sansui 331 ... i'm impressed

orsen

Jukebox Hero
so i've had this little one sitting in the pile for about a year.
made sure it powered up and it did but its a baby so i just added it to the sansui pile.
well i had a pair of hpm 40 sitting there to test so i grabbed the little sansui, it was handy.
all i can say now is wow!

this thing not only sounds great but pulls in all local staitions in stereo with no antenna !
it needs 2 new fuse lamps, which its gonna get cause this little guy is kewl!
now i can hardly wait to try it with an antenna :rockon:
 
Register to hide this ad
so i've had this little one sitting in the pile for about a year.
made sure it powered up and it did but its a baby so i just added it to the sansui pile.
well i had a pair of hpm 40 sitting there to test so i grabbed the little sansui, it was handy.
all i can say now is wow!

this thing not only sounds great but pulls in all local staitions in stereo with no antenna !
it needs 2 new fuse lamps, which its gonna get cause this little guy is kewl!
now i can hardly wait to try it with an antenna :rockon:
Many times, the bulbs aren't actually bad. Often there was a cold solder connection at the bulb. Re- flow and try it out.
 
I back up Allboats on the need to reflow the solder on the back side of the lamp mount circuit board.

It's apparently a thing with XX1s.

I did that on my totally dark 771, per recommendations on this forum, and I found I needed only one lamp.
 
Especially these "small" units - 221, 331, 441 - are definitely underrated. As you pointed out, they have fantastic tuners aboard and do sound naturally, rich. Moreover they look beautiful with their scales made of real glass. The printing on the back is excellent and the colors are unique. I love them.



 
Just recently lucked into a pristine 331 on a local online classified site.
I was looking for something in the Sansui line that was comparable in specs and era to compare with my Marantz 2215b. The 331 is now driving a pair of Dynaco A-25X speakers with my Rega Planar 3 as source and the Marantz is in the living room powering a pair of Athena AS-F1 speakers for the TV/dvd system.
For $70.00 (Can) This little gem was areal eye opener. I still love the Marantz, but from the first moment I hooked the 331 up I was in love. It just sounds so smooth and rich. As you say the tuner is very impressive, but the thing that floored me the most was the power it had. It is definitely louder than the 2215b. I haven't measured the power it puts out, but the volume doesn't get past 2 very often 'cus it's just too loud.
The 2215b has to be up at 4 to match the 331's volume at 2.
I'm so glad I pulled the trigger on this, not having to pay the 'Marantz' tax is also a big plus:).
 
Back
Top Bottom