I know one audio dealer who buys and sells a lot of Sansui, and has been doing so for years, but whenever he gets one of these in the door, he takes it home. He had three last year, and I've heard a rumor that he picked up a fourth one. I know of one other person who brought one back from Japan for his collection, which consists of the TOTL model of every series Sansui ever produced, and I've seen two others in Hong Kong shops, both brought from Japan.
They are BIG. There is a reason they come in two parts: it would take two people (or a "man mountain") to move one if they didn't, plus they won't fit in most racks.
They are BEAUTIFUL. They have the same kind of reddish woodgrain that looks so good on some of the other Sansuis. I have to admit that there is some slight degree of false "cheapness" to the appearance of the big Sansui receivers (in complete contrast to the amps!) that I can't even put my finger on, but that aside, this is a beautiful piece of gear.
They sound WONDERFUL!
Enough said. That said, I'm not convinced that the 33000 really sounds better than, say, a G-9000. It's hard for me to compare, because I heard them in different locations paired with different gear, but I was as "blown away" by one, as by the other. Probably if I heard them side-by-side in a fair comparison, the differences would be obvious (?). Anyway, they all sound superb!
Is the 33000 worth the money? Acoustically, no; as jimfet said, you could do better with that amount of money, judiciously buying separates. But you would have to be choosy and shop well, to equal or beat the sound of a 33000.
But how do you put a price on the "ego" factor, the "bragging rights", the "pride of ownership", of what is, without question, one of the greatest, almost freakishly over-the-top receivers ever built, something we'll probably never see the likes of, again? Something quite rare? Something that is, indeed, likely to appreciate in value, at least as long as there is a core of people on the planet who still value great old stereo hi-fi gear enough to pay for it?
I wouldn't pay that much for one. But now I wonder if I shouldn't have bought one when I could have, for half that price... because I could have made a very nice profit re-selling it today for the ePay price! :S
