Everyone should experience this amplifier. Yes, this is one that I kick myself regularly for selling. I also kick myself for selling the AU-777, but that will be a different post and a different beating altogether.
Rated at 40wpc. But these are tube watts. Don’t even try and fool yourself into thinking they are the same. On paper maybe, but your ears will tell you the truth. This puppy sounded like a good 75-90 watt transistor amp. Plenty, and I mean plenty of power. Amazing amplifier section. I wish I had a shot of this with the cover off, I know I took some I just can’t find them. Google the amp and look at the many images with the cover off. It’s impressive. Sansui was known, for its high quality transformers. They are so stable, and absolutely account for much of the Sansui sound, at least up to about 1978. Story has it, that is about the time they stopped building their own transformers and to me when their gear started to sound like everyone else’s.
I couldn’t find any fault with this amplifier. It’s just glorious. Tone, wow, Texture, in spades, Sparkle, will blind your ears, Soundstage, think Carnegie hall, Depth, miles of it. Specs say this amp weighs about 40lbs, feels like 70lbs and it’s all in the back.
I drove my now vintage Definitive Technology BP10’s, (thank you Sandy Gross) with ease. My pair of BP10’s are completely hand built. Linkwitz-Reily crossovers, Vifa cast woofer, and EPI inverted dome tweeters. They still take my breath away. This is the pair used at the 1990 CES show when the speakers were introduced. The nominal impedance is about 3ohms, so they are not really easy to drive. The AU-111 drove them with authority.
I also love the combination of this amp with my 1977 EPI 100’s. This was magic. I have never heard the EPI’s sound so good. Love these speakers. I met an audio buddy who has the AU-111 reissue from 1999, and he is driving a huge set of horn loaded Jensens with his. His system will surely bring on the goosebumps.
My Sansui had lost its paper serial number, so I don’t know what year it was from. Production of the series one amps was from about 1965-1969, and they were reintroduced in 1999 and built to the exact same specification as the originals. You could still purchase a series one amp new in the early 1970’s, at a really large discount. I mean, they used tubes…. No one in the early 70’s wanted tubes.
Today, they are expensive, but don’t shy away. They are completely hand built, easy to service and most of the ones you find still have all of their original caps and resistors. What’s even more astounding is that those parts are still in spec.
This is truly hi-fi as it was meant to be. Simple, wonderful, mind-blowing sonics. Led Zeppelin fans, will love it, Beethoven fans will love, Bill Evans fans will love it. Sorry, I don’t listen to country music so I can’t offer an opinion. =)
Probably the finest sounding integrated amplifier every made. I can’t believe I sold it. I could be using it in my amplifier rotation today. What was I thinking?
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