Anyone had any experience with the Sansui SF-1 speaker? It's a 2 way (one 6.5 woofer facing down, one 6.5 woofer facing up and one 2.25 tweeter facing up) with wood sansui grills on all 4 sides

Well from the pics they'd probably make great end tables. As to their audio qualities I'd be guessing they :puke: . It's been my experience that most Sansui speakers I've heard fall into that broad category. In that way there similar to Marantz. They built nice gear but lousy speakers. I can't comment on the Sansui speakers that were built for the japanese market. IIRC they at least used good JBL drivers and probably sound better then the N.American marketed fart boxes Sansui sent over here.

Mike

I've never heard these speakers but I woudn't dismiss all Sansui speakers as pure crap. Sansui definitely wasn't best known for their speakers. I have a few pairs of Sansui speakers that I'd love for you to hear and judge for youself, they're definitely lacking on the low end, but highs and mid-range are very good. I wouldn't put them in the same class with Pioneer HPM, or vintage JBL but they're not that bad. There's been several posts on here and AU about them, most agree they sound much better with tube gear.

max-greece has a pair of SP2500's that I don't think he'd easily part with, and from what I remember reading some people where very impressed with his system...

http://66.221.25.117/forums//showthread.php?s=&threadid=2058&highlight=sansui

Would I use Sansui speakers in my main system? Hell no, there are much better vintage speakers out there but I don't mind hooking them up every now and then and spinning some vinyl. I use one pair for my center channel in a home theater set-up and they do a fine job. Just my two cents.

Dave

Those look neat they might be pretty collectible cuz of the real wood look of them.

Well, if anyone would be interested in some "collectible" "end table" speakers, let me know. Maybe they are worth more because of the factory Sansui wire! If not, I'll probably try EBAY as I do not have use for them.

I did hook them up and they sound OK but nothing to write home about (at least in my opinion). I'm more of the give me the biggest woofer you can get type of listener. If I could find one, I probably get the speaker that Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future that he blew up!

Like woofers?? Look at these :D

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Well, if you arent going to be keeping them, I think putting them on Ebay is the best thing you can do - there are people out there who do like Sansui speakers and also since the pair you have looks to be in very nice condition (and somewhat of a rare- bird too- havent seen many of those models available before) I think you would get a good price for them on Ebay.

There's no need for anyone here to bash Sansui speakers. Even if their speakers werent the best- so what? Do all the OTHER audio manufacturers make everything equally well in their entire Product line? Same can be said for alot of other things too- guitars, for example. Fender is a legendary name for the electric guitars they made (and some of their amps) but their acoustic guitars have never received much attention. And vice versa for Martin- an exemplary repuation with their acoustics, yet the few electrics they made went by pretty much unnoticed.

As for big woofers- if thats your thing, to each his own as the Saying goes. If thats all there was to making speakers that supposedly gave you the best (deepest) bass response- then all companies would simply just build their speakers and put huge-ass woofers in them. (Think about it.....)


Infinity SM models like the SM-150 made 15 years ago fall into that category- 15 " woofers that sound impressive at first- then a week later you grow tired of their flabby, boomy, one note bass sound with zero soundstage ability- I know because I had them and learned:) And the Sansui SP-X8700 I briefly had had 17" woofers. So, the size of a speaker's woofer alone I dont think entitles anyone to bragging rights. But if its LOUD head-bangin' music youre into or you like to throw alot of parties and enjoy blasting the "music", big- woofer speakers are for you.

Originally posted by BeatleFred

But if its LOUD head-bangin' music youre into or you like to throw alot of parties and enjoy blasting the "music", big- woofer speakers are for you.

I believe I resemble that remark :eek:

Thor

Yes - very nice speakers you have there! I like to feel the bass as well as hear it.


Looks like Pioneer was into the "end table" speakers also:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=800680126

If they sound any good on your system and I think you can guess what that is.

These look beautifully made and I have no doubt are equally impressive on the inside (judging by my SP2500's).

Frankly I hear very little good about these speakers but I am a contrary kind of guy who likes to choose by listening.

I would agree with most of the posters here that the bass is somewhat lacking. For me this is an irrelevance as I have a Sub (Rel Strata 3) that was bought to make up for a similar difficiency in my Klipsch Heresy 2.

Yours may of may not suffer the same kind of thing. As others implied here it aint the size of the woofer in the bass its the size of the bass in the woofer.

As it happens I am currently evaluating making a few changes to the speaker - mainly replacing some of the caps in the crossover with some newer better items and maybe taking a look at some tweeter options.

Now I have had some time with these speakers I can say that I still prefer them over the Heresy. The only thing they really lack is the ultimate clarity (which is what I am working on above). In terms of soundstage, image size and depth these are winners in my book. The midrange is strong and the presentation smooth and liquid.

Overall they simply play more of the music than the Heresy ever did (in my setup) and for that I can forgive them a few of their eccentricities.

Double post - please ignore