Is this a good deal on vintage Sansui gear?

[eqmassa]

My neighbor offered me a Sansui QRX-3500 receiver, 2 Sansui SP2500A speakers, and a Sansui SR-717 direct drive turntable for $225. All in mint conditions with manuals and cables.

Looking on ebay and such, it seems like this is a decent deal since mint gear like this would normally go for $300+. I’m somewhat concerned about longevity and durability… but any advice at all would be greatly appreciated, as I’m an audio novice.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Not familiar with those models but, Sansui's are built like tanks. I have a AU6900 that still looks and sounds like new. I don't use it but won't part with it either.

Cheers and welcome to the site.

[bobsticks]

My neighbor offered me a Sansui QRX-3500 receiver, 2 Sansui SP2500A speakers, and a Sansui SR-717 direct drive turntable for $225. All in mint conditions with manuals and cables.

Looking on ebay and such, it seems like this is a decent deal since mint gear like this would normally go for $300+. I’m somewhat concerned about longevity and durability… but any advice at all would be greatly appreciated, as I’m an audio novice.

I would ask for a demo, I mean after all all ya gotta do is walk across the lawn. In any case, if it's all set-up you can get an idea of the true condition of the gear. You can also guage whether that Sansui vintage sound is for you.

Most likely your neighbor is upgrading to a new, more modern system with all the bells and whistles. There are a lot of good deals to be found on vintage equipment due to just this circumstance.

[Mr Peabody]

A complete system for $225.00 isn't bad and it sounds like it was well taken care of. There are probably better prices but you don't know what you are getting. Plus you have the manual so you know how much power etc.

The receiver is Quad, I wonder if the turntable is? If so, you could hunt some old quad records off Ebay and have some fun. I did have a Blue Oyster Cult, quad, I'll have to check to see if I didn't do something with it like trade it off.

[audio_dude]

man...a sansui was my first amp *sniff* memories...

but yeah, that things was 30 years old, got it for $20, and it was built like a TANK.

Oh, and I sold it for $30...yay for profit...

[eqmassa]

man...a sansui was my first amp *sniff* memories...

but yeah, that things was 30 years old, got it for $20, and it was built like a TANK.

Oh, and I sold it for $30...yay for profit...

Only $30? I was under the impression that this was a pretty good receiver, but I mean, if the sound quality, in tandem with these speakers, isn't measurably better than good computer speakers... I can do a bit of a test run, but I can't stay there long enough to run it through the gauntlet.

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone!

[Luvin Da Blues]

I would have a listen, what do you have to lose. If you like what you hear then for $225 it's a good deal. Can't get much in a complete system for that price especially from the original owner (I presume).

[Mr Peabody]

The Sansui system will kick the crap out of computer speakers. It's a receiver, it's not like buying a MacIntosh, but it will rock the house. If you aren't familiar, Quad, is like the 70's version of surround sound. I bet that turntable is quad as well since the receiver is. There is kind of a vintagefile cult following of quad. When you got tired of the system you could probably get your money back, if not profit by putting just the receiver and turntable on Ebay.

[blackraven]

Check out the speakers really well and look for signs of rot around the woofers and any other cones.

[Scott W]

I would definitly ask to hear before buying,I've never owned any Sansui gear but have heard some and know some will swear by it.As Blackraven said you should check the surrounds on the speakers for deterioration,but if time is not an issue here you could check online(ie ebay)for sellers that have repair kits even for older models,I recently did some surrounds replacement on a pair of speakers,I bought the kit off ebay(not sure if I can give sellers ID on this forum)and the kit worked fine.

[Feanor]

My neighbor offered me a Sansui QRX-3500 receiver, 2 Sansui SP2500A speakers, and a Sansui SR-717 direct drive turntable for $225. All in mint conditions with manuals and cables.

Looking on ebay and such, it seems like this is a decent deal since mint gear like this would normally go for $300+. I’m somewhat concerned about longevity and durability… but any advice at all would be greatly appreciated, as I’m an audio novice.

(Pardon the pun ) I agree with others that this is very good deal indeed if you have a place to use the system, and especially if you listen to vinyl.

The QRX-3500 was pretty expensive in its day, the mid-'70s, although not the top quad model. Find out vintage Sansui info at these sites ...

• http://www.sansui.us/
• http://www.classicsansui.net/
• http://www.classicaudio.com/value/san/index.html

[Mr Peabody]

I got my brother an older low power Sansui receiver off Ebay years back, it had a nice warm sound to it. Later I picked up a Luxman and when we did a side by side comparison the Luxman had much more detail.

My Sansui AU9500 was on the website. Now this is a quality piece that holds it's own against much of today's mid fi and maybe entry high end integrated amps. It's build quality is superior to most of what you'd see today. The switches and knobs are heavy duty like a piece of test equipment. I was surprised the power rating was 55 wpc, I thought it was like 85 or 95.

Great links

[kelsci]

Boy, does that bring back memories. Yes, in the 70's my brother bought the 3500 Sansui Quad receiver. The only thing I found with it that it was tempermental as to its sound quality depending on the speakers used. It sounded awful on my Marantz 6g's but great on some 3 way 12 inch speakers. It also had some variable methods of decoding of quad records including Sansui's QS, considered to be much like Dolby Surround. I use to like the way it played in "discrete" mode. At that time, a Quad system consisted of 4 equal speakers so the rears were as big as the front. Big mistake. I think setting up this unit with two large fronts and two small rears would have worked better. Since this was long before Dolby Pro-Logic, there was no center channel as we know it today.

I would follow the advice of what the other members said for you to check and look for. These units were built like tanks and it shows it if they are still playing 30 years after they were manufactured. How long they will last beyond 30 years is another story. I do not think parts for this unit would be easy to replace since Quad bit the dust 30 or some years ago too. With the right set-up you woulld have a nice vintage musical system though.

[Mr Peabody]

My guess is replacement parts shouldn't be a big issue as all the circuits were discrete, no IC chips, so I'd think same spec parts should not be so hard to find.

[eqmassa]

Thanks everyone. I think if I stayed on the market for a good receiver, I'd probably find a better deal... it's just that, although I've wanted to pick up a good one for a while, I hadn't looked much, and then this opportunity just dropped into my lap.

[kb2qei]

I am looking for a vintage set for my room, am tired of my boom box if you don't want it can you help me out so i can get that system thanks in advance

[kb2qei]

Thanks everyone. I think if I stayed on the market for a good receiver, I'd probably find a better deal... it's just that, although I've wanted to pick up a good one for a while, I hadn't looked much, and then this opportunity just dropped into my lap.

If you are not going to buy the system, can you pm me with the info. thanks in advance