That is the biggest flaw with Sansui. They are all well regarded until you hit the 80's.
I'd like to expand on that a bit. Sansui was still making gear that was reasonably decent, and sounded good in 1980-81, with full discrete output stages even in lower end models. Certainly the overall build quality had noticably declined over the period of 1977-80, but I'd put 1982-83 as the point where the bottom really fell out. But even that needs further clarification.
Sansui essentially drove a wedge between their mass market consumer product line, and their premium product line. 1983 gave us the B-2301 in the premium category, while the mass market line became fully plastic commodity "junque". The latter was the stuff you'd find in department stores, and other mass market retailers. I imagine some long time Sansui dealers continued to sell this stuff for a while, until they realized how badly the quality had fallen off, and chose to drop the brand. That's why it disappeared pretty quickly from 1983 onward, save for the boutique dealers still selling the premium line.
Anyway, getting back to 1980/81 for a moment, models like the A-60 and A-80, while being built more like the previously mentioned 210 receiver (though admittedly even a bit more cheaply) still had a machined aluminum front panel, real meters (on the A-80) and a pretty conventional control layout that resembled their previous integrated amps, with the oversized volume knob off to the right.
They are inarguably nice looking units, and actually sound good as well. Their big drawbacks are a chassis made of plastic sides, metalized pressboard bottom, and most circuitry being on a single large board. They also lack a protection circuit as had long been a standard feature on older models. All that said, I have used an A-80 along with a number of matching components in my bedroom system for nearly 20 years, and it has been a reliable and enjoyable amp to listen to.
True, I never run it hard (it's a 65WPC amp) which has undoubtedly extended it's lifespan. But if looking for a budget conscious amp in a surprisingly compact depth (good for putting on a shelf) it fits the bill nicely. These are the very last of the "main line" Sansui gear (not to be confused with the premium product line that became quite elusive as the company pulled back on international distribution) that is worth considering, IMHO.
The 1982-1988 period saw their mass market stuff go ever more cheap and unreliable, especially when they started leaning heavily on STK powerpack IC's instead of discrete output stages. By the late 80's they were all but completely out of the US market anyway.
Overall, I'd say the sweet spot for "BOTL" models having a quality on par with their larger deluxe siblings ended about 1978. After that, the divide between the low end and high end models got increasingly pronounced, until by 1983 it was almost embarrassing to see the divergence.
