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Au-919

AUD101 said:
If you find a good source for them and the price is right - got to be worth it :thmbsp:
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Just been checking the Dig...Y site for the equivalent NMA/NMC(s), nearly the price of a pint each in Cloudy London today.
 
barclay t. said:
I'm having an AU-919 restored at this moment, so I'm following this thread with interest.

To those who think the 919 benefits from a careful choice of speakers, do you have any specific suggestions, or advice on what speaker characteristics I should look for? Or for those who own a 919, what speakers have you matched it with which you've found work very well? I've been looking at a few different floor-standing types, but the layout of my apartment precludes any floorstanding models from being set out very far from the wall. Bookshelf speakers would work much better in my room, but if I went that route I'd still be after something with a good bass response.

Along those lines, I wondered whether I might perhaps make use of the 919's A+B speaker outputs together, to power the main bookshelf speakers with "A" and augment them with a separate sub run from "B". I do presently have an NHT sub with its own amplifier, but I'd like to be able to run the Sansui to the main stereo speakers directly, and not through a sub's amp and crossover, which might colour the sound.
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I use a pair of Vandersteen model 1 with my (recapped) 919. They need only 6 inches clearance from the wall to perform properly. If you could hear my setup,...I believe you would seek out a pair for your 919. I,m 57 yrs old and have been an audiophile since I was a teenager.
 
Its always nice to see you here ilimzn! Really you are a men from who I learned so much things about that topic, and thank you so much for that!

ilimzn said:
T... and the main filter caps. The latter will degrade well below tolerance if the amp is operated at todays 115/230VAC while being set to 110/220V, which is almost invariably the case. I've had a few 919's to restore and the 15000uF/63V caps usually measure 10-12000uF. Replacing them is not impossible but it IS difficult, and I would not recomend putting in NOS ones even if you could find the peculiar oval originals, because the 63V maximum working voltage is underspecified as it is. Replace with 75 or 80V if at all possible. Keeping the original arrangement requires the original caps to be carefully opened and the innards replaced by two standard caps in parallel, or the whole lot of 4 has to be replaced by 4 pairs on carrier boards with provision made to emulate the original screw terminals, because the whole power supply board bolts directly onto them.
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BTW, now I am in the middle of restoration process on eight pieces of oval capacitors for au919, look at the pictures.

PICT2207_zpsnnzorsdm.jpg


When the job will be finished, I will make a new thread about that. I am using Panasonic capacitors 10000uF / 80V 105 degrees C and I think they are the best choice for that.

PICT2441_zps1ahwq9nw.jpg


PICT2442_zpsi2ns6gso.jpg


PICT2444_zpsau5z4y4r.jpg


PICT2466_zps6v1salsh.jpg
 
Enthusiast2 said:
Okay, so how much $ to update a functional, working perfectly AU 919?
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You'll have to ask the tech you select to do the work.

I know how much I would charge, but over here there is a shortage of good vintage techs so prices will be higher. (I am assuming you are in the US?)
 
^
You are correct, everything where you are is higher.

I was thinking about $200-300.

I used mine for 2+ years without any issue. And it has a shop sticker inside from someplace in Washington state. I am in Maryland. So once in it's life it has been in for some repair.
 
Enthusiast2 said:
^
You are correct, everything where you are is higher.

I was thinking about $200-300.

I used mine for 2+ years without any issue. And it has a shop sticker inside from someplace in Washington state. I am in Maryland. So once in it's life it has been in for some repair.
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The parts costs alone from Mouser for a complete restoration (e.g., replacement of all electrolytic capacitors, "black flag" capacitors and select film upgrades) would be ~$200USD.
 
An AU-919 'full on' restoration is "a butt-load of work". (to use the vernacular ;))
 
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For an untouched AU-919 with the promise of Glue on boards, you are looking at good 24Hours of solid labour alone, disassemble, note down all the component values, location, unsolder, clean, resolder, throw in a few curved balls, test, re-assemble. When its all done and dusted. Cannot be rushed.
 
Complete set including replacement outputs but without other semis (which may require replacement!) is about 150 Euro, IF you chose wisely and know where to buy for reasonable prices. A full restoration with all semis replaced except for input JFETs is around 200 EUR in parts.
As for labor (hours) 24 hours is optimistic, especially if you are to restore the oval caps or have to remove ages of tar and dust and glue - at LEAST twice that ant his is if you are experienced and the amp does not require drastic cleaning, such as literally washing down all boards and metal parts.
In so many cases this is labor of love and many of us that restore these amps never expect to recover the labor cost. On average where I am from, you are lucky to get 5 EUR an hour, which is almost comically low for the work done.
 
