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Iconic Sansui Amplifiers: Exit to Vintage Street

One of the most iconic Japanese audio brands, vintage Sansui amplifiers have become super hot on the used market and we know why.
In my last year of high school, my brother came home one day with an old integrated amplifier. His boss at his part-time job (where he stripped and refinished old furniture) was clearing out his basement and gave it to him. Surplus to requirements.
I had a system of my own already but do remember thinking it looked somewhat cool. Black brushed metal face plate. Silver knobs. Black selector switches. Homemade wood case. Even then, in the early ‘80s, it was a retro-looking piece.
Not sure how much use that old amp got as my brother wasn’t a huge music nut. I was never aware of him having speakers or other equipment to use it with. He had a monster JVC ghetto blaster that probably got more use. I went off to university the following year and didn’t think about it again.

Fast forward 35 years. I get an email from my brother asking about the best way to get rid of his old amp. Photo attached. Sansui AU-555. At this point I’m just getting (back) into vintage audio. “Best way is to give it to me” was my immediate, excited reply. And so it came to me, and after a short stay with That Old Retro Store getting checked over and re-capped, became part of my then small but growing vintage audio set-up.
A bit about Sansui
Japanese audio was hot from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. With quality high and prices low, North American consumers bought up equipment from brands like Pioneer, Sony, Technics, Sansui, Kenwood and others by the truckload. And now, with the resurgent popularity of vintage audio, these brands are again hot commodities.
In my mind, Sansui is the iconic vintage Japanese audio brand. Luxman and Accuphase fans might object to that statement and I can’t disagree from a quality perspective – but we’re talking about a different level of affordability. Few Japanese audio brands have the same, close-to-rabid following, particularly when it comes to integrated amplifiers and receivers. Yes, they made respectable tuners, speakers and turntables, but amplification was their jam; the proof-in-the pudding is reflected in today’s rarity (they’re around, but folks don’t like to part with their treasures) and high prices when they do come up for sale.

This article originally appeared at ecoustics.com and an intro has been published here with permission.
Read the full article: https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/iconic-sansui-amplifiers/