Belo
Well-Known Member
This is what Sansui Japan is today: http://www.sansui-doshisha.jp/index.html
What a shame!:thumbsdn:
What a shame!:thumbsdn:
Sansui Japan
- Thread starter Belo
- Start date
pete_mac
Super Member
Bear in mind they are Sansui in name only, and have absolutely no relationship with the original company. The Sansui name has been applied to all manner of products including cheap televisions, fridges and domestic white goods!
Ronito6
Super Member
Hashimoto = The real Sansui today
Hashimoto is the true heart of what was the Sansui we know and love.
Here is their website http://www.tube-amps.net/index.htm
Here is more about "neo-Sansui" http://www.sansui.us/Today_Beyond.htm
Hashimoto is the true heart of what was the Sansui we know and love.
Here is their website http://www.tube-amps.net/index.htm
Here is more about "neo-Sansui" http://www.sansui.us/Today_Beyond.htm
SoundOfSound
Super Member
Bear in mind they are Sansui in name only, and have absolutely no relationship with the original company. The Sansui name has been applied to all manner of products including cheap televisions, fridges and domestic white goods!
:yes: :tears:
Belo
Well-Known Member
Bear in mind they are Sansui in name only, and have absolutely no relationship with the original company. The Sansui name has been applied to all manner of products including cheap televisions, fridges and domestic white goods!
Unfortunately we will not see anymore high quality products with the Sansui brand on them.
It is really sad.
Ronito6
Super Member
Yep..sad indeed.
In fact there are few hi-end audio makers overall in Japan compared to the what emerged between the end of the Korean War and the collapse of the Japanese economic bubble.
If Sansui had survived it would likely had followed the path taken by TEAC and Luxman here in Japan. Sansui would have likely switched to semiconductor based audio and moved much of it's manufacturing to China.
To me in the final analysis the real winnowing of high end home audio came as a result of the invention of personal portable high quality audio..."Boom Boxes" and the Walkman. Fewer people needed big speakers and good amps at home because they could get a good enough result from their personal audio players.
Of course there are some macro economic issues that played their part as well.
But here is a ray of hope...the world of audiophilia is intense here in Japan. Just look at the Kenrick Sound web site or YouTube channel to see how amazing things are here in Japan. The best audio Japan has to offer has many ready and eager buyers.
I live a 25 minute bike ride from Osaka's branch of Hifi Do, and I go there at least once a week. Their stock is massive and little of it stays on the showroom floor more than 2 months.
So...I guess my point is...classic Sansui is very appreciated here and will live for decades to come.
In fact there are few hi-end audio makers overall in Japan compared to the what emerged between the end of the Korean War and the collapse of the Japanese economic bubble.
If Sansui had survived it would likely had followed the path taken by TEAC and Luxman here in Japan. Sansui would have likely switched to semiconductor based audio and moved much of it's manufacturing to China.
To me in the final analysis the real winnowing of high end home audio came as a result of the invention of personal portable high quality audio..."Boom Boxes" and the Walkman. Fewer people needed big speakers and good amps at home because they could get a good enough result from their personal audio players.
Of course there are some macro economic issues that played their part as well.
But here is a ray of hope...the world of audiophilia is intense here in Japan. Just look at the Kenrick Sound web site or YouTube channel to see how amazing things are here in Japan. The best audio Japan has to offer has many ready and eager buyers.
I live a 25 minute bike ride from Osaka's branch of Hifi Do, and I go there at least once a week. Their stock is massive and little of it stays on the showroom floor more than 2 months.
So...I guess my point is...classic Sansui is very appreciated here and will live for decades to come.
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I suspect the intensity you mention is a regional thing. Here in Northern Honshu, there is not much left of good audio. There are only one or two dedicated, but small audio shops left in Sendai (where I live) Once there were a number of amazing shops — and one that would have vied with or even surpassed any branch of HiFiDo.
Yodobashi Camera has an audio department in their branch mega-store; most of it is devoted to AV, and there is nothing very exciting. I see some tube stuff that is probably produced off-shore — stratospheric prices! But, the outlet is still useful. For example, I've ordered stylus replacements/reproductions from their catalogs.
Must be over decade ago, HiFiDo opened a branch here on the big, busy street near the train station. The big man of the company managed the shop himself. I bought a few things there, and I used to chat with him. Very nice man.
The store was full of gorgeous stuff that had my eyes swimming. Some of it was openly displayed on the street. After several months he told me he was packing it in. He was not very happy because the entire venture had proven to be a loss. He told me flat out that the people in this area were just not interested in quality audio — and vintage in particular.
The collapse of the bubble hit the provincial regions of Japan pretty hard. On average, the north has always had less disposable income than the south. It is clearly visible if you take the Shinkansen from say Morioka city in Iwate prefecture and travel south into Kansai and beyond. Everything seems to have been painted in the last ten years!
But there are corners to be turned and alcoves to be discovered. About two Km from where I live, there is an old house with an electronics repair shop on the first floor. From the outside, it is completely unimpressive. One would hardly know it was there. But once inside, any knowing audio freak will have bulging eyes — especially Sansui fans.
The placed is crammed to the tits with gear — anything from aunty's boom box to some ancient Western Electric theatre tube amp. Boxes are coming and going by courier [takubin]. Ba-chan (grandmother) writes the receipts and makes the tea.
I've had stuff repaired there from time to time over the years when a problem defeated my limited abilities. I've always seen big Sansui amps with all their guts out on the work benches. Only recently did I learn that the employed technician was a Sansui engineer back in the days — a quiet and reflective man who never hinted at this for a decade until one day he silently showed me his company engineering badge. He was one of the victims of the great Sansui debacle.
