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Sansui C-2301 oh my!

JimEGR

JimEGR

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I recently took custody of one of the Sansui Royal Family - a 1985 C-2301 Control Amplifier. And this is a special one - it just exudes quality and prestige - looks, build, user interface - it is unashamedly unrestrained. The cost not object, rumored to be the best (solid state) pre-amp Sansui ever made (sorry C-2302!). Wow. I am still amazed when I finally get to see these Sansui's in person. Expectations exceeded, again. And I haven't even listened to it yet! Apparently fully functional and from a clean home. Powers up and relay clicks on. All systems go.

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This surprised me. First Sansui I've owned with what is more of a tray than a lid for the cover. Clever and classy design.
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Serious about phono - perfect for someone like me who is still into vinyl.
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I reconditioned one of those, the Sansui glue was the worst I have ever come across, causing me to perform considerable strip downs to get access to all of it. I managed it after a long tussle, and it worked perfectly afterwards - much better than before. As you say it oozes quality, and paired with a B-2301 it is one of the great Sansui combinations that many of us lust after.
 
Hyperion said:
I reconditioned one of those, the Sansui glue was the worst I have ever come across, causing me to perform considerable strip downs to get access to all of it. I managed it after a long tussle, and it worked perfectly afterwards - much better than before. As you say it oozes quality, and paired with a B-2301 it is one of the great Sansui combinations that many of us lust after.
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I was reading your restoration thread last night - a great read. The glue on this one is interesting. It is paler and thicker looking than what I often see. And it is applied in little blobs on the corners of the caps instead of a thinner looking glue applied all around them. At least from what I can see. Fingers crossed it's not that bad. I am grateful to finally own one of these machines!
 
Both pictured are Japanese domestic market units, so 100 volts only. There were units made at other voltages for the US and Europe, but they are exceedingly hard to come by, and one can get a JDM unit and import it for less cost. It has become common enough now amongst us serious collectors to import JDM models, that the need for a step down transformer is no longer seen as an issue, since I gather most of us in this position already have at least a few on hand.
 
PF Sound said:
Absolutely beautiful! Is it a dedicated 100V unit or is it adjustable?
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Thanks! And it's even more amazing in person. A real icon. Happy to have one in the quiver.

As @Sansuiman mentioned, yes 100V 50Hz/60Hz. I am so accustomed to JDM gear now and have nice, silent step down transformers I don't give it a second thought. And a lot the really high end gear, and later gear, was made for Japan only or in limited numbers. Sansui also spec'd the JDM gear better than the same export gear in some cases too.

Looking for the right big, bad power amp to pair with this new front end now. I love the hunt.

Long Live Sansui!
 
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PF Sound said:
Noted......... In the past I've avoided those 100V units but I'll have to rethink it now should the right unit at the right price present itself.
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In addition to all of the special and premium options out of Japan, the 1980 and beyond JDM AU-*607*'s are the best value in high fidelity from Sansui, in my humble opinion.

One of these Nissyo's for a making the silent 100V -

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DB-7 said:
Forsale: yes.
On sale: no!
I'd have to sell my entire collection to afford what they are asking...lol
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ah, non-native English speaker here. Just found out about the difference of "on sale" vs "for sale".... I meant "for sale" in my previous post of course. :whip:

And yes, the price is a bit steep and probably the seller isn't accepting lower counter offers, that's why it hasn't been sold yet
 
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