I have 70's Yamaha CR820, Marantz 2230 and Sansui 2000x and Sansui is my favourite. It's like hearing all songs you already knew for the first time again. It presents music in such unique way. I love it. Now I'm saving for Sansui 881 or 8080 or Eight.. something higher end.

Go a little further in time and higher in receivers' range....In the late '70's, I had Bose 901 Series II speakers, which make big sound and can be driven by as few as 15 watts. My friend had the same speakers but drove them with a Macintosh 1700 receiver, rated at about 50 WPC. I had a Pioneer sx780 receiver rated at 45 WPC. After first hearing my Pioneer with the Bose, my friend said, "It sounds better than my Mac." I thought the sound each receiver was about equal. The 780 had a secret weapon: when the music demanded it, for a few seconds the power would automatically double to 90 to 100 WPC. If you don't believe that feature exists, look at the fine print in the Pioneer's owner manual. The sx780 is one of the most underrated receivers of the era. Buying a good working Mac 1700 receiver on EBAY now will cost around $1,000 or more US dollars. An sx780 will cost anywhere from $200 to $400. The better cost effective buy is the Pioneer.

The Sansui has half the wattage or less. Ive owned 100s of pieces. Sansui is my favorite. The 7000 receiver from the early 70s is the best receiver ive ever owned. Its the cousin to the Sansui Eight.

I love my Sansui 9090db. I found one at a auction dusty for $2. Pure Heaven. 🎼 🎵 🎵 🎵 🔊 🎤 💒 ☝ totally open my eyes for the first time in my life or what good music really was

It's not easy to talk about music and how you feel / hear it. You do it very well ! Thank you !

I have a Sansui 551, Sweet well balanced sound, what a little beast. Besides rated at 16W it sounds like it has twice the power of a 2005 Receiver rated at 110W per channel.

I just picked up a Marantz 2325 and Im amazed with the sound. I have newer stuff.. yamaha, adcom, and I couldnt be more pleased with the 1970's era Marantz. I also have a Harmon Kardon 430 which also sounds so very sweet. Im running a set of Magnepan .7's with a sub on the Marantz 2325 right now and its like velvet to the ears.

First time viewer. Great review. I love your descriptions of each amps characteristics. Thanks man.

I hope your channel takes off and brings you loads of quids. I want to see a whole stack of amps on that table. You have a great way of talking about them.

I have the three brands and they are similar, but have their "sonic signatures". Hard to quantify, but in a nutshell as follows. Marantz > More lower end, big fat sound, a lot like the effect of when you push the loudness button on a receiver. A "house" sound as some call it, full bodied, not as detailed as others but still no slouch. Pioneer > Nice mid range, a little brighter and not as much bass, but still good. Sansui > Smooth all around and less listener fatigue. Love it on complicated Jazz & Rock genres, he is spot on. Let's face it, some like a lot of bass, or loud sounds or high end sounds, others do not. It's a personal choice. And remember, sound frequency is from 20hz to 20Khz and the amplification of that has already been perfected back in the 1960's -1970's.

Good review for different 3 brands with different characters and basic sound at varies sound range.....so good to know vintage amplifier sound base.....great job, pls keep up the good work n await to watch your next video🙏👍👍😊

In the early 70s I had KLH 17s with a 17 wpc Sherwood receiver. This setup was MUCH more dynamic than my later more expensive system with Large Advents and SAE separates. The test was the first note of Kachti's Fire Dance from Stravinski's The Firebird Suite. I'm a nervous guy and the first five or six times I played it, it really startled me, like a hammer blow, through the Sherwood. I used to get nervous when I knew it was approaching but wasn't sure when. On the SAE/Advents it was no big deal.

All the 70´s Marantz gear are voiced with a rolled off treble, making them appear more gutsy and powerful . Really important in the 70´s listening rooms at the sellers. I had two differnet mid tier Marantz recievers and couldent really get what the fuss was all about For the real thing I would strongly recommend Akai , Hitachi and Nakamichi 70´s gear , they are as neutral as it gets for the 70´s and these are very musical with a hint of warmth making them match with just about any speaker,even modern ones. The prices for second hand Akais are rising each year ... Even though the Sansui AU-series (Black face) cant be beat. Its a very different beast. Vast soundstage coupled with sugery texture, the one you cant stop listening too. Totally worth the high second hand prices asked for. (Very high)

Yes. Sansui again. First day Our top Sansui came to the House after check-in after purchase We just Said Wow. Smiled and agreed it would never leave. With larger Focal speaker Its the world

I have just restored a Pioneer SA7500 and a 8800ii. These amps put out a big sound with a solid bass. I upgraded the loudness controls by going up a level in the silicon caps.

Sansui is still my favorite

Had a Marantz 2270 for many years.....still have my Sansui 5000X. The Sansui sounds better.....hands down

It appears many of the replies on this video did not understand what Stereo X was attempting to review. The video was not comparing the over all merits of the three amps rather he was explaining the difference in sound that various amps will give when coupled to a certain speaker and in that he did an excellent job. Change the speaker and get a different outcome

Love my Sansui 8080! Glad you're a fan as well.

Great review and you’re absolutely right with regards to the Sansui. I just got the Sansui 5050 and it’s dynamic, clean clear sound, musical and well balance. Love it!!1

I will try Sansui, thanks and regards.

Used to service these in the 1980's for a living. Used to measure the distortion, noise floor, S/N ratio, and frequency response. The amplifiers are pretty indistinguishable in the upper end models with discreet transistors. Those that used the amplifier modules, were a little higher in noise, and THD. The tuners varied widely. Different manufactures used different IF filters. Some used inexpensive ceramic filters with sharp cutoff. Others used a tuned IF with a softer cut off. After the IF, the notch filter for the 19KHZ stereo pilot affected the ability to reproduce audio above 12KHZ, as some rolled off considerably, while other higher order filters, rolled off sharply above 16 or 17 KHZ. I don't remember which ones were which much anymore. I did like the Marantz, Sansui, and upper end Kenwood receivers. I am not a fan of the Pioneer in comparison.

Hi I’m watching this video in 2024 4 years later & is crazy how expensive on eBay vintage amplifiers & vintage speakers have gone up in prices, I’m hoping to build up a vintage hifi, anyway all your videos are great I’m learning a lot from them thanks.

I have the same type of collection. I generally agree with your observations. I would describe the Marantz sound as punchy, Pioneer as an articulate high end and Sansui as warm across all frequencies.

The way you talk and explain facts and problems a few teachers might could learn from you how to do.

Fabulous review !! Thank you °°

I concur about the Sansui amp recievers. I own a 551 that was my first Amp in 1976. I still have the little beast. They are made so well and present well night or day. The large electronic retailer in our area in the day, American TV and Furniture had a large electronic repair shop. Out of all the amps the repair techs had to choose from they had a Sansui 551 powering their radio/music all day. That was a great endorsement for Sansui components. I asked a tech behind the counter once why they use that Sansui amp ? He said because they are solid tough mechanical sound recievers. Mine has been rocking for 48 years with nothing to replace, but a fuse. Thank you for your insightful review ! Cheers !

I have the same headphones...love them! A lot of sound for the money.

Love the relaxed, natural way, you talk about these great vintage pieces.

Great vid Kelvin ive just picked up a Pionner sx 636 receiver, very nice receiver, it has a few problems, static on selector and volume control, also two central bulbs are out. Having listed the bad vaults the sound is wonderful on the phono section. Turntable is Ariston RD 11s with infinity black widow tonearm and your recommendation an Ortofon cartridge (VMS30MK11) Speakers are a 1969 matched pair Mordaunt Short MS 400. I will be cleaning all contacts on the Pioneer and replacing the dreadful speaker terminals with Banana Sockets and replace the RCA sockets with gold plated RCA's. The Sansui 441 is my favorite amp especially with Jazz, you have rekindled my interest with vintage audio keep up the great work. I have a few cleaning tips for vintage gear be glad to pass them on, Regards Anthony.

Excellent review! Thanks.

would love that an Onkyo TX-2500 was there... Nice video as always.

I own a vintage Marantz 2226 receiver and a vintage Pioneer SX1250 receiver. On the look out for a Sansui. Anyway comparing both my vintage receivers with everything else equal the Marantz sounds very good but the Pioneer sounds great to my ears and is more dynamic, exciting and just sounds right. I have also had a number of modern amps over the years and the Pioneer so far has been the best of the bunch. So if I had to take a choice between them I’d go with the Pioneer.

I’ve had all the receivers shown. I totally agree with your assessment. I think the Sansui separates were even better. I had a Sansui AU999. I loved everything about that amp. Out of all my gear left my fav is my David Hafler. Accurate and stone quiet without an incoming signal. Great vid.

What a nice review of you . i appreciate of it !!!

I just had my dads Sansui AU9500 fully restored and am amazed at how good a powerful a nearly 50 year old integrated can be. It had no problem powering my Sonus Faber Sonetto iii’s to ear shattering levels.

He's...entitled to his own opinion. Like a previous comment or noticed/observed, this year is 40/plus years old, so, unless each piece has been *completely* refurbished, it's...well...how much/little have these receivers depreciated in quality. Pioneer, Sansui & Marantz(along with Kenwood & a few others)all made good "mid-to-upper consumer grade components". Not "Audiophile", but we'll above a lot of the crap that was out at the time.

I hope you continue with your beautiful work. I can enjoy it!

Marantz is like soft-ice with extra cream on top. Tastes delicious but you can't clearly say if it's strawberry or blueberry. Sansui is like clear, ice. Made of pure water with delicious defined smelling.

The silver face face off. My first exposure to hi fi is my dad’s Pioneer. Tortured day and night with Bowie, Clash, Rush, etc. as far as I can remember, the SX650 is is good with hi and low end, lacks in the mids department. I got a Marantz 2352B in 2010 and quite like it. It is very good with classical and opera. I have a Sansui silver and black perspex face (idk the #) that I still need to hook up

Really awesome content!! Just wondering do you know about technics SA-5460 , I just got that but I would like to know more details because I don’t know much about Hi-fi yet . Thank you.

Fantastic! thanks bud!

beautiful system sir!!!!!

I grew up in the 70’s and have heard a lot of different receivers, and I’ve owned Sony, Pioneer and most recently Marantz. I’m no expert but I think the Pioneer sounded best. Wish I still had it. Thank you for the video.

Had 'em both. A Sansui AU-700/TU-700 then got a Marantz 4 channel. Miss them both.

Curious if you have ever compared some vintage Onkyo equipment and how that paired up against the others?

It was characteristic for amps and receivers to get brighter (and edgier) from the mid 70s into the late 70s. The Marantz is no exception and your 2238 was from the late 70s where as the Pioneer was about 1976 and the Sansui about 1973. The reason for this is -- greater use of ICs throughout especially the phone stage -- application of too much global feed back which was done to improve paper specs but it also makes the amp sound harsher and more brittle. Check out the earlier Marantz receivers with the aqua blue displays. They sounded a lot smoother like the Sansui (they didn't spec out as well) and they had no where near as many ICs. Also the late 70s Sansui (the G series was a bit bright and edgy as well) though not as much as Marantz or late 70s pioneer. A friend had an Pioneer SA8500 II integrated. Great bass but too harsh and edgy and that caused listener fatigue so he parted company quick. Yet the early SA8500 Mk 1 was so much sweeter.

Picked up a 1978 Rotel Amp the other day. Would not have been my first choice but I was surprised by the sound quality.

My first stereo was a Pioneer SA-510. So Pioneer is it for me (nostalgia). Mine are not as old as these, but I did end up getting a Pioneer sa-5800 and a Pioneer sx-d7000. The 7000 is used with Vandersteen model 2's and every time I play some records, I get that wonderful feeling of nostalgia. I have a high end Surround sound system for TV. It is not bad, but it cannot match the warm and distinct sound of the d7000

Great comparison

Well if this wasnt what i needed to hear, thank you! I just got hands on a Marantz 2220b and i love the sound. Its so good and crisp while having an incredibly defined and powerful bottom end. Much more bass than my a757 Pioneer. But since im dealing with tinnitus, this harshness you mention, had been beginning to bug me. I think ive also just played too loud since ive got it but im definitely not able to have hours long listening session without an increase in the tinnitus. I iam now in search of a Sansui that hopefully gets me better sound than my a757 but less harshness compared to the Marantz. Let this also be a testament to bass of Pioneer vs Marantz products. My Bose 601 III DOES bass. But not on that Pioneer, even turned all the way up it definitely felt lacking in the bass depth even if it was able to fill out the room. The 2220B has more bass with no change to balance than the a757 do full bass on the tone control. Thats 20W vs 100W, i did not see that coming.

I have a nice Pioneer receiver SX-737 and also a Nikko NR-815..Not my main units, but my den and pc room stereos. I LOVE the Pioneer and use it regularly, but when I turn on the Nikko ( and I have tried the same wharfedale and B&W speakers/rooms/position with them both) and the Nikko just sounds more open and detailed. Both are in very good condition and I'm keeping them both, just pointing out that people pass Nikko by and they really made some great units !! Build quality on this series of Nikko was also great.

Yes i like all 3 brands. Harmon Kardon also.

THANKS KELVIN, MUCH APPRECIATED FOR SHARING THIS WITH All 🤗👍💚💚💚

Sansui is the most natural and hones tight sound!

Aged caps play a roll in the quality of sound due to the age of the receivers. Some of the same name receivers with different models sounds a world apart on overall sound. For example I have a marantz 2500, 2252b side by side and the 2252b sounds better but the 2500 is stronger in power. That being said tho the units in the video for what they are correctly described in my opinion.

SANSUI! BRAVO!

So, I take your advice and get a cheap little Sansui off eBay. HOLY SHIT! It totally crushes my modern tube amp! It's just more musical and smooth! I am flabbergasted!

I have this Sansui 441 and it's sounds superb with only 11w connected with my advents prodigy towers sounds very very cristaline and clear. I love it. I compared with my others receivers such as Marantz 2225L , Marantz 4300 and Onkyo a-7050 and all of them sounds different. In my oppinion, Marantz has got a darker, concentrated and punchy sound (I love it). As I said... Sansui has got a cristaline treble and Onkyo is very soft in all frequencies. It's my