... all not hooked up or useable.
I had to get a particular piece of gear out of that mess to check out for sale, so I decided to rearrange and move everything. Now I have a space there to mess with the stuff. These Sansui SP-5000's are the speakers of choice for that location. They are spaced with only about 3-4 ft of space between them with shelving across the tops to form a "workbench" for stacking up some working gear.
I can't really express how impressed I am with these 5000's. They are a large, heavy, efficient, 7 speaker, 4-way system. To me, they sound beautiful with a very smooth and effortless sound whether played at very low background level or thunderous wall-shaking volume. Here are the specs from the User Manual.
(1) 15" woofer
(2) 6.5" low midranges
(2) 4" high midranges
(2) 2.5" horn-type tweeters
Sensitivity = 102db/watt
8 ohm system (6 to 15 range with no loss of efficiency)
Frequency range = 30 - 20,000 (at Anechoic Chamber)
25 - 20,000 (at Normal Listening room)
Dimensions = 19.25" Wide x 32.6" High x 16.6" Deep
Weight = 90.3 pounds
Finish = Oiled walnut (also with the wood fretwork grilles)
Like most if not all the Sansui speakers of the era, they have cloth surrounds instead of foam so rot is not an issue.
The crossover network is not described. They do have the typical Sansui Clear, Natural and Soft control on the back to help with matching to room acoustics. But these have TWO of them on each speaker. One is labeled Mid-range, the other is labeled High-Range. So this gives what... 9 different crossover settings.
They are now hooked up to a classic silver-face Pioneer system consisting of SPEC 1 Preamp, SPEC 4 (150wpc) power amp, TX-9800 tuner, SG-9800 equalizer, RT-909 & RT-707 reel to reel decks, RG-2 reverb, SR-303 dynamic range processor and other misc units. This is all in a 9 ft wide entrance hall that is widely open (6 ft opening) on one end to a relatively spacious living room, a kitchen at the other end of the hall with a standard size door opening and a large open stairwell to upstairs.
The SPEC 4 amp is a clean, powerful amp and has large analog power output meters on the front panel that I assume are of high quality. The meter scale range is 0.01 to 300 watts output power. Note: 0.01 = 1/100 of 1 watt.
As a point of reference, the meter also has a db scale.
0.01 watts = -45 db approximately
0.1 watts = -31 db approximately
1 watts = -22 db approximately
10 watts = -12 db approximately
50 watts = -4.5 db approximately
75 watts = -3 db exactly
100 watts = -1.5db approximately
150 watts = 0 db exactly (0db corresponds to rated output)
300 watts = +3 db exactly
Or precisely (watts rounded to two decimal places)
0.01 watts = -42 db
0.02 watts = -39 db
0.04 watts = -36 db
0.07 watts = -33 db
0.15 watts = -30 db
0.29 watts = -27 db
0.59 watts = -24 db
1.17 watts = -21 db
2.34 watts = -18 db
4.69 watts = -15 db
9.38 watts = -12 db
18.75 watts = -9 db
37.5 watts = -6 db
75 watts = -3 db
150 watts = 0 db
300 watts = +3 db
It takes 2X power to make a 3db change which is the amount required for most folks to notice a change in volume. It requires 10X power to make perceived volume to be twice as high.
I do not own a SPL meter but here is my subjective report of these speakers with the above equipment. Playing a rock FM station with music containing normal levels of bass information...
With zero perceptible meter movement (less than 1/100th of 1 watt), the music is a very perceptible background level, it is quite easy to have a conversation with no special effort. The music does not sound thin or weak. It has good bass quality that is in balance with the volume level.
At average meter readings of....
0.01 (1/100th of 1) watts output = it is still easy to carry on a conversation but music is much more noticeable
0.1 (1/10th of 1) watts output = the music is very present, but conversation is not a real problem.
1 watts output = the music is loud, conversation requires more force and more focused toward the listener.
10 watts output = is very loud, conversation is much more difficult and requires real effort to be heard.
50 to 100 watts = the music is VERY loud, our old style windows rattle considerably, conversation is very difficult and requires semi-shouting.
100 to 150 watts = THUNDEROUS volume, powerful bass notes vibrate the pants on my legs, it is impossible to have a conversation without face to face shouting. I can feel the house shaking and can only imagine how loud it is in the neighborhood. Sometime when enough neighbors are gone, I will try this long enough to to go out and walk around the neighorhood just for shits and grins...
150 to 300 watts = Noticeably higher volume than THUNDEROUS, but I can't hold this at an average level because the SPEC 4's protection circuits kick in. The speakers seem to handle it just fine before amp cuts out. At that sound level, it is difficult to judge quality, distortion, etc, but I did not notice any extreme harshness or speaker breakup, etc.
Hope you enjoy the info
Best regards,
Rick
www.stereomanuals.com
You are invited to visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/70sAudioMindset
rl]