au 717 international multi power units

Hi , I have been looking at up grading and purchasing a AU 717. looking at getting a unit that can be switched to take 220 or ideally 240 V that can be used here in Australia. A few units I see for Sale online have a fuse at the rear next to a tag listing power voltages. Can I assume these were an International version that can easily be switched to 240 volts.?

If its an Export model (International), my guess is that there will be an internal plug you will need to change to suit 220 or 240V option. There should be a plate at the back of the Amp, that should tell you the voltages it is designed for. Just check the plate on the back before buying. Also, if it has been set up for 110V then there should alsobe an indication on the same plate as to what the fusing has to be for 220-240V.

Under the cover box there is a moveable contact so you put that where you need it. Then you need to put the type of ac plug end on the unit.

Thanks for the confirmation, much appreciated !!! . I currently have a nice AU 417 and am very satisfied with how it sounds. What improvements do the TOTL models have over the lesser models? Apart from the extra power they can output?

I suppose, further isolation of channels and stages by dedicated PSU sections. Additional shielding around sensitive boards. Generally more components and cleaner stages of amplification. Generally ends up getting heavier in weight.
At the end of the day, its how it sounds to you may also be influenced by the status of the internals. These are now 30+ years of age and may not be at their best until rejuvenated.

I've just finished working on a 717 and if everything is working right it maintains about 0.006% THD over most of the important power range (zero to a dozen or so watts) and if your line voltage is solid, produces about 100 W/ch at clipping, both channels driven. It's way easier to work on than the 919 and some other units. That said, it's not my favorite Sansui at the moment. It sounds a bit bright to me and I'm trying to figure out just why.

lomax said:

Thanks for the confirmation, much appreciated !!! . I currently have a nice AU 417 and am very satisfied with how it sounds. What improvements do the TOTL models have over the lesser models? Apart from the extra power they can output?

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I've owned a 417 and now a 717. The 717 has better imaging, depth and control over the 417 as well as incredible build quality.
The 717 is a significantly better Amp and worth the extra $$$

EdibleHead said:

I've owned a 417 and now a 717. The 717 has better imaging, depth and control over the 417 as well as incredible build quality.
The 717 is a significantly better Amp and worth the extra $$$

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Indeed - what he said.

Skippy124 (Dad) and I have the entire range of AU-x17 and x19 amps between us (apart from the AU-819 which we just can't find!!) and there's a definite upgrade in overall sound quality and outright 'grunt' from the AU-417 to the AU-517/717. My first AU was a 417 and I later upgraded to a 517.

There are differences in the circuit topology which perhaps account for the sonic differences, along with the use of different capacitors in various signal path locations (the 417 uses some bipolar electrolytics, whereas the 517/717 uses back-to-back low leakage caps in these locations)

On the 717 I mentioned earlier, I'm concluding it's just very revealing of flaws elsewhere in my system and there are certainly plenty of those. It does use more than the usual number of compensation caps to achieve its performance, and that leads to a few degrees of phase shift one wouldn't normally expect, but the overall performance is excellent. One also needs to change out the various fusible resistors that are certainly out of spec, and watch for noisy transistors, as those are trouble prone. Though I changed out all the double diode beads, they all tested good.