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New to me 222 - the venerable triple deuce

bhairavi

bhairavi

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Got my second 222 in the mail today. It's a bit beat, but better than it looked in the pictures. Chassis paint is scraped up but not dented. Knobs are all wrong but they don't look too bad minus the one.

Checked the bias, was 50 on L, 10 on R. Adjusted and it seemed to bring the voltages on the transistors pairs into line, I'm getting ~24/50vdc on both sides.

How does it sound with these worn out caps? Fantastic.
 
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I'm thinkin of wider, flatter knobs. I found out the specific splined connectors are 6mm T18 (meaning 18 splines). There's a large aftermarket because they are also used in synthesizers and guitar pedals and whatnot. The max diameter is 20mm before it starts obscuring the number printed on the faceplate.


1771044012958.pngBlack aluminum knob with silver finish top indicator and ring for 18T knurled shaft potentiometer - The Pharaoh
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petesui said:
Nice. Currently the most desired amp on Exclusively Sansui! What are your plans for it, if any?
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Full restore, just finished my Mouser order and small WIMAs from Ben on ebay. Doubling all the big caps, output caps 4700 filter cap 6800, Baxandall mod. I read somewhere folks put small film caps across the big caps as well? Might try that.
 
I saw that one for sale, was it on Reverb? Sure looked rough on the outside. Glad to see it's much better inside. Have fun with the rebuild, it's an easy one to work on.

I keep looking for an easy way to change the aux input to by pass the silly phono circuit. It's so convoluted, that I put the cover back on...
 
Scott Muni said:
I saw that one for sale, was it on Reverb? Sure looked rough on the outside. Glad to see it's much better inside. Have fun with the rebuild, it's an easy one to work on.
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Yup that's the one. Looking forward to the rebuild. I might even take it all the way apart and really clean up the chassis and boards.

Scott Muni said:
I keep looking for an easy way to change the aux input to by pass the silly phono circuit. It's so convoluted, that I put the cover back on...
Click to expand...

Yeah I was hoping for someone to have a step by step solution.

But the amp sounds so dang good that I almost believe the phono input funneling is a feature not a bug.
 
@bhairavi, knob style #2 (from post up thread) gets my vote, the black anodized aluminum with mirrored bevel. These are the nicest looking of the bunch, and I think the plastic/bakelite knobs looks a little too much like a "basement built project" I'd have made as a teenager buying parts at RadioShack. I think the triple deuce deserves more dignified dress. Just my opinion, of course.
 
bhairavi said:
I'm thinkin of wider, flatter knobs. I found out the specific splined connectors are 6mm T18 (meaning 18 splines). There's a large aftermarket because they are also used in synthesizers and guitar pedals and whatnot. The max diameter is 20mm before it starts obscuring the number printed on the faceplate.


View attachment 3699263Black aluminum knob with silver finish top indicator and ring for 18T knurled shaft potentiometer - The Pharaoh
View attachment 3699264
View attachment 3699265
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Someone was making reproduction ones that looked great it was shared in another post here a year or so ago I’ll try find the link to them
 
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Sansuiman said:
@bhairavi, knob style #2 (from post up thread) gets my vote, the black anodized aluminum with mirrored bevel. These are the nicest looking of the bunch, and I think the plastic/bakelite knobs looks a little too much like a "basement built project" I'd have made as a teenager buying parts at RadioShack. I think the triple deuce deserves more dignified dress. Just my opinion, of course.
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I do like those knobs but TBQH I think of this particular amp, and the 555, as the plain siblings of the pretty 555a/888 and the decidedly hideous house-trim meets industrial 777/999.

Give that the switches are all that utilitarian bakelite-esque plastic, it's only fitting the knobs should be as well. I ended up picking option#3 although I wish I'd ordered these instead:

Screenshot_20260214_111601.jpg
 
Heh, I don't like those squared off bakelite levers either. I've changed them to 9090 style round aluminum lever caps on the TU-777 I have here. There are black versions of those available as well.
 
@bhairavi, do you have a link/name of the supplier for those black aluminum knobs? I might like to order a few for a project I'm planning.
 
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