1979 Sansui Au-717 / TU-717

[Knucklehead]

adding binding posts (not as easy as it looks)

Easier than you think, Lee. I did my own binding post install. I think anyone with a soldering iron and some 3d printed speaker panels could do it as well. Between my AU-717 and AU-317 I spent about $100, and they look like they should have been on these amps from the factory. The 317 was easier since there is more room to maneuver a hot iron, and Sansui didn't put any more length of wire than absolutely necessary in the 717, which is very crowded by comparison.

The pic is of my 317 amp after freshly installing the binding posts with the 3D printed panels. The panels are held in place by the binding posts.

 

[leesonic]

Easier than you think, Lee.

Sansui didn't put any more length of wire than absolutely necessary in the 717, which is very crowded by comparison.

Didn't you just contradict yourself? You said easier than you think, despite me saying that I've already done it. Then you say they didn't put any more wire than necessary.

These are pictures of my amp. If I was allowed to put a link to a barter town thread, I would.

 

[trs]

Sorry for the thread necromancy, but an old (and ignored) alert brought be back to this fab thread… and since I happen to have my personal ‘717 on my li’l bench for some basic maintenance and cleaning, I thought it a perfect opportunity to show just how easy adding binding posts to the ‘717 can be!

What you need:
• Choice of binding posts: I prefer Pomona 4243-0 and 4243-2 binding posts for their solid quality, wide availability, and they just look nice, y’know? -0 and -2 denote base color, black or red, respectively. Mueller Electric makes a near-perfect copy of the Pomonas for the same price, part no. P4243-x. With such similar p/n’s, they gotta be licensed… right? Anyway…

•• On this particular ‘717 I used Keystone 7018’s and 7019’s - they’re what I had on hand at the time and they’ve proven perfectly adequate. A little “chunkier” than the Pomonas, but who cares if they’re facing the wall most of the time?

• An appropriately sized piece of acrylic sheet (aka plexiglas, lexan, acrylite, lucite, palsun, polygal, makrolon, &c…) to mount the binding posts on. It’s been a while since I first assembled it so I can’t be sure the exact thickness, but knowing what I keep on hand, I’d say 3/16” - 1/8” thick.

The piece itself is roughly 3 3/8” x 3 3/8” and is secured with four M2 screws with flat washers on the outside and teeny-tiny lockwashers behind nuts on the inside.
Pretty sure I must have drilled the holes for the fasteners. It’s easy - just lay down some painters tape over the area to be drilled, use a combo square to draw your lines and mark your points, double check, and drill away!

I believe the attached photos should be enough to go on to guide you through final assembly.



I had originally planned to paint the inside of the plexi, but, well, I didn’t. Can’t hardly tell it’s clear unless you shine a flashlight through it - and it sure looks cool when you do!



Wiring the outputs to the posts couldn’t be easier, there’s enough slack from the factory that it really wasn’t a problem.
Negative/ground/(-) terminals are wired together PER CHANNEL, NOT ALL TOGETHER. Sorry, felt that was worth yelling just in case someone either doesn’t know how this stuff works and/or didn’t pay attention to the pics. Just a nice fat solid wire between the (-) terminals, straight down, Right A to Right B, Left A to Left B. I don’t think I can make this one point any clearer so I’ll drop it here.

Happy hunting