Your opinion on AU-D907:good? no good?

[doussia]

Hi folks

Looking for an amp to drive my Magnepan MMGs (to replace a tube SE AudioNote P1SE with 10WPC, if you know this brand). A guy I just virtually met offered me a Sansui AU-D907 '1979. What do you say, is this generally a good buy, capable of driving a 86dB 4Ohm planars, or do I look someplace else? :-)

Not quoting the price on purpose, 'cause by your standards it is outrageous over here.

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Andrei
Moscow, Russia

[BeatleFred]

The model you are referring to is the Japanese version of the AU-919. The AU-919 as you might notice is shown here on this Site next to the Audiokarma logo.

I have an AU-919 in my Sansui collection and my large Infinity speakers are a fairly challenging speaker load. I havent had any problems using my AU-919 to drive them. Those AU model Sansui's are extremely well made amps, so I dont expect you would have any problems but I have heard people who won Maggie speakers say that they are extremely power hungry.

Coincidentally, I have been corresponding with a Vladimir who also was offered an AU-D907 to buy recently in your country. From the same person who wants to sell to you perhaps (??)

[opt80]

Doussia,
Welcome to AK,you'll like it here.These guys have more knowledge on audio than anyone i've ever met!!


opt80

[doussia]

Thanks for your post on the 919, BetleFred. Yes, I am aware that 907=919.

The Maggies I have are now driven by a 10WPC SE tube amp, so I suppose a 100WPC AU-907 will be a more ample :-) amplification for them.

Talking about the other guy... This may be the case, however, I do not thik so. You surely know that Russia is quite big a country, and Vladimir being a very common name, the chances that this is the one and the same amp are quite low. The guy that offered the 907 to me is a rather reputable fellow, so in any case I hope that the condition of the amp is OK. The only problem I curently have is that this is a Japanese unit, and the mains in Japan is 100V. Russian mains standard being 220V, I am looking for a good voltage adaptor to check this Sansui out. Anyway, I have an agreement with the vendor that I have a couple of days of listening before I pay the money.

Before the Sansui comes in, I compared my existing amp (see above) with a McIntosh MA6500 integrated (currently produced model). With the Mac being evidently superior in output power and, therefore, the bass, the overall sound quality of this Mac really dissappointed me. Not a pleasant suprise for me, as I was thinking of buing a Mac. Not anymore.

thanks,
Andrei

[doussia]

thanks for your welcome. I hope i will, too :-)

Cheers,
Andrei

[bully]

Andrei,
There isn't any discrimination on this board!
Heck, we don't even mind the Irish and the Texians.
Y'all wouldn't want to drop the soap in a showerroom full of Mainer's, though :D

Oh, yeah, the Sansui should do fine with the maggies.
Nice stereo.

pete, from Nebraska, the heart of the USA (and a lot like the steppes-- a whole lot of not much but grasses).

[BeatleFred]

Hello Comrad, Andrei:

Sorry for the typo in my previous reply- "won" Maggie speakers shouldve been "own" Maggie speakers.

Anyway, Yes I realize Russia is a very big country and Vladimir is as common as 'Smith' is here:) but AU-D907's dont appear all that often so I thought maybe the Seller mightve been the same person who wanted to sell one to the guy, Vladimir, that I had mentioned to you.

Well, if you have a chance to try it out before committing yourself to buying it, why not do that and see how the Sansui goes along with your speakers?

Regards, BeatleFred ("Back in the USSR") :)

[doussia]

Gentlemen,
I do realize that there is no discrimination on the board and you are well-educated people :)

BeatleFred, eveything you are saying makes 100% sense. I want to check out other makes and models, too, before actually buying the amp: a Quad 44 + 502, a Chiro, maybe others. Will keep you posted.

Cheers,
Andrei ("Born In the USA"):D

[bully]

Andrei, do keep us informed on your hunting. The vintage forum is really wide open as far as solid state amps and pre-amps. Receivers pretty much just go through about 1982 from the 60s, though most of us have 1970s receivers.
We all live vicariously through each other's hunting and scores :D

pete ("Norwegian Wood")

ps. yes, that was a blatant plug for the vintage board :cool:

[YakoV]

Originally posted by doussia
You surely know that Russia is quite big a country, and Vladimir being a very common name, the chances that this is the one and the same amp are quite low. The guy that offered the 907 to me is a rather reputable fellow, so in any case I hope that the condition of the amp is OK.

Hello Fred, Andrei and other guys,

Andrei, in my opinion the chances that the amp in question is the same are quite high even taking into account vast distances in Russia. The guy offerred the AU-D907 to me is a 'reputable' a person as well, but in so-called 'vintage audio circles'. But that does not matter anyway. I wonder if you had a chance to audition this amp with your Maggies and what is your opinion?


