^ the 5050-9090 all had nicely styled machined aluminum knobs with plastic cores. Granted, not solid aluminum, but Sansui had already largely abandoned that practice on most models post-1972. Point taken on the wood bonnet however, it had low grade, unconvincing vinyl covering, as did all of this model series save for the 9090(DB).
Worth noting the follow up top model G9000(DB) and even the G-22000 and 33000 were all vinyl covered, as were all other receiver models in the G series and onward Really, by 1974/75 the cost cutting was already getting evident. Thankfully, they managed to stave off the worst offenses of corporate bean counting until about 1980-81.
Sansui wasn't alone in this certainly, Pioneer and Kenwood took a pretty quick fall from greatness, Marantz sold to Philips, who pretty shortly burned off the essence of the Marantz brand. Fisher went to Sanyo and met much the same fate. Most of the rest of the Japanese semi-majors languished in mediocrity from 1983 onward, with some folding their tent completely well before 1990. In the US, McIntosh barely survivied, and SAE blew out only to be reborn (briefly) by way of the DAK catalog, along with DBX, which did later manage to re-established itself.
By 1982, given massive and rapid changes in the market for home audio, it barely mattered how cheapened things started getting since the golden age of hifi as a major consumer product category was over. The market for high end audio that remained was much smaller, and remains so to this day. Everything else from that point onward was reduced to cheap plastic rack or integrated bookshelf systems full of gimmicks.
It was done in by a combination of poor economic conditions, the onslaught of home video, home computers and home gaming consoles diverting away the money people had previously spent on good hifi gear. Be thankful conditions ever existed that favored giving us what we did get from about 1965-1980. That was a solid decade and a half of remarkable gear that is still kicking and providing enjoyment to so many even now in 2021. That's precisely why so many of us are on here having these discussions.
