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Sansui g22000
- Thread starter 2020
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The speculation for some time has been 1000-2000 units. No firm numbers are available as Sansui's production records are (presumably) lost to history and corporate changeover. The serial number database - a work always in progress by @LBPete - is our best hope of ever establishing numbers that get us in the ball park. Even that will be very coarse data.
Those sorts of build numbers are in line with what we suspect is typical total production of other limited run items like the QS-D1000 quad decoder, the MA-7 monitor consolette, amd some of the late stage alpha amps that were made in very limited numbers of 2000 or fewer. The same goes for the reissue AU-111 and AU-111G.
If you stop and give it some thought, given the original asking price and US economy of the time (as the US was the biggest market for receivers worldwide) they were not likely to be great sellers. It was also the tail end of the golden age of hi-fi as a cultural force in itself, after which really good gear truly became a niche market product within a decade (by 1990 at latest).
I can't imagine they were profitable in any case, given the amount of specialty parts content (even considering those shared with the 33000) and limited production/distribution But then Sansui was known for periodically throwing out a statement piece without much apparent regard for it's likely profitiability.
I almost get the impression Japanese companies had some sort of cultural undercurrent - beyond their general attitude of striving for excellence and honor - that drove them to make an item to "blow the doors off" once in a while just because they could. Sort of a "get a load of this" mentality when their creativity and pride outran more practical considerations. Heck, American companies (notably automakers) used to do stuff like this too, but that seems to have been bred out of our mindset here by business school bean counters n the last 30 years.
Those sorts of build numbers are in line with what we suspect is typical total production of other limited run items like the QS-D1000 quad decoder, the MA-7 monitor consolette, amd some of the late stage alpha amps that were made in very limited numbers of 2000 or fewer. The same goes for the reissue AU-111 and AU-111G.
If you stop and give it some thought, given the original asking price and US economy of the time (as the US was the biggest market for receivers worldwide) they were not likely to be great sellers. It was also the tail end of the golden age of hi-fi as a cultural force in itself, after which really good gear truly became a niche market product within a decade (by 1990 at latest).
I can't imagine they were profitable in any case, given the amount of specialty parts content (even considering those shared with the 33000) and limited production/distribution But then Sansui was known for periodically throwing out a statement piece without much apparent regard for it's likely profitiability.
I almost get the impression Japanese companies had some sort of cultural undercurrent - beyond their general attitude of striving for excellence and honor - that drove them to make an item to "blow the doors off" once in a while just because they could. Sort of a "get a load of this" mentality when their creativity and pride outran more practical considerations. Heck, American companies (notably automakers) used to do stuff like this too, but that seems to have been bred out of our mindset here by business school bean counters n the last 30 years.
WOW! Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a thorough answer. What you say makes perfect sense.
I am an old school audiophile, but somewhat of a Sansui newbee.
FWIW, I own a G22000 that has been in storage for about 13 years. I never used it because I was more of a "tube guy."
It has sat for so long now I don't want to power it up even with a variac and dim bulb tester.
I have more questions if I may:
I notice there is a G22000A and G22000T in addition to the G22000.
Where can I find the difference?
Thank you again for your help!
This site is GREAT!
Yours was built in June 1978.
Mine is the earliest one in the AK Sansui SN database built a month earlier.
That goes back a ways!
This thread has the details.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/g22k-g33k-production-numbers.838458/#post-11985419
- Pete
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/g22k-g33k-production-numbers.838458/#post-11985419
- Pete
Thanks!
