Sansui AU-11000 Won't Power Off. Do I care?
- Thread starter petesui
- Start date
I've never heard a BA-F1 or read much about its sound for that matter. Interested to hear your impressions of it and in comparison to the amp stage of the 11000. I switch between the 11000 and the BA-2000 pretty regularly. Without any useful adjectives, I think the 11000 has a slight edge over the BA-2000 in my system. They are very close in any event. It's my understanding that the BA-2000 is essentially an 11000A in that they share similar driver boards and a few other bits. Was that your research @JimEGR or somebody else?
Well, I seem to have found another 4000 this weekend. Absolutely mint, unblemished, and "little old lady clean," as my tech who'd been through it said. Received complete with grandma-style plastic cover. I know we all get new toy excited about these things, but I'm telling you, I've been listening to it all weekend, and it sounds stunning. I'm streaming Lucinda Williams Live at the Fillmore as we speak and I can't turn it off. I can make an argument for these og Sansui silverfaces over anything else in my collection without hesitation. The tone I'm hearing right now can't be beat.
And just because I know how much you love yours, I brought the SR-838 back online this weekend. She's still fussy, but she's a looker for sure.
Wundebar!
And I know what you mean about the 4000 type sound - it may not have the clinical precision of some later Sansui gear, but the adjective defying intangibles that make you want to just sit down and keep on listening and listening - a borderline spiritual experience. Beyond the confines of words.
Love that SR-838 too - what is the issue with it? Mine is the most dependable vintage turntable I have owned.
I've had a lot going on on the home front, without any spare time or bandwidth for slowing down and spending time with my Sansui gear. Hope to free up soon.
Last edited:
Yes, I posted this in another thread somewhere, but don't remember where so here it is again. Comparing the boards, the CA/BA-2000 combo is an AU-11000A in separate boxes.
Yup, that's the one!
How do you rate your B-2102? I've been eyeballing one.
I want to say that it sounds better than my 5000A, but the 5000A hasn't had the same opportunity in the main setup. It's only been given shop and bedroom time. Nonetheless, this 4000 really has me by the ears right now. I'm rating it up there with my 7000 which is next in line to be sent out for a full overhaul.
We talked about it here in your Sansui turntables might shock you thread on page 3 and particularly posts #45 and #50. Intermittent speed issues, bad soldering, shoddy mismatched recapping, and a prickly seller. I finally got around to installing an AT12E cartridge I bought a month or so ago so that I could make use of the fairly expensive ATS12S stylus I bought prematurely for the bad AT10, before I realized it had a bad channel, that came with the 838. Set it up this weekend and it took a couple tracking force adjustments to get it to play through a side without issue. Seems to play fine for a couple of records and then it gets the speed wobbles again. In fact, it just happened while I was typing this post. Third side of the evening and things got wonky. Cycling the power restores the speed and the strobe to normal. Playing another side now to see how it goes. Contrary to your experience, my 838 has been the most troublesome table I own. Just feels like a lemon and I don't have much confidence in it. I'll see if my tech wants to take a more full-some crack at it from the ground up. A couple of videos demonstrating.
This is not a soft start, but rather a mod to take the load off the power switch, to prevent burnout:
Is your unobtainium power switch worth $5 and an hour or so of your time?
I finally got around to trying a Triac to turn on and off an amp and it was a success. I am still looking for the down side of this mod. This mod should work on any amp and the power switch load will be reduced to around 120 ma and no arcing. The power switch will now last longer that you...
audiokarma.org
There is a big arc inside the power switch at turn-on because of the large inrush current as the filter caps charge.
This could very possibly burn out the switch contacts over time - and of course the switch is unobtanium.
I did this mod two years ago to my AU-9900., It takes the high current AC off the switch and routes it through a Triac:
Easy to do, and has worked flawlessly ever since.
( PS - I understand that the OP's switch had mechanical issues and wasn't burned-out) .
Last edited:
Not typical at all. Hopefully your tech will take another crack at it. The SR-838 is a rock solid turntable. It’s super simple and built like a tank. BTW infinity for artifacts is selling a recap kit “speed repair set” on eBay for less than the price of a new album. You should grab set and have your tech install it.
