M Jarve
Audio Geek and NGE Freak
You can’t really know how much it pains me to write what I am about to, so I’ll just out with it: The King is Dead! Long Live the King! That is to say I have finally found a receiver so extremely musical that it has out-shined the h/k 430. This receiver is none other than the Sansui 5000X.
A week back or so in the D&S forum there was a thread about a 5000X for a fair price in Connecticut, and it turned out that the reluctant seller was also a member of AK. I inquired as to whether Rod would mind selling out of state and we struck a deal. The unit arrived today in impeccable shape.
When I first plugged it in and turned it on, the lights seemed a little dim. When I started to play music, it was playing fine, but it did not seem to have the gusto that my 5000A had (my 5000A has a blown channel, but the other plays fine). Since Rod was thoughtful enough to include the service manual, I cracked her open (both the receiver and the manual) and started to make adjustments. I also noted, curiously, that a sticker on the side indicated 220V operation. When I removed the 5000X from the handsome wood cabinet I just about started to laugh. It was set for 220V operation! :saywhat: For probably 30+ years it had been running at effectively ½ it’s capability! I quickly reset it for 117V (closest to current 120V) and adjusted the idling current.
I reconnected it to the CDP and speakers and let it rip. Lights were definite brighter, but the sound? Totally different receiver. It went from demure and timid to brawny and very confident. FM reception also improved by orders of magnitude. I started off with the first track from Alicia Key’s Songs in A minor, and the piano just jumped right out from the speakers and onto the floor. I moved on to “Talking Bout my Baby” from Fatboy Slim’s Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, where a (usually) barely audible infra-sonic beat sounds off in rhythm in the left-speaker- the beat was not only audible, but shook the entire house. Then it was of to Jazz Land with Alice Babs and Yoko Kanno where the 5000X demonstrated an almost unbelievable ability to express limitless dynamics. Overall sound is very neutral, but smooth, with a nice slight under-dampening in the bass region that I love in capacitor coupled amps. Not enough to make it sound anywhere near muddy, just a little more meat when compared to a DC amp.
The 5000X is RMS rated for 60 wpc into 8-ohms (160-wpc IHF into 8-ohms), making it a very powerful receiver for the time (’71-72). One of the attributes that is most impressive is its almost limitless power. It begs you to try and find the limit and it provides more power than I would ever use on a routine basis. Its load tolerance is very good as well, easily powering both a pair of AR 28BX’s and Koss C/M 1020’s at the same time.
Looking at the competition, the 5000X (and 5000A) is a great value. Comparable Marantz units (2270) routinely fetch 3-4 times the average price of a 5000 series, with Pioneer SX-939’s more competitively priced -the 5000X certainly holds its own against them.
A caveat: the 5000, 5000A, and early 5000X’s were prone to catastrophic driver-board failure. The 3.3uFd capacitor near the bias-pot could leak causing it to explode, and certain other elements would cause a greater current draw than the components could handle. Driver boards numbered F-1040 or F-1040-1 are affected; units sent in for factory service up to 1986 would have the boards replaced with a F-6013 version that corrected these problems- though, historically to the degradation of the sound. Generally, if it has not gone bad after 35 years, it probably will not, though it may be a good idea to replace the 3.3uFd cap anyway.
The h/k 430 is a worthy receiver and perhaps one of the best in the 30-wpc or less bracket, but the 5000X filled in the missing blanks and is definitely one of the best mid-power receivers I have come across yet. Makes me want to finish the 5000A just to see how it would compare.
A week back or so in the D&S forum there was a thread about a 5000X for a fair price in Connecticut, and it turned out that the reluctant seller was also a member of AK. I inquired as to whether Rod would mind selling out of state and we struck a deal. The unit arrived today in impeccable shape.
When I first plugged it in and turned it on, the lights seemed a little dim. When I started to play music, it was playing fine, but it did not seem to have the gusto that my 5000A had (my 5000A has a blown channel, but the other plays fine). Since Rod was thoughtful enough to include the service manual, I cracked her open (both the receiver and the manual) and started to make adjustments. I also noted, curiously, that a sticker on the side indicated 220V operation. When I removed the 5000X from the handsome wood cabinet I just about started to laugh. It was set for 220V operation! :saywhat: For probably 30+ years it had been running at effectively ½ it’s capability! I quickly reset it for 117V (closest to current 120V) and adjusted the idling current.
I reconnected it to the CDP and speakers and let it rip. Lights were definite brighter, but the sound? Totally different receiver. It went from demure and timid to brawny and very confident. FM reception also improved by orders of magnitude. I started off with the first track from Alicia Key’s Songs in A minor, and the piano just jumped right out from the speakers and onto the floor. I moved on to “Talking Bout my Baby” from Fatboy Slim’s Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars, where a (usually) barely audible infra-sonic beat sounds off in rhythm in the left-speaker- the beat was not only audible, but shook the entire house. Then it was of to Jazz Land with Alice Babs and Yoko Kanno where the 5000X demonstrated an almost unbelievable ability to express limitless dynamics. Overall sound is very neutral, but smooth, with a nice slight under-dampening in the bass region that I love in capacitor coupled amps. Not enough to make it sound anywhere near muddy, just a little more meat when compared to a DC amp.
The 5000X is RMS rated for 60 wpc into 8-ohms (160-wpc IHF into 8-ohms), making it a very powerful receiver for the time (’71-72). One of the attributes that is most impressive is its almost limitless power. It begs you to try and find the limit and it provides more power than I would ever use on a routine basis. Its load tolerance is very good as well, easily powering both a pair of AR 28BX’s and Koss C/M 1020’s at the same time.
Looking at the competition, the 5000X (and 5000A) is a great value. Comparable Marantz units (2270) routinely fetch 3-4 times the average price of a 5000 series, with Pioneer SX-939’s more competitively priced -the 5000X certainly holds its own against them.
A caveat: the 5000, 5000A, and early 5000X’s were prone to catastrophic driver-board failure. The 3.3uFd capacitor near the bias-pot could leak causing it to explode, and certain other elements would cause a greater current draw than the components could handle. Driver boards numbered F-1040 or F-1040-1 are affected; units sent in for factory service up to 1986 would have the boards replaced with a F-6013 version that corrected these problems- though, historically to the degradation of the sound. Generally, if it has not gone bad after 35 years, it probably will not, though it may be a good idea to replace the 3.3uFd cap anyway.
The h/k 430 is a worthy receiver and perhaps one of the best in the 30-wpc or less bracket, but the 5000X filled in the missing blanks and is definitely one of the best mid-power receivers I have come across yet. Makes me want to finish the 5000A just to see how it would compare.
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