birchoak
Hi-Fi Nut
I had heard bits and pieces about this smallish receiver and finally bought one some years ago. Today I dusted it off and hooked it up to some bi-wired Paradigm towers in my basement as I was conducting some listening tests (very scientific, I assure you) of different amps and receivers. A Yamaha A-760 integrated amp sounded very good, with lots of good bass; a Denon receiver someone gave me (missing volume knob) surprised me, sounding as good as the A-760 (but without the cryptic switches and silver-faced Yamaha mystique), and a recently purchased Harman Kardon A300 tube amp presented itself beautifully, perhaps the most balanced of the bunch. Then, because I was thinking of selling it, I hooked up the 800.
Wow. Same speakers, same listening space/position, same day, same sun position (ok I'm being silly now) and better bass than all of the above units. The best way I can describe the Sansui's sound is that I heard more information at the lower frequencies; its lower end simply had more authority than the other amplifiers. Madonna's Hung Up is a workout for any amplifier, as is Fat Boy Slim's That Old Pair of Jeans, but the 800 delivered the goods, up to a point. It did run out of steam much sooner than the others, more likely due to its age and questionable state of the filter capacitors than its lower power rating, methinks.
So, I am not selling it and just ordered a bunch of capacitors. It is such a sleeper! Everyone wants the Eight or the 9090DB or one of the G-Series monsters, and that's just great for people like me. Bring me the underdog; I'll feed him! I'm guessing the 800 flies under the radar because it doesn't look particularly threatening and appears to be a low powered budget model. But it ain't! Holy cow does it put out sound! A wall of sound! You look inside it and think to yourself, what is in here that is making all that sound?
Chime in with your Sansui 800 impressions! Am I mental? Deluded? Probably, but I think I'm right about the 800.
Wow. Same speakers, same listening space/position, same day, same sun position (ok I'm being silly now) and better bass than all of the above units. The best way I can describe the Sansui's sound is that I heard more information at the lower frequencies; its lower end simply had more authority than the other amplifiers. Madonna's Hung Up is a workout for any amplifier, as is Fat Boy Slim's That Old Pair of Jeans, but the 800 delivered the goods, up to a point. It did run out of steam much sooner than the others, more likely due to its age and questionable state of the filter capacitors than its lower power rating, methinks.
So, I am not selling it and just ordered a bunch of capacitors. It is such a sleeper! Everyone wants the Eight or the 9090DB or one of the G-Series monsters, and that's just great for people like me. Bring me the underdog; I'll feed him! I'm guessing the 800 flies under the radar because it doesn't look particularly threatening and appears to be a low powered budget model. But it ain't! Holy cow does it put out sound! A wall of sound! You look inside it and think to yourself, what is in here that is making all that sound?
Chime in with your Sansui 800 impressions! Am I mental? Deluded? Probably, but I think I'm right about the 800.