Thanks for that. I haven't seen that kit before. I'll check it out. I talked to my tech about the 838 last week and told him he was authorized to tear it down to the studs and rebuild it! It's too sexy to be ignored. He's game. I'm just waiting for him to text me that he has room in the shop for it. In the meantime, while all the Sansui audiophiles were distracted with trick or treating last Friday night, I prevailed at auction and made a very satisfying score on a second XP-99. It looks to be a very nice example. Cleaner than the very nice one I already have. Should be here Friday.
Had the same thing happen to my AU-9900. Fortunately, the switch is double sided, so I just moved the wires to the other side.
Yes, that's fortunate so I'm not too worried about it. More of a pain than anything. I think I watched an @Ray Gianelli video where he was able wire the other side on a Sansui power switch. Also, there just happens to be an AU-9900/11000A switch available on eBay being parted out. Different part number though 1770330 (11000) vs. 1170510 (11000A). Could they really be much different? "Looks" identical, but what do I know. Tempted to snag it given this is a repeat issue. When this happened the first time earlier this summer, my tech didn't rewire because he found a little rubber bit lodged between the contacts and just removed it. I'm wondering if I should take a peak in through the side speaker connection panel. I'll call him today.
Well sometimes you get lucky. I pulled the top and bottom covers and the left side speaker input panel cover to get a visual on the switch. Didn't see anything obvious and everything looked good. First, from the bottom, I hit the switch with some canned air while actuating the lever and trying to get the air straw in there. Plugged it in and the amp powered up with the switch in the off position. No change. Thought about taking the front panel off so that I could get to the screws mounting the switch to the front of the chassis so that I could pull it out and inspect it by hand, but I really didn't feel like removing all those knobs with set screws. There would have to be another day for that. Put the bottom cover back on and flipped it right side up. Then, through the side access, I hit the topside of the switch with the canned air while working the switch again. Et voila! The 11000 powers on and off again! I didn't see any debris, but something is getting in there from above. We'll see how long this fix lasts. If it happens again I think I'll have to remove all the internal covers above the speaker selector switch and the power switch to see what's deteriorating and raining down into the switch from above. But again, that's more tear down than I was willing to undertake on a Thursday night. Anyway, that's problem solved for now.
Well my last post was not the end of it. Eventually, the power switch stuck again powered on, for good. I've been running the 11000 off a switched extension cord for months. With the arrival of the CA-3000 last week, the 11000 made it's way to the bench. Pleased to say that I pulled off a tedious reconditioning of the AU-11000 power switch. Covers, controls, and faceplate off to free the switch from the chassis so I could take it apart and clean it. I was able to unstring the wires from the retainer clip routing along the chassis so the switch could hang loose and reach the bench top.
Indeed, 50 years of arcing caused pitting and carbonization of the switch dollies, and one was lightly fused to the contact. Flushed with lots of CRC, and then cleaned and burnished all the contact surfaces with 800 grit sandpaper followed by more CRC flushing.
Finally, I replaced the snubber cap with a modern upgrade. Put it all back together, flipped the switch, et voila. Red light, relay, green light, flip it off and she powers down! I had a few gut checks along the way but ultimately a very satisfying repair. My first real switch tear down and repair beyond flushing with cleaner.
Next, I think I'll preamp the 11000 with the CA-F1 and listen to its amp section for a bit.
Indeed, 50 years of arcing caused pitting and carbonization of the switch dollies, and one was lightly fused to the contact. Flushed with lots of CRC, and then cleaned and burnished all the contact surfaces with 800 grit sandpaper followed by more CRC flushing.
Finally, I replaced the snubber cap with a modern upgrade. Put it all back together, flipped the switch, et voila. Red light, relay, green light, flip it off and she powers down! I had a few gut checks along the way but ultimately a very satisfying repair. My first real switch tear down and repair beyond flushing with cleaner.
Next, I think I'll preamp the 11000 with the CA-F1 and listen to its amp section for a bit.
Somehow, I missed this 2025 thread but reading through it just now, it struck me that in 2025 you were talking about sending everything to your tech and now, you're taking care of it yourself! What a great transformation of your skills over this past year! You're a braver man than me
Well done!
Last edited: