sansui 500a

I’m getting some abandoned projects out the door. This is a big one: a Sansui 500A combination vacuum-tube amplifier and receiver. THIS HAS BEEN CLAIMED.

Sansui 500a

It’s collectable, it’s audiophile, all that. Unrebuilt but in good condition – like this one, which is all-original – these seem to go for about $150-180ish plus $100ish shipping. I got it for a lot less because nobody cared at the time. So if you are a fan, promise you mean to rebuild it, and can pick it up, I will give it to you, because I hate seeing things like this go to waste.

Last I fiddled with it (which was, um, six or seven years ago? Aheh) it actually powered up and tested pretty okay. BUT: those large-can capacitors are well past end of life and should be replaced before trying again. SERIOUSLY, THESE ANCIENT CAPS CAN EXPLODE, so re-cap it before powering it up. Also, any smaller electrolytic caps should get the same treatment.

It would make a really good first serious tube restoration project for somebody, particularly since I’m including an aftermarket service manual. It’s in very good cosmetic shape, as you can see. They have a really good reputation as project amps on Audiokarma, too – generally considered well worth restoring for personal use.

Smooth as a new doorknob

Also, honestly – you want to know how people could listen to AM radio? Listen to it on a machine actually built for that sometime, and meaning it. I do this demonstration occasionally, on vintage kit I’ve rebuilt, and people go, “…that’s radio? That’s AM radio?!” AM only sounds like garbage because nobody bothers making decent AM kit.

Perfect for KIXI

But for most purposes, it’d be a really nice serious starter vacuum tube project and amplifier for somebody. It has phono input, general-AUX input, and a tape monitor input, so you have some options. It’s not a small project, but it’s not a particularly brutal one, either, and – from all reports – well worth it.

I can say from my memory of tests that it had a really nice sound to it, even unrestored.

Many inputs!

I WILL NOT SHIP THIS. If a bunch of people want it, I’ll pick at random. Otherwise, I’ll… eBay it, I guess. There’s a vacuum tube community out there; someone will want it.

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