Sansui Seven vs Eight receiver

[Harvey/ Ga]

Wondering what the difference is between the Sansui Seven and Sansui Eight/ Eight Deluxe.

I have an Eight Deluxe, but it needs to go back to the shop for more TLC, and due to the serious (storage?) neglect of the previous owner, am wondering if the Seven, a visual twin of my Eight Deluxe, would have similar sound characteristics.

 

[MER71]

There is a big difference between the 6/7 and 8D. I have not heard a Eight ever. But, the Eight and 8D are not the same. As for any Single Digit receiver, I would take any of them.

 

[Harvey/ Ga]

Other then difference in power output, anything else that you could add???

 

[stereofun]

Eight D, Seven and Six uses a more "modern" amplifier. They sound very similar - detailed, punchy, clean and perhaps a bit dry in the mid section (some could rightfully argue more correct) compared to older cap coupled designs.

The Eight uses an amp design that is a bit older than its single digit siblings - Yet, it still sounds like one with the same virtues as described. You'd be hard pressed to tell them apart, although a slight nod would go the the Eight D, which to me has a bit faster and cleaner sound, but again..... we are "pixel peeping" here and condition and adjustments can sway the Eight contenders either side of the throne.

The Eight has the best build quality of the bunch and some unique features such as a balance meter for equal channel power as well as adjustments to balance it's differential amp. The Eight in my book is the true Engineers receiver.

The Seven is essentially a lower powered version of the Eight D, it shares the same internal layout as the Six which is not quite as well executed as the two Eights, that both shares the same awesome heatsinks and nicer symmetry.

 

[LBPete]

Yup, the Seven is closer in design to the Eight Deluxe than the Eight. As far as comparison, the Seven will have less power and fewer features. Off hand I don't know which features would be missing. It's typically subtle things like one head phone jack instead of two.

You can see the progression of these models in the production dates. Here are the date ranges we have in the database:

Eight - December '70 to June '72
Eight Deluxe - April '73 to May '74
Seven - May '72 to January '74

There is nearly a year gap in production between the Eight and Eight D. Depending on how much inventory was in the pipeline during that gap, it looks like the Seven may have been the TOTL receiver for a period of time.

- Pete