A few months ago, my AU-alpha707 Extra went mute. Three days later I reclaimed it and it sings like the music is live in my room. But only the power side. The selector is ruined and he says he cannot repair it due to the lack of parts.
Well, what a disappointment — such an amazing instrument. Someday I will just have to bodge together a work-around for the motor driven selector switch. (The motor works.) But still, I am very happy with to use it as a power amp; it's the most amazing amp I've ever had.
The man went through the entire amp and ended up replacing a number of small transistors that he said were no longer made. He replied to some of my questions and with utter certainty in his voice he said that no substitute was suitable. He said that substitutes would make it a "hybrid" — a word that has various more shades of meaning in Japanese. 'So what did he do?' I asked.
He went away and brought back a little, segmented cardboard box with a precious supply of NOS transistors — original parts used on some Sansui amps. No boasting or bravado — just a display of friendship after many years of knowing him ... and after I had raved about how marvellous my 'alpha' sounded.
Well, maybe there are pockets of surprises here, even in Miyagi prefecture. I've not told you about a little junky parts shop where there is often a half dozen single-ended tube amps made by some of the many thousands of Japanese DIY fanatics — the kind of people who show up in the reports published in "MJ" [Musen Japan]. MJ is perhaps the world's oldest audio publication — from the pioneer days of radio.
Japan may still have a large contingent of audioholics. But, a very reliable figure says that 23% of Japanese are counted as a class that is defined as "the working poor". An academic in the social sciences told me that this is the "low number". The young are satisfied with their their pods, smart phones and so on. Everyone is paying more taxes. The seniors are having their pensions disconnected from inflation at the same time the government is trying to drive down the yen and cause inflation.
Big audio is not likely to grow up here in the North — or perhaps anywhere outside the densely populated, more affluent areas. But there is one area of interest — the chip technology that is working its way into digital audio. This works for a lot of Japanese who live in smaller spaces. Kits are being made available, and I've been looking into a wall-wart powered phono amp that comes either assembled or in kit form. Another curious thing: the industrial supply house I use to obtain a lot of parts now has a display case full of vacuum tubes! HUH???!!!! So some people must be tucked away in their homes building stuff instead of buying it.
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bluesky
Addicted Member
Nice write-up. Really well done.
"The working poor ": Everyone I knew in Japan for decades considered themsleves "the working poor", even folks who had a good job, were 'just working to make ends meet and pay the rent & bills. Work 28 days a month, party for 2 or 3 days only. Like... one weekend a month. Other than that... work. It's hard, and tough, in Japan. But they grin and bear it. No other choice. And some even owned small to medium sized businesses who also considered themselves working poor. Seemed to me more like 50% to 60% working poor.
And yes, quality stereo is rather a 'nitch market' now too. I've asked many younger Japanese folks in Japan, north-mid-and south, about Sansui... and they never even heard of it. Which just seems unbelievable to me. But very true. They never even heard about it.
So true.
Most Japanese people all want 'brand new only'. Like having anything 'old' is just 'not good', it's just not desired. They are not into Vintage (old) Anything.
"The working poor ": Everyone I knew in Japan for decades considered themsleves "the working poor", even folks who had a good job, were 'just working to make ends meet and pay the rent & bills. Work 28 days a month, party for 2 or 3 days only. Like... one weekend a month. Other than that... work. It's hard, and tough, in Japan. But they grin and bear it. No other choice. And some even owned small to medium sized businesses who also considered themselves working poor. Seemed to me more like 50% to 60% working poor.
And yes, quality stereo is rather a 'nitch market' now too. I've asked many younger Japanese folks in Japan, north-mid-and south, about Sansui... and they never even heard of it. Which just seems unbelievable to me. But very true. They never even heard about it.
So true.
Most Japanese people all want 'brand new only'. Like having anything 'old' is just 'not good', it's just not desired. They are not into Vintage (old) Anything.
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Excellent write up and thanks! It really brings back memories! I lived near Sendai in Fukushima in the late 60's through the early 70's (youngster back then) and the audio scene was very alive. I recall that Sansui was a coveted product at the time. My parents and their friends made it a habit to have dinners together and much time was devoted to comparing stereo equipment purchases.....including Sansui and Pioneer receivers, and Akai cassette deck that had some sort of mechanism to physically flip the tape cassette (instead of reversing direction).
Mitch
Mitch
Great write up and thanks!
bluesky wrote:
Hi NW Mitch: My in-laws live in Fukushima City!
Thanks for nice words of appreciation, guys!
So many people are working in service and other jobs that pay minimum wage, which is very low here. I think that the reason there is not some sort of endemic anger and national emergency is the way families live here with the Confucian ethic and common support. Single mothers in urban settings such as Tokyo have particularly difficult lives trying to raise their children. Some of these families are failing to get a decent diet. And, food, children's clothing and school supplies are taxed!
Hi NW Mitch: My in-laws live in Fukushima City!
Thanks for nice words of appreciation, guys!
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vigman
SUBSCRIBER
I love reading about the history of our " obsession " and how it came to be. Just a few people sliding down the cutting edge of technology at the time and strict QUALITY got this gear to where it is today.. Sought after, collectable , well engineered , repairable and sounds like MAGIC. It is sad that the standards of yesterday for making a great product are now almost lost on the following generation...
Kale
Super Member
maybe like this Nakamichi mechanism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWbINlECA8A&feature=player_detailpage
