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First review AU 919

montelatici

montelatici

Well-Known Member
Banned
I spent about 3 hours comparing my "new" AU 919 to my other amps with 70s rock music.

Comparison amps:

Sansui AU 7700 (55 wpc)
Technics SU-V60 (90wpc)

All driving JBL L36 speakers.

Inputs:

AU 919: Technics SL 1500 with Shure V15 Type 3 cart. with Shure VN35MR stylus

AU 7700: Technics SL 1600 with Shure M97Xe cartridge standard stylus

Technics SU-V60: Technics SL 1600 with Shure M95ED with Shure N95ED stylus

Rock test: Boston "More than a Feeling"

AU 919- "Jump" off. Tone controls flat.

Very precise sound, very little to no "color". Very, very clear highs. Can hear strumming guitar midrange. Easy to hear the bass runs but not "heart thumping".

AU 7700- Loudness off, tone flat.

More "color" than 919. Highs just as clear, mid range a little more subdued. Bass runs a little more clouded but still very discernible and more "heart thumping" than 919.

SU-V60 Loudness off, tone flat

More "color" than 919, less than AU 7700. Highs very clear, mid range very strong, bass a little less clear than 7700 or 919 and less "heart thumping" than AU 7700. More than 919.

I then played around with the tone controls and loudness switches where available (only the 7700 and Technics have them).

For rock music in a 10 x 20 room the smaller amps, with loudness on at reasonable volume, are not too shabby in comparison. The 919 comes into its own at higher volumes and with the tone controls maxed.

The 919 lives up to the reputation and advertising that sells it as a precise reproducer of sound. I think this quality will come out even more and will be more appreciated when I test it with some opera and baroque music records, which is the classical music I listen to. This amp is truly a straight wire with gain, the phono section of this amp, in particular has a lot to do with this, I suspect. In the future, I will test the tape inputs and the tuner input to see if there is any difference.

The very clear and "unmuddy" highs of the amp are probably the feature that most impressed me. The midrange was just plain precise and clear. The bass was a little too accurate when the tone controls were flat.

In any case, it's a keeper.
 
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montelatici said:
I spent about 3 hours comparing my "new" AU 919 to my other amps with 70s rock music.

Very precise sound, very little to no "color". Very, very clear highs. Can hear strumming guitar midrange. Easy to hear the bass runs but not "heart thumping".
.

The 919 lives up to the reputation and advertising that sells it as a precise reproducer of sound. I think this quality will come out even more and will be more appreciated when I test it with some opera and baroque music records, which is the classical music I listen to. This amp is truly a straight wire with gain, the phono section of this amp, in particular has a lot to do with this, I suspect. In the future, I will test the tape inputs and the tuner input to see if there is any difference.

The very clear and "unmuddy" highs of the amp are probably the feature that most impressed me. The midrange was just plain precise and clear. The bass was a little too accurate when the tone controls were flat.

In any case, it's a keeper.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with your review. I also have a 719 in comparison and my friend thinks the mids are more pronounced on the 919. And skinny but defined bass with tone controls set flat. If you use a sub it improves this. Unfortunately cannot use a sub with the 719 unless your sub has speaker wire inputs or you use the tape loop with a preamp. Fortunately with the 719 you have loudness although the 719 loudness is boosted a little too much. Sansui made great gear.
 
Are all the amps in original condition, totally updated, or somewhere in-between?

Interesting that you find the 919 to sound "correct" (no coloration/flat frequency response/"straight wire with gain") only with tone controls fully boosted.
 
spark1 said:
Are all the amps in original condition, totally updated, or somewhere in-between?

Interesting that you find the 919 to sound "correct" (no coloration/flat frequency response/"straight wire with gain") only with tone controls fully boosted.
Click to expand...

I didn’t read that. I just think he prefers the tone controls boosted.
 
spark1 said:
Are all the amps in original condition, totally updated, or somewhere in-between?

Interesting that you find the 919 to sound "correct" (no coloration/flat frequency response/"straight wire with gain") only with tone controls fully boosted.
Click to expand...
OP not seen since 2015

IIRC this person was a particularly vehement believer in 'only change components that show faulty now'. He wouldn't listen when I (and others) advised him not to use his AU-919 without having changed the 'Black Flags'. He appeared to be a very fine engineer, but sadly he and AK didn't meet eye to eye on certain aspects of vintage audio.
 
Yeah, using those type of Shure carts is also going put the edge on your music, I know the M97XE very very well, I tried to like it, I even got a SAS stylus for it, and I shelved it in favour of my old Ortofon VMS20E II, the Orto has a much more relaxed sound, better low end sweeter mids and silky top end, very very good at handling sibilance....
I don't think the comparisons were very evenly matched...anyways....all good.
 
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