I'd also like to know how Sansui ranked in sales numbers. I think it's a given that Pioneer was the biggest operation in terms of production and sales. They could outdo just about anyone on the straight numbers. That metric doesn't mean they were better, of course, just that their factory could build more and their distribution and retail were capable of moving more product.
Their marketing was probably stronger as well, but in terms of magazine ads - which were the prevalent vehicle of the day for promoting hifi - Sansui was no slouch. I'm not sure where Marantz fell in terms of size/market penetration/sales numbers but get the feeling that they were a small boutique brand under Saul Marantz, got bigger under Superscope, and had even more juice behind them once acquired by Philips. For direct comparison to Sansui, really only the Superscope and early Philips eras are relevant. But it appears to me they were near equal to if not slightly trailing Sansui in overall nunber of units sold.
Receivers were also a largely US-centric product. They were sold elsewhere, but overwhelmingly were aimed at the North American market (to include Canada as they seem to have sold well there). Despite that, Sansui was a prolific manufacturer of receivers for a company of their size. A huge part of their manufacturing caoacity had to be devoted to receivers for most of the 70's.
Looking at what is available for sale now in vintage receivers, there is a LOT of Sansui product out there even after 40-50 years. There is more Pioneer at any given time, and Marantz seems to be well represented in used sales. I'd say Kenwood was more than a bit player, as a lot of their stuff is still out there but I figure they were smaller than Sansui yet bigger than say Akai, for example.
Anyway I post all that to try and establish who the biggest players were, as that directly impacts the numbers sold when new, and therefore current impressions of what was popular back in the day. I don't see how Sansui can be completely overlooked, as they were big enough to sell a massive amount of gear and were well regarded as a quaity product. That their sound was and still is renowned and specifically sought out is notable.
I didn't look at the poll linked from the article, nor did I look at the related speaker article (no JBL, really?). So it looks like the author of both articles has some big blind spots, or is heavily biased such that his lists are of questionable value. He does mention Sansui in passing a couple of times, so he is aware of them. That tells me the lack of any Sansui models on the list is not an oversight, but an intended slight.
Really though, I consider all such lists to be cop outs of lazy journalism. They fill page space by pontificating on old news, colored by the opinions of the writer. They cover no new ground, and in the process manage to create controversy by tweaking those who have a differing opinion. And here we all are, engaged in the fully expected Pavlovian repsonse, so I guess he did his job.