The prices being quoted are high. Very high. The Amp works fine.
When you start approaching quality modern gear used prices I start to say no thanks.
Makes more sense to sell the Amp (Which I have very little money in) and put the funds towards something else. And I have a few units made in the last 15 years in mind.
$500+ to update the Sansui? sure, have a nice day.
That is what I realize.
 
The minimum that should be done is the replacement of the small pF polystyrene capacitors, the so-called "black flag" ones. These are prone to failure and when they fail, the amplifier goes into oscillation and the output transistors are destroyed. This failure mode has been described by both Echowars and ConradH in previous AK threads.
 
Leestereo said:
The minimum that should be done is the replacement of the small pF polystyrene capacitors, the so-called "black flag" ones. These are prone to failure and when they fail, the amplifier goes into oscillation and the output transistors are destroyed. This failure mode has been described by both Echowars and ConradH in previous AK threads.
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I agree. Of course the question is do they always fail? What is the failure rate. The Amp is pushing forty, I bought it in a thrift shop five years ago, and used it for 2 1/2 years every day, hours every day, on all night every night.
I still believe that It wouldn't be a bad idea to do somethings. But completely re-doing the Amp unless you are a tech and can do it yourself is just not worth the money for hundreds (which I do not believe the cost will be).
And the cost of anything in Europe is high. Very high.
 
Enthusiast2 said:
...But completely re-doing the Amp unless you are a tech and can do it yourself is just not worth the money for hundreds (which I do not believe the cost will be).
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All I can say is, try it and see for yourself :)
There are plenty of people here who have had such amplifiers re-built, I will let them testify as to how good they can really be, because after that number of years you are not listening to what the designers had in mind.

Even so, if you are looking at the market value, if you do not intend to keep it, then it's not worth it. That being said, prices have gone WAY up in the last 10 years or so that I've been loosely keeping track, more than a good rebuild job included. And, it's not that the gear is not worth the money performance-wise when restored, it's actually that the prices of non-restored gear are excessively high IMHO. You were lucky to get a good instance of an AU-919, but you could just as well have, and for the same price, gotten one that would have worked a month.

From a tech point of view, it's not the easiest to work on and there is a lot to go through. In my own case I have been known to give 30% discount just for theunit being clean and from a non-smoking environment. That sort of crud can do a lot of damage and then you need to literally tear the amp down to the last screw and wash it - including screws! - and you should see what the washing solution looks like after the parts have been washed in it.
Also, prices in Europe are higher for parts but since I am in Central EU labor is cheaper. Try finding a good tech in the US who will work for $7 an hour on a TOTL component and actually knows what the heck he's doing! Which BTW is for me another discount: if I get a blown amp that 'could not be fixed' I'm usually looking at at least 10 hours of 'undo' of the previous 'tech' (or sorry excuse for: if you didn't know what you were getting into you should have staid away from it!). Believe me, I could tell some stories here...

Regarding the question about black flag caps - not all of them will cause the amp to fail instantly but there are some that will. Some are in the phono section and will not cause visible problems unless you switch the source to phono. But for a select few, one intermittent failure is enough, and there are IIRC 6 in the power amp section alone that are dangerous.
 
Maybe $9. :scratch2:
Have cleaned many units that were filthy.
I guess I have been very lucky.
 
^
I was joking. Both of you live in Europe. Nice to visit. Very expensive.
Interesting, lot of people are doing jobs that pay $9 in the US. Agreed, crappy pay, but people are doing it. As long as the job is a joke I guess it beats nothing.

A guy in Switzerland wanted to get a 1950's Heuer Chronograph completely overhauled, and he kept getting quotes of over a thousand dollars in Switzerland. I saw his post about getting the watch serviced on TZ, and I had him send it to my Watchmaker in Baltimore. Hands were loose in the case, the watch was completely not running, and the dial needed to be refinished. $400, done, and he couldn't believe the before and after. I saw the before online, and saw it completed at the Watchmaker.

Yeah, better yet stay in bed.
I will eventually have a local shop quote a price, or just flip the unit, and move onto something else.
I need to have a Rotel looked at anyway.
 
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