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Oh no! Now what do I do? Sansui AU-9900 or Pioneer SA-9500

Which would you keep?

  • Sansui au-9900

    Votes: 6 66.7%

  • Pioneer sa-9500

    Votes: 3 33.3%
  • Total voters
    9
  • Poll closed .
BilboBaggins

BilboBaggins

Addicted Member
Last year, I found a cosmetically rough Sansui AU-9900. I’ve been getting to know it, and despite its missing a few knobs, it sounds great! And I really like the controls. Today, someone brought me a cosmetically nice Pioneer SA-9500! At first, all I got was noise even with volume turned down low. I spent some time with it, cleaning, removing dust, and I have to say, this Pioneer is beautifully designed and built! I also love that Alps volume control!

The specs are similar, although the Sansui has a higher damping factor. I suspect these two amps competed directly against each other at the time. They are from the same timeframe, similar specs, and similar layout.

What would you do if you had to decide which to keep?
 
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I aready have a MC2205, an MA6200, two Bose 1801s, and I’m going to restore the one of these two I keep. One Bose has been fully restored and had a speaker protection circuit added. The MA6200 was fully restored and optimized. The 2205 was brought up to spec. I can justify having some overkill, but I can’t really justify even to myself keeping 3 amps of similar specs around, and only being used periodically. Two of the three power amps are used 5 out 7 days a week. The other is only used when I want to hear the Tangents. And that doesn’t happen often.
 
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How about selling both of them and use the funds towards more Mcintosh gear to keep your present 2 pieces company:dunno: ?
 
That’s what I want to do. I’m hoping to get responses from those who have either worked on both, or who have or have had both the AU-9900 and the SA-9500.
 
Tough choice. I have a self restored AU-11000 and had an original SA-9500. I really like them both. I'm a Sansui fan so I sold the Pioneer. Cosmetics are important to me but only you know how big of a deal it is to you. I would imagine the Sansui would be a lot easier to work on.
 
I have an issue that needs dealing with. Bringing the Pioneer to my tech this weekend. Mine is also the original SA-9500. Do you know what sized Allen Key I need to remove the volume control knob?

I really like the Sansui, and I can understand your keeping yours. Mine is missing some knobs and has lots of scratches, but it plays beautifully!
 
I know that I would keep both! Then if I liked the Sansui, I would find another in mint condition. Then keep all 3!
 
The part is an HS3x4 set screw and the metric standard for a 3mm set screw is a 1.5mm Allen wrench. One of these came with the SA-9500 when new, along with a cap or plug to cover/fill all the RCA jacks and AC outlets.

I let the SA that I had go. It was needing some work as it could not stand up to the demands of the MG-IIIA speakers. The AU is a nice looking unit and if you can bring it back to its former glory it might be enjoyable to put it in a system somewhere. How are you with a reading the control labels on a black unit? Is the printing adequate to be seen? That is my main complaint about some of the black gear I have.

Even if you wanted to add some McIntosh, can't get much Mc for the price of these two units, unless well bought.

All that said, you like the sound of the AU and that is the one I would keep as you see fit.
 
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Thanks for the information guys. I didn’t have a metric set of hex keys, so I picked up a set this evening. Nice fresh ends! :thumbsup:

The one failing with black faced gear is the ability to see the controls, but I use the flashlight on my iPhone to deal with that. Can’t beat black faced McIntosh gear as it is all back lit. I’m quite content with the 4 pieces of McIntosh gear I have, at least for now. Maybe further down the road, I will try out some more modern gear.
 
I'm partial to the SA-9500 II, but if the AU-9900 was the "B" later unit with the gold-plated connectors....
It's a toss. Either one.
 
Actually, yes, it does have the gold plated connectors. I didn’t know there were two versions of the original AU-9900.

Edit: Ooops! It doesn’t have gold plated jacks. But I could have sworn it did! I must be mixed up with a different amp.
 
So I got the face plate off tonight and deoxited the middle controls on the pioneer tonight. Was playing a cassette of LZ1 to test it out. It does get a little noisy at low output levels, but is sounding much better now. I’ll still bring it to my tech to do a few things. The power light is intermittent, but responds to the tap method of troubleshooting. I also hooked up a pair of Kef 103.2 I found at the local thrift. Funny, one was out on Tuesday morning and I grabbed it then just because it was gorgeous, and the other was sitting in the same shelf location when I dropped in around 6:30 tonight. So now the two are back together and sounding beautiful in my living room. The cabinets and the grills are in great condition! :king:
 
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