Watching the meters dance - the formidable Sansui B-2301L (for Luxury) power amp

JimEGR

JimEGR

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Pulling the power grid down in my neighborhood!

A power lifter of the Sansuivers, the 1985 JDM 300 watts into 8 ohms X-Balanced B-2301L power amp. The second iteration of this monster identified by “L” for Luxury. Huge transformer and Coke can size mains. Magic meters and enormous horse power delivered with delicates precision. Married to its soulmate 1984 C-2301 preamp and fed by the 1992 CD-a717LTD tonight. What an epic slice of Sansui history this trio is!

The only downsides are trying to get this 80 pound behemoth into position without herniating a disk and it’s too big for my rack! Makes the 907 Alpha’s feel like welterweights.

Any other B-2301/B-2301L, B-2201/B-2201L, B-2202/B-2302 owners present?

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I am currently easing into my fully restored C-2301 and B-2301. I have not spent much time with it yet, besides getting everything connected. So far so good. Hopefully I will be able to sit down and do some listening in the not too distant future. Gotta lot on the go atm.
 
What a stunning piece visually. I’ve not had the pleasure. I’ve some weighty amps myself and yes, my disk did blow out. I’ll never be able to move em. 80lbs and 100 lbs.
 
24 hours later and settling in. One bit of feedback on this setup is it sounds significantly better after fully warming up. I left the amps on all night and day and this evening the sound is noticeably fuller and smoother than it was when I first powered it up last night. Some amp manufacturers do not have power buttons for this reason - a warm amp can sound better. Another great feature are these parallel illuminated meters! I am pretty sensitive to channel imbalances, and a lot of the music I listen to has channel effects engineered into the music and I am sometimes left wondering "did I hear L or R channel dip a little there, was it the music or was it the equipment?". No mystery with this series of power amps (and the same period integrated's) the meters show what is going on in realtime!

@DB-7 I (we) look forward to reading about your impressions when you find the time.


 
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ernieS said:
What a stunning piece visually. I’ve not had the pleasure. I’ve some weighty amps myself and yes, my disk did blow out. I’ll never be able to move em. 80lbs and 100 lbs.
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Thanks @ernieS! This one had me thinking - "a small tube amp and set of Klipsch speakers would be much easier to manage" :rflmao:
 
JimEGR said:
24 hours later and settling in. One bit of feedback on this setup is it sounds significantly better after fully warming up. I left the amps on all night and day and this evening the sound is noticeably fuller and smoother than it was when I first powered it up last night. Some amp manufacturers do not have power buttons for this reason - a warm amp can sound better. Another great feature are these parallel illuminated meters! I am pretty sensitive to channel imbalances, and a lot of the music I listen to has channel effects engineered into the music and I am sometimes left wondering "did I hear L or R channel dip a little there, was it the music or was it the equipment?". No mystery with this series of power amps (and the same period integrated's) the meters show what is going on in realtime!

@DB-7 I (we) look forward to reading about your impressions when you find the time.


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I would place a hard surface under the amp so it can dissipate the heat better. Don't want to cook that amp. It's too beautiful!
 
Sansuiman said:
Harbor freight sells a small movers dolly (4 wheel platform) that you could build a wood top and skirt over (for the sake of appearance) that would do the job nicely. Would also save you doing a complete scratch build.
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That would be a great solution for a hard surface floor. I have some scrap 3/4" finished oak ply and some edging from a cabinet project, and the sliders here so I should be able to knock it out with little time and investment.
 
JimEGR said:
Any other B-2301/B-2301L, B-2201/B-2201L, B-2202/B-2302 owners present?
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I have the B-2201 JPD model converted to 230Vac with a 1.2kva transformer and Z-Foils where Sansui had Rikkens (following the
B-2301 on the resistor replacement) .
Found that Fets on the flat amp don’t age well , therefore , possibly Sansui put the complimentary pair 2SK389 in the 2301, instead the 2SK270 complimentary par that used in the 2201 model;
 

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Plimpington2 said:
I wish! I just don't have access to that preamp on this side of the pond. My lord, yours looks brand spanking new!
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Thanks! Lucked out on the condition. I’ve been through a lot of vintage gear, but only a few times have I ended up with pieces that look like they had little to no use. This is one of them. World wide shipping on these if you find one online! :) Due to its extreme weight though, it’s definitely an emptor caveat when it come to shipping and handling. Shipping these is high risk.
 
JimEGR said:
Thanks! Lucked out on the condition. I’ve been through a lot of vintage gear, but only a few times have I ended up with pieces that look like they had little to no use. This is one of them. World wide shipping on these if you find one online! :) Due to its extreme weight though, it’s definitely an emptor caveat when it come to shipping and handling. Shipping these is high risk.
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I know. I have been looking at the preamp available on reverb over and over again for the last week or two. The price seems ok-ish. But the horror stories regarding shipping from Japan gives me pause. Honestly, I have contemplated a trip to Japan for vacation and this would be a bonus.
 
The pre-amp C-2301 isnt so bad for shipping. It is heavy but not near the weight of the main amp B-2301.
The big issue is the huge speaker terminal on the main amp that tend to poke through any sort of packing. The pre (C-2301) only has the rca jacks and knobs. Nothing that sticks out bad.
 
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