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AU 9500 U jumpers tweak

Filip I

Active Member
Gonna be short. Took out original iron jumpers ( or brass ), put some 6N, 10 gage copper ( 8 would be ideal )instead. My experience: it made evident difference for the better. Please note that I have Sansui playing in my house for the last two years ( and it is fully profesionaly serviced ) so I am much familiar with it sound and potential.

I know that au 9500 is kind of polarizing amp, some love it, others don't ( I am in the first camp obviously ) so I wanted to report my experience hoping to help some of you sitting on the fence and hope to persuade you to give this beautiful amp another chance.

I red mostly kevzep's comment and his experience with bloated bass and irritating top end and he was not alone in this review .Before I red any of the comments ( good or bad ) I already had 9500 in my hands, playing so my opinion wasn't formed by someone elses opinion still I can agree on those remarks.

Not gonna expand this topic on preferences,cables,speakers,room since it is all individual and can also make huge difference in overall sound but...

Although I loved mighty 9500 at the first play ( and it has really impressive sound overall ) I also noticed some extra bottom and some cut high freq. Didn't bother me too much since I enjoyed beautiful sound and I wasn't looking for clinical lab sound. it is happy fat sounding amp and that's it for me. For me it is so musical,real, smooth,involving that I ignored these minor " flaws".

The other day I was thinking about what else could be improved in my fairly humble but tuned system without breaking the bank. The story end where it begun: U jumpers! ( Amp-preamp jumpers )

My logic was: o.k copper is better than iron, let's try it for fun. Took some nice copper wire ,bent it, pressed play.

Immediate impressions ( note I am listening same system for last two years so I have reference point) bloated bass is gone, it is still mighty and deep just more precise,like a slingshot if you like. Top end went up clean and clear without any edginess glare etc. Much more details, as there was dust in between before, vocals are in front, real, separated.

If I could sum it up: au 9500 is still the same amp just more more refined, no bass bloat, it is cleaner, more detailed and separated in high freq. but still retain original sansui warmth and character.

At the end I am truly amazed that guys from Sansui omitted more quality jumpers ( at least in TOTL ) O.K I guess 6N copper didn't exist in 72' still wouldn't hurt to use some better quality copper instead iron jumpers. I understand that big industries are about cost cutting but they literary crippled the giant for 2 cents.

So that's it from me. If you are one of guys struggling with your amp ( be that sansui or any other ) I sincerely recommend to try this cheap tweak, might be surprised. Btw, not one of those guys bathing their speaker cables in virgin silver hoping to sound better...just ordinary guy loving his gear.

Cheers.
 
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Maybe not so much the jumpers themselves, but reduced contact resistance could have made a difference. But it doesn't matter, what you hear is better and that's all that counts. ;)

Thanks for letting us know your experiences with this much talked about amplifier. ;)
 
Maybe not so much the jumpers themselves, but reduced contact resistance could have made a difference. But it doesn't matter, what you hear is better and that's all that counts. ;)

Thanks for letting us know your experiences with this much talked about amplifier. ;)

Definitively not a tech guy so I am not gonna play smart and say I know what is definitive cause but it work:banana:

This one is one of the Sui's giants, it would be pity to stay shadowed or unfairly judged just because of poor 20 c part. I am looking forward to hear other impressions if someone else try this.
 
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