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22hh22 « Very nice! And what charm ... »
Published on 08/08/14 at 01:18I got this amp from 1970 to 1990, when it was destroyed by my very young children ...
It was my first amp.
I'll start with a trivial aspect that was important.
First ... this amp was fine. Modern devices no longer offer, except in the very high-end, such a presentation, which is also related to the quality of manufacture.
All buttons were solid metal, the tone knobs were notched. Certainly, there is almost never used it, only there was a pleasure to turn the knobs for anything, just to feel the quality of their operation. And then, there was an adjustment of the medium, which is not used, of course, because the action on the medium gave the impression of listening to an old pre-war radio. (I've often wondered if the presence of this control was not a marketing effect, that is to say, to the maximum of buttons on the front to flatter the owner of the device. I do not think fool me much.)
The black brushed aluminum facade was beautiful, and the inscriptions (actually burned) in a discreet and beautiful yellow.
And there was the wooden box, which provided a finishing touch and even luxury.
All this is what makes the unforgettable memory of this unit, the attraction of the "vintage", actually the charm of a bygone era and certainly not return.
The sound now.
Just to clarify, and delivered them 2x25W amplifier into 8 ohms; in fact, it was only 2x35 w if we had 4 ohm speakers. But basically it was enough, even on AR4x speakers (8 ohms) that I bought at the same time, and had a low yield.
The sound was very correct, balanced with rather smooth trend, which could have raised, forcing a little, a Pioneer lamps (comparison made then, from the same speakers, the Pioneer was better overall). Listening was never tiring. In fact, it was not a "fast" amp. I could compare it to a Leak from the same period; the Sansui seemed a bit soft.
The grave was honest, nothing more. The rest of the spectrum was correct and credible.
You have to look things in the face. The "vintage" is very appealing to the look, build quality and nostalgia. I'm not sure this is also interesting for the sound. I mean, it's not because it's older than the sound is great and "better than now".
However, I then used this device as preamp, attacking a Quad 405 The result was a thousand times better, regardless of the difference in power. I think the weaknesses were in the amplifier section. Because I could compare, in the 80s, with a Rotel preamp, which was then known. What a horror! Rotel gave a "sound board" and could not stand at all compared to the preamp part of Sansui!
In conclusion, AT 555A was beautiful, had a very good preamp section, but an amp slightly behind.
It was my first amp.
I'll start with a trivial aspect that was important.
First ... this amp was fine. Modern devices no longer offer, except in the very high-end, such a presentation, which is also related to the quality of manufacture.
All buttons were solid metal, the tone knobs were notched. Certainly, there is almost never used it, only there was a pleasure to turn the knobs for anything, just to feel the quality of their operation. And then, there was an adjustment of the medium, which is not used, of course, because the action on the medium gave the impression of listening to an old pre-war radio. (I've often wondered if the presence of this control was not a marketing effect, that is to say, to the maximum of buttons on the front to flatter the owner of the device. I do not think fool me much.)
The black brushed aluminum facade was beautiful, and the inscriptions (actually burned) in a discreet and beautiful yellow.
And there was the wooden box, which provided a finishing touch and even luxury.
All this is what makes the unforgettable memory of this unit, the attraction of the "vintage", actually the charm of a bygone era and certainly not return.
The sound now.
Just to clarify, and delivered them 2x25W amplifier into 8 ohms; in fact, it was only 2x35 w if we had 4 ohm speakers. But basically it was enough, even on AR4x speakers (8 ohms) that I bought at the same time, and had a low yield.
The sound was very correct, balanced with rather smooth trend, which could have raised, forcing a little, a Pioneer lamps (comparison made then, from the same speakers, the Pioneer was better overall). Listening was never tiring. In fact, it was not a "fast" amp. I could compare it to a Leak from the same period; the Sansui seemed a bit soft.
The grave was honest, nothing more. The rest of the spectrum was correct and credible.
You have to look things in the face. The "vintage" is very appealing to the look, build quality and nostalgia. I'm not sure this is also interesting for the sound. I mean, it's not because it's older than the sound is great and "better than now".
However, I then used this device as preamp, attacking a Quad 405 The result was a thousand times better, regardless of the difference in power. I think the weaknesses were in the amplifier section. Because I could compare, in the 80s, with a Rotel preamp, which was then known. What a horror! Rotel gave a "sound board" and could not stand at all compared to the preamp part of Sansui!
In conclusion, AT 555A was beautiful, had a very good preamp section, but an amp slightly behind.