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Sansui and Pioneer comparison

Which brand is better in overall

  • Sansui

  • Pioneer

Results are only viewable after voting.
Bumpalump

Bumpalump

Well-Known Member
Hello i would like to know your opinion about Sansui and Pioneer amplifier comparasion.

In terms of
1. Sound (your personal preferencies)
2. Reliability (mean time before failure)
3. Building quality (overall, quality of used parts, innovations in schematics etc.)

Which brand you consider as better one? Just leave a vote. Take only integrated/separated amplifiers and only those top of the line
 
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Imo based in the few that I have serviced, I found the build qualities are about the same. Better to compare specific units vs general because higher end units obviously used more elaborate designs. I usually do not response on sq since I think in many cases folks are biased unless they have a lot of units to use for comparison. Or unless something is seriously wrong with a design. You will find there are different camps and many opinions, good luck sort that out
 
Having tested many of different brands and models over the years, and paired them with many different speakers, I came to the conclusion that Sansui had models that sounded best overall. The Sansui 9090 is still my favorite out of all the 100 wpc and above brands and models, it has a magic that you need to experience to believe it. I also had a 5000X that was very special, small details in the sound just put these over the top. Early Pioneer equipment I prefer for sound over the more popular sx 50 and sx 80 series.
 
Oh who cares? Threads like these get posted at least twice a year ever year. The other thread asks about specific models this thread is asking about strictly brands.


Regards Snow
 
Sound is subjective. A user should satisfy the ears first. Whether that takes EL34 tubes, high-speed ring emitter transistors, capacitor output coupling, direct intestage coupling, or a handful of cat hair in the tweeters, only the listener can answer that question.

Reliability is a different matter altogether. Instead of an opinion, I can relate only observations.

Sansui had decent tube equipment (their roots). When semiconductors became prevalent, it apparently confounded their engineers. Everything built from the 3000A to the G-9000 displays a tendency to operate far too close to the edge of safe operation. We all know the manifestations of that, with frequent and inexplicable cascade failures in driver circuits, protection circuits which don't, and some truly Goldberg-inspired factory modifications intended to address problems. I suspect it was a function of market pressures, and trying to get items on the shelves before the other guy with less regard for durability testing. Some of that can be re-engineered out of the equipment based upon our years of observing the failures and repairing, and some cannot.

Pioneer seemed to have a handle on the semiconductor realm, and typically designed into their unit more than adequate safety factor, overhead, and reserve capacity to remain well within margins of safety. But somehow they still managed to consistently design and locate many of their power supplies in the hottest, least ventilated ares of their boxes. We've all seen how that plays out as well, and have learned the common remedies.

The short version is that I listen to a lot of Pioneers stored in racks while working on Sansuis which hit the bench.
 
Bill S said:
Ford then.
Click to expand...

:rflmao:In that context, some things are like comparing a Chevy Vega to a Ford Pinto. You can keep dumping oil into a Vega aluminum engine until you eventually change the block to an updated/correct alloy casting, and can finally drive it with some peace of mind. Conversely, you can put all the extended bumpers, warning stickers, and flashing lights on a Pinto, but the gas tank is still right there ahead of the rear bumper.
 
Watthour said:
The short version is that I listen to a lot of Pioneers stored in racks while working on Sansuis which hit the bench.
Click to expand...
Always been a fan of the Pioneer sound but you're right about the heat dissipation design on some of those receivers. They also have quite a few units that have trouble prone transistors but that's not unique to them either because they like others source the components. Sansui seemed (to me) to have a larger following from guys in the service who bought and then brought home these receivers with their saved up military pay while they were over in Nam. I think when you went over there you had to come home with a Japanese built receiver and nothing sounds as Japanese as Sansui.
 
Sansui did an excellent job of getting units into the fleet, air, and post exchanges. A lot of units were imported that way, one unit at a time. I think they had all the components from amps to speakers, turntables to receivers, and tape decks to tuners.
 
In my opinion its sansui
Better scheme design and innovations (BTL for example in alpha's)
Better parts, custom transistors (LAPT) Better resistors used (Riken) Better capacitors (custom Elna) and U-Con, epoxy boards in higher models, taking care about vibrations (teflon,
bituminous mats)
 
Bumpalump said:
In my opinion its sansui
Better scheme design and innovations (BTL for example in alpha's)
Better parts, custom transistors (LAPT) Better resistors used (Riken) Better capacitors (custom Elna) and U-Con, epoxy boards in higher models, taking care about vibrations (teflon,
bituminous mats)
Click to expand...
And those 1040 amp boards. I say that in jest, obviously. Every brand had issues at some point. In the end its what you like. The Sansui 5000 series receivers were great kit!
 
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