Regards,

Vladimir

P.S. It's more lively here than on vintage board at the hi-fi.ru, right?
;)

[doussia]

Vladimir and guys,

Got the amp today - sitting in front of me, all covered in beads of condensation. I am dying to hook it up, but, alas, gotta wait for it to dry up and warm up, too.

Unfortunately, its feceplate got damaged during transportation :-( - one of the corners got smashed, the dye came off... Hope this won't affect the sound. By the way, the input connectors are all tin, and only 2 phono inputs are gold-plated. Is this right, or were they replaced?

Also, what inputs do I connect to the CD-player? AUX?


Thanks,
ANdrei

P.S. Vladimir, it definitely is more lively :-) . Are we talking about Vadim?

[YakoV]

Originally posted by doussia

Unfortunately, its feceplate got damaged during transportation :-( - one of the corners got smashed, the dye came off... Hope this won't affect the sound. By the way, the input connectors are all tin, and only 2 phono inputs are gold-plated. Is this right, or were they replaced?


Andrei,

I am very sorry to learn about the damage occurred, the unit must NOT have been properly packed. Look around, here and there people sell out and buy A LOT of gear and I hear few complaints about damaged equipment.

As for inside and overall initial condition the seller (yes, we are talking of the same person) assured me there were no replacements done. And if you check with rear-side pictures of this amp at the www.sansui.us you will see that only phono inputs are gold-plated. For your CD connection you may try either AUX or Tuner input and choose which one sounds better.

If I am not wrong, you were intended to purchase a tube amp? What made you chage your mind? This lively board? :)

Vladimir

[doussia]

YakoV and all,
I spoke to the seller, he tells me that the faceplate WAS damaged before, and that he has the unit's original rack handles, that cover the damaged point (it is really minor, approx 1cm long), and generally make the unit look so much better :D

Talking about this unit, you have to take into account where it rode from today - you know where the seller lives, Perm. sending it by rail baggage coach was not, probably, a good idea, however economical.

Yes, I did want to buy a tube amp. However, all the tube amps that are on sale now are either a lot more expensive, or of the make that I do not particularly respect. I heard from different people that Sansui SS amps are the only amps comparable in terms of sound to good tube amps (and I mean GOOD). So, naturally, I got interested ;) I read a lot about Sansui, and decided to give it a try. The only person explicitly stating knowledge/appreciation of Sansui amps over here was the seller, so I turned to him for advice. He told me he had this one on sale. Otherwise other sources of used vintage eq that I know are either not intetested in selling their components, or do not want to give it to me for a test audition with my Maggies, or put hilarious price tags on them (like $1400 for a pair of Dynaco MkIII monoblocks :D ). On top of that, I am afraid that none of the tube amps within my price range (sub $1000) are going to be able to drive the Maggies, with their 4Ohms and 86dB (and I fear that sensitivity is even less than the stated figure).

So, having said all this, I spent about 4 to 5 hours today listening to the amps (the AU-D907 and my AudioNote). My opinion so far is that when portraying single instruments or voice (Hush by Bobby McFerrin & Yo-Yo Ma) the tube amp is probably truer to the original. However, when playing anything requiring more power (like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik from Paper Music by Bobby McFerrin) the Sansui does not leave a chance to the tubes. Also, at one point in my audition I noticed that however better or worse the Sansui sounds, when listening to music through the Sansui I am listening to MUSIC, whilst when the tube amp is on the bench, I am listening to SOUNDS.

Having said that, I still have not determined whether I am keeping the Sansui, or continuing with my search for a good amp. I have several more days to get to the final conslusion. Power-wise the Sansui is more than OK, the sound is getting better and better while the amp is running in (dont know how much run-in time does a used 23-year old amp need :dunno: ), and there is still an option of getting a better AC power adaptor for the 100V Sansui (the mains in Japan is 100V, and right now I am using a cheap 110V adaptor).

Anyway, will keep you posted.

Andrei

(another bad thing about this unit is that, apparently, its previous owner/s smoked, and it starts to smell once hot. However, this won't influence my decision :D )

[doussia]

Gents,
Tell you what... I decided to keep the AU-D907. Compared to vintage McIntosh MC2125, it sounds a bit "rude and coarse" and less detailed, but, considering the fact that the Sansui is 3 times cheaper than the Mac, i vote for the 'Sui. Also, I think that the inefficient treble response can hopefully be improved by the treble knob.

I think that this difference in sound reproduction is largely due to the fact that the Mac has output transformers, which the 907 does not have, and working with low-impedance low-sensitivity Maggises this is a serious advantage of the Mac. Also, the 907 is fed from AC of 115v: a genuine Japanese unit, it was engineered to work at 100V, which is 15% increase. Therefore, I am in process of getting a powerful enough (600W) transformer with due 100V output. They told me that this voltage differnece in SS equipment directly affects the treble and overall clarity.

Sincerely,
Andrei