ckelly
12-13-2002, 08:56 AM
The Sansui AU-555 integrated amp is the heart ans soul of my system. This amp was made between 1970 and 1973. I have owned this amp since the mid '90s and ny father bought new in 1970 before he married. It has a warm sound and is amazingly powerful for the 20W mentioned on the Service manual. It has a warm involving sound - I like it more than my Marantz 2226 I once owned.
It has a all metal black face, and the knobs are made of one piece of metal, unlike other components made later - I owned a Marantz 2226, and the knobs were platic and metal.
This little integrated amp allows connection for two line level inputs, two turntables, and has a tape monitor, as well as a tape head (non amplified reel to reel if I recall correctly). IT also has pre/main connectors which allow it to serve as a preamp or power amp.
A neat feature the AU-555 has is a muting switch - you can turn the music down by 20db by flipping the switch.
As for build quality - I know the full history of this amp as it's been in my household for 32 years (more than me). It has seen the tech twice in its life (in 2000 and 2001), in 2000 the preamp blew a couple of caps and needed some major repair - it took a long time to find a competent tech, but I revived it and it works fine. In 2001 it went to the tech due to condensation problems in the output transistors, this was repaired quickly and cheap. My conclusion is pretty simple - if in 30 years no repairs were needed, it's a DAMN GOOD QUALITY AMP.
One thing I don't like much about my amp is the Speaker connectors, they are the typical connectors that don't allow thick speaker cable - thisa problem was solved using gold plated pin connectors.
Another note - this amp has multi voltage - a BIG plus; we traveled all over the world and this amp worked everywhere, all you had to do was set the voltage.
I love its sound, looks and build quality and will probably keep it forever.
I recommend it highly to anyone.
Chris
It has a all metal black face, and the knobs are made of one piece of metal, unlike other components made later - I owned a Marantz 2226, and the knobs were platic and metal.
This little integrated amp allows connection for two line level inputs, two turntables, and has a tape monitor, as well as a tape head (non amplified reel to reel if I recall correctly). IT also has pre/main connectors which allow it to serve as a preamp or power amp.
A neat feature the AU-555 has is a muting switch - you can turn the music down by 20db by flipping the switch.
As for build quality - I know the full history of this amp as it's been in my household for 32 years (more than me). It has seen the tech twice in its life (in 2000 and 2001), in 2000 the preamp blew a couple of caps and needed some major repair - it took a long time to find a competent tech, but I revived it and it works fine. In 2001 it went to the tech due to condensation problems in the output transistors, this was repaired quickly and cheap. My conclusion is pretty simple - if in 30 years no repairs were needed, it's a DAMN GOOD QUALITY AMP.
One thing I don't like much about my amp is the Speaker connectors, they are the typical connectors that don't allow thick speaker cable - thisa problem was solved using gold plated pin connectors.
Another note - this amp has multi voltage - a BIG plus; we traveled all over the world and this amp worked everywhere, all you had to do was set the voltage.
I love its sound, looks and build quality and will probably keep it forever.
I recommend it highly to anyone.
Chris