After sitting around idle for 10 years while my youngest grew to young ladyhood, my Sansui receivers are BACK on the workbench! 
Though my 4000 is still MIA (I must have given it to my ex-brother-in-law... there's just no other rational explanation!), I carted out all the rest-- at first just to provide a means of testing out the new (to me!) 'Sui turntable since none of my modern systems have a phono-in, but soon enough I was mesmerized again by the pretty lights and shiny knobs and the reassuringly solid bulk of the freaking tanks that used to be stereos back in my youth.
Inventory:
Dad's 2000 brought home from the Philippines in 1971. Before The Kid Years, I had re-capped all of this bad boy's electrolytics, replaced an output transistor I personally fried (oops) and adjusted the bias currents to spec. It's my bedroom system, and it sounds amazing and warm, yet crystal clear. Think I might hit it with Deoxit just because it's been eleven years since last application, but this thing never ceases to amaze me. It does appear I may have lost another one of the tuner lamps again, and the STEREO indicator. Very tempted to seek an LED solution because I don't really enjoy going in to repair/replace something that is not critical to audio function but is still Not Working Right. Anyone with ideas on LEDs for these old systems? I seem to recall the STEREO indicator was problematic to find a replacement for as it's actually a part of the tuner circuit and could throw something else off if it has the wrong electrical characteristics...?
I've been using Dad's (recapped) SP-2000s (along with four others I acquired) as part of my home theater system even when the receivers languished on shelves. Need to drag them out, Deox the L-pads, and make sure all those "kabuki" mids and tweets are still active.
The 2000X I acquired was in better shape than I recalled... for some reason, I thought it needed some serious rework, but it looks really clean: all lights working, some slight Deox-esque distortion when you spin the knobs, strong tuner even with no antenna attached... sounds very good. I think I even recapped it back in the day. This one is likely going to be my turntable's current companion (though not permanent, see below). Only thing potentially amiss with this puppy is tuner knob noise... the cable sometimes sounds like a line for a sailboat when I turn the dial.
The 5000X I bought locally is the one that will need the most work. The tuner is shot: when last I played with it, I'd narrowed the issue to the scary Sealed FM Box(tm). Without a signal generator and an oscilloscope, I haven't a chance in Hades of fixing that one, so off to the local antique stereo repair guy this one goes. Definitely needs a lot of Deox and some new filter caps to reduce the On Switch POP From Hell, but the most troublesome item right at this moment is a weird right-channel issue-- the sound is extremely muted. Thankfully it's not the output or power transistors; through judicious use of the REVERSE button and the schematic, I've narrowed the problem to the input board. I'm thinking either a transistor there or one of the electrolytics has gone bad. Will probe to narrow it further, then recap, then send away to the doctor. Luckily I have the 6013 boards in this one and not the 1040s.
The G5500 is not my favorite in terms of looks-- I prefer the wood veneer and metal look to the metal-looking plastic with vinyl veneers that the later model Sansuis had-- but I cannot deny this receiver packs a punch. The pots and switches are VERY scratchy and in need of Deox, and I likely will need to adjust the bias as well, but from my ancient notes the biggest challenge might be that one of the relays in the signal path seems to have gone bad or at least weak. I haven't noticed the problem yet since I unearthed this thing, but evidently before I stuck the thing in storage the volume would fade after several minutes unless I tweaked the volume knob or Loudness button and somehow I had diagnosed this to the relay with the help of the people here. Don't know what I'll do with that one. If that can be fixed, however, the G5500 will likely be the FR-D40's permanent companion. They're all matchy-matchy, style-wise, and it would be a shame to keep these two crazy kids apart.
The other receivers will get their own turntable friends in the fullness of time, and I may even try my hand at veneering a TT to match the Sansuis because reading this forum again recently has inspired me.
Thus ends my manifesto.
Though my 4000 is still MIA (I must have given it to my ex-brother-in-law... there's just no other rational explanation!), I carted out all the rest-- at first just to provide a means of testing out the new (to me!) 'Sui turntable since none of my modern systems have a phono-in, but soon enough I was mesmerized again by the pretty lights and shiny knobs and the reassuringly solid bulk of the freaking tanks that used to be stereos back in my youth.
Inventory:
Dad's 2000 brought home from the Philippines in 1971. Before The Kid Years, I had re-capped all of this bad boy's electrolytics, replaced an output transistor I personally fried (oops) and adjusted the bias currents to spec. It's my bedroom system, and it sounds amazing and warm, yet crystal clear. Think I might hit it with Deoxit just because it's been eleven years since last application, but this thing never ceases to amaze me. It does appear I may have lost another one of the tuner lamps again, and the STEREO indicator. Very tempted to seek an LED solution because I don't really enjoy going in to repair/replace something that is not critical to audio function but is still Not Working Right. Anyone with ideas on LEDs for these old systems? I seem to recall the STEREO indicator was problematic to find a replacement for as it's actually a part of the tuner circuit and could throw something else off if it has the wrong electrical characteristics...?
I've been using Dad's (recapped) SP-2000s (along with four others I acquired) as part of my home theater system even when the receivers languished on shelves. Need to drag them out, Deox the L-pads, and make sure all those "kabuki" mids and tweets are still active.
The 2000X I acquired was in better shape than I recalled... for some reason, I thought it needed some serious rework, but it looks really clean: all lights working, some slight Deox-esque distortion when you spin the knobs, strong tuner even with no antenna attached... sounds very good. I think I even recapped it back in the day. This one is likely going to be my turntable's current companion (though not permanent, see below). Only thing potentially amiss with this puppy is tuner knob noise... the cable sometimes sounds like a line for a sailboat when I turn the dial.
The 5000X I bought locally is the one that will need the most work. The tuner is shot: when last I played with it, I'd narrowed the issue to the scary Sealed FM Box(tm). Without a signal generator and an oscilloscope, I haven't a chance in Hades of fixing that one, so off to the local antique stereo repair guy this one goes. Definitely needs a lot of Deox and some new filter caps to reduce the On Switch POP From Hell, but the most troublesome item right at this moment is a weird right-channel issue-- the sound is extremely muted. Thankfully it's not the output or power transistors; through judicious use of the REVERSE button and the schematic, I've narrowed the problem to the input board. I'm thinking either a transistor there or one of the electrolytics has gone bad. Will probe to narrow it further, then recap, then send away to the doctor. Luckily I have the 6013 boards in this one and not the 1040s.
The G5500 is not my favorite in terms of looks-- I prefer the wood veneer and metal look to the metal-looking plastic with vinyl veneers that the later model Sansuis had-- but I cannot deny this receiver packs a punch. The pots and switches are VERY scratchy and in need of Deox, and I likely will need to adjust the bias as well, but from my ancient notes the biggest challenge might be that one of the relays in the signal path seems to have gone bad or at least weak. I haven't noticed the problem yet since I unearthed this thing, but evidently before I stuck the thing in storage the volume would fade after several minutes unless I tweaked the volume knob or Loudness button and somehow I had diagnosed this to the relay with the help of the people here. Don't know what I'll do with that one. If that can be fixed, however, the G5500 will likely be the FR-D40's permanent companion. They're all matchy-matchy, style-wise, and it would be a shame to keep these two crazy kids apart.
The other receivers will get their own turntable friends in the fullness of time, and I may even try my hand at veneering a TT to match the Sansuis because reading this forum again recently has inspired me.
Thus ends my manifesto.
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