Sansui AU - 919 Thrift Store Find


Pretty amazing I found this tonight in nice shape for $50. It looks like it took a bump at some point in it's life because the face plate has shifted about an 1/8". Sounds worse then it is. A couple minor scratches on the top. Works great. Really an amazing find for the money. And it is a great Amp. I have had some of the earlier Sansui stuff like the 9090 Receiver, and was not very impressed. But this unit is an impressive keeper.
Any insight on any of the controls, and the best way to set the Amps controls would be helpful. I am using Tannoy System 800 Speakers, and a pair of Pioneer HPM 100's. The Tannoy's are what I mainly use.
laviathon
I use to use them in the 80s but too long ago to remember much. They were quite good for the time. I'll try to find an old review.
Will need re-capping for sure-No need to risk a leaking capacitor to ruin the internals-I would also take it in for a complete tuneup! They can probably determine the channel/volume problem...
Back in the '70s I had to "downgrade" my system and ended up with an AU-717 which was a wonderful match with the used Maggies I found. It was a top-rated integrated by British magazines at the time. So far as I know the 919 was a similar design, just more power.

A couple of years later I had a 9090 receiver briefly from some trading and agree it did not match the 717 in sonics. Now the TU-9900 tuner I had after that was another story!

I also agree on the re-cap recommendation.
I think it might need output transistors. Also someone mentioned that the AU-717 was similar to the 919 with just more power. Not so. They are both quite different.
Funny about loosing the channel. Hours after I re-started the unit it lost the left channel, and the right was fine. The unit can be ran for hours before it does this. Weird. But not surprising. I mean who dumps a nice working Sansui AU 919 at the local Goodwill.
Although I have been surprised. One of my finds was deleted from the postings on here because I guess it hurts the sellers of these unit on here. And that unit works fine, and is more recent. Early in this decade production
Anyway when the Sansui was running it sounded great! $50 admission, and service fee won't hurt. I am flipping some pieces so I might put the funds towards a service. Or I may attempt to repair it myself.
Got an email from my tech this morning. I described the issue I am having with the amp to him in an earlier email. Here is what he said:

That series of Sansui amps had a problem with the
glue they used to hold down some of the caps during
wave soldering. Over time it became corrosive and
even conductive. There is a pre-driver board (The
vertical one) that needs the glue scraped off and
any corroded parts replaced.

The protection relay is also on this board and it could
also be the culprit - dirty contacts.

I doubt that it would be the outputs, transistors die or
maybe get leaky but rarely heal themselves.

And no, at the moment I cannot get the amp to him, and he really likes to work on Yamaha's. He is a good guy with a great deal of experience.