Sansui SP-5500 - what’s it worth?

[Burns Moore]

[QUOTE="z-adamson, post: 14386931, member: 256990"

Racist? Don't know where you got that one.

If a speaker is a "kabuki" speaker, then basically that means the speaker has a huge woofer that has very little output below 100hz, way too many tweeters and mids all lined up in a firing squad arrangement with enough comb filtering to part your hair right down the middle. The cabinet is likely to be made of particle board that is 1/2in thick at most and wrapped in vinyl rather than real wood veneer. A very poor quality product that looks as though it should produce all kinds of nice sounds......but it comes up short in all departments.

Kabuki......yup....that's it...​

If you read up the page 5 - 10 posts you'll see the term "racist" introduced, look for yourself . . . And I do think the term as used is at a minimum, culturally insensitive and grossly inaccurate. Kabuki Theater is a highly respected art form in Japan.

And if you're implying that the SP 5500's are paper mache' and vinyl with rows of tweeters lined up like a firing squad, you've never listened to them or tried to lift 'em either. They were used in the MCAS Iwakuni base theater (located south of Hiroshima on island of Honshu) for the sound system in the 1970's.

 

[z-adamson]

If you read up the page 5 - 10 posts you'll see the term "racist" introduced, look for yourself . . . And I do think the term as used is at a minimum, culturally insensitive and grossly inaccurate. Kabuki Theater is a highly respected art form in Japan.

And if you're implying that the SP 5500's are paper mache' and vinyl with rows of tweeters lined up like a firing squad, you've never listened to them or tried to lift 'em either. They were used in the MCAS Iwakuni base theater (located south of Hiroshima on island of Honshu) for the sound system in the 1970's.

I described what a kabuki speaker is without saying that the 5500 fits the definition. I am aware of the build quality of its cabinet. My observation is that the cabinet does outclass some if not all of the components however, a consistent theme with the earlier sansui speakers. If the components were on par with the cabinet in terms of quality, they would be much more sought after and much more valuable.

Not sure how or why "kabuki" came to be used to describe speakers. I just know that many use the term as I defined it.

 

[fish mojo]

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...kers-sp-5000-and-sp-5500-side-by-side.651939/

 

[Burns Moore]

I have the SP5500's (not the "X") with a 15 inch woofer, so I'm not sure how one can say the bass is lacking, but perhaps it because the mid range horn is so spectacular. Mid range instruments sound so vibrant and pure, it might mask even the best bass centric speakers. I have them connected to a Kenwood 11 G, the one ;with the 5 band graphic equalizer, so I can make adjustment to fine tune the sound, but I usually just leave the equalizer off. I much prefer classical, folk, male and female vocalists to rocks thumping bass. Maybe that's why I bought them 55 years ago and not JBL. Cosmetically they are original near perfect and since I'm in my late 70's they will be available at some point

 

[ddevera]

Love them or hate them, you can't deny it. And this is a turn-off for the vast majority of guys that like vintage, 2 channel hifi gear. What is also a huge turn-off is needing to use a subwoofer for 2 channel audio. I mean, come on. Talk about purpose-defeating. Who wants to add a subwoofer to their 2 channel vintage hifi system? The whole point is that one speaker cabinet to the right and another to the left will cover the entire frequency range. Sansui speakers with their 16in woofer, multiple tweeters, multiple mids and a horn loaded driver thrown in for good measure can't even get semi-decent bass, and I am sorry to say it but that is pitiful. Throw in a sub to get the results up to par. Fair enough, but at that point I and darn near anyone else with common sense would sooner move on to something else that can perform well on its own two feet.

Moderation note: Edited out provocative statement(s)

100%!!! I will never use a sub in my 2-channel setup