Sansui 661 Thrift Store Find

Starrider1

Active Member
I picked up this Sansui 661 today for 30.00. Seemed a little high on the price but it is pretty clean inside and out and sounds good. Anyone have one of these?
 
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30 bones in that condition?

You did good! Nice little 20 something wpc. I had a 551 that was 15wpc and it was a great little receiver. I think the xx1 series is very under appreciated.
 
Nice score...looks clean and since it sounds good, that makes it outstanding. We tend to forget how much folks are paying for low current junk that sounds like crap these days...viva Sansui.
 
I picked up this Sansui 661 today for 30.00. Seemed a little high on the price but it is pretty clean inside and out and sounds good. Anyone have one of these?

You did fine! :thmbsp: It's 27 watts/ch and an average resale of $33 from eBay (people have paid up to $100) -- a very nice Sansui indeed.

Paul
 
Wife picked it out of all the Sui receivers I have to be placed in the entertainment system in living room (her domain). She said it has a "look" she likes. Its been there over 3 years now, hooked up to a pair of Bose 301's.

The xx1 receivers are very under rated. They have a lot of soul for such a small package.:smoke:
 
I have a 771(slightly bigger brother) that sounds very nice. I think this
series(have heard an 881 as well) is pretty nice, and as stated by others, a bit underappreciated.
 
661

I recently found one of those, mine was stamped "DEMO" on the back panel.
Great receiver, and yes the XX1 series are underappreciated, except the TOTL 881, which has gone up in price for very good examples on the auction site.
With efficient speakers you won't need megawattage anyway, and they are underated as all the vintage Sansui units were.
Casey:banana:
 
Just picked up a 661 at a thrift store for $10. Works well but the only light that comes on is the stereo light. Sounds great anyway and is in near mint cosmetic condition. Possibly the best $10 I've ever spent. Still kind of bummed about the lights though. Oh well.
 
I have one of these that I could never sort out.
The DC offset seems to jump all over the place and even though I have the manual it cannot be adjusted.
It played fine though.
 
I have one of these that I could never sort out.
The DC offset seems to jump all over the place and even though I have the manual it cannot be adjusted.
It played fine though.

FWIW I don't have the manual, but the 551 manual shows capacitor coupled (771 direct). If they have couling capacitors, there won't be an offset adjustment and dc should go to zero quickly with any load - speakers or headphones.
 
lovely receivers...the 661 has a nice sound, bit brighter compared to some of sansui's other gear..definitely a keeper!
 
FWIW I don't have the manual, but the 551 manual shows capacitor coupled (771 direct). If they have couling capacitors, there won't be an offset adjustment and dc should go to zero quickly with any load - speakers or headphones.

Crap! I've been trying to adjust it without any load.
Could this be the reason the voltage is jumping around? My friend owned it and it sounded fine. I only noticed this when I attempted to adjust the bias and offset.
 
Crap! I've been trying to adjust it without any load.
Could this be the reason the voltage is jumping around? My friend owned it and it sounded fine. I only noticed this when I attempted to adjust the bias and offset.

Get the service manual, I set mine recently, no load required...
Hifiengine has the manual for free.
 
Crap! I've been trying to adjust it without any load.
Could this be the reason the voltage is jumping around? My friend owned it and it sounded fine. I only noticed this when I attempted to adjust the bias and offset.

Sorry for the misdirection. It is DC coupled. How much offset and how much jumping around? If too jumpy you may try cleaning potentiometer. If that works, you can leave it at that, but in my experience it has been best to replace it. If no difference, it usually is the differential pair (input) but usually noise or other problems. (Perhaps I'm over analyzing) Good luck with it.
 
Sorry for the misdirection. It is DC coupled. How much offset and how much jumping around? If too jumpy you may try cleaning potentiometer. If that works, you can leave it at that, but in my experience it has been best to replace it. If no difference, it usually is the differential pair (input) but usually noise or other problems. (Perhaps I'm over analyzing) Good luck with it.


Jumps around 60-100mV and the pots have no effect.
I hate to junk it as its in otherwise beautiful shape. Bit I would spend more than its worth dropping it off at my local tech.
 
Make sure grounds are good - sometimes just tightening a screw mounting the board will do it. If not - usually is the input pair q1 and q3 on one channel, q2 and 24 on the other. 2sa640 are the part - usual sub is KSC992. Good luck with it.
 
You did fine! :thmbsp: It's 27 watts/ch and an average resale of $33 from eBay (people have paid up to $100) -- a very nice Sansui indeed.

I'd gladly pay $100 or even $120 for a 661 in mint condition. Regardless of the relatively low power rating -which I suspect is rather conservative- this unit was no low-end offering. Cleaned one for a relative and was very impressed with performance and build quality, model with faux wood cover weighs nearly 25lbs, veneered around 30lbs. Looks great too.
 
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Demo on the backside.....

I recently found one of those, mine was stamped "DEMO" on the back panel.
Great receiver, and yes the XX1 series are underappreciated, except the TOTL 881, which has gone up in price for very good examples on the auction site.
With efficient speakers you won't need megawattage anyway, and they are underated as all the vintage Sansui units were.
Casey:banana:

I have a AU-5500 marked the same way, and came from New England. I was thinking that it was a dealership marking, but now that I see you have one from the other side of the country , I'm thinking that it was marked that way to the dealership from Sansui, and that they probably are top shelf from a factory quality control perspective.
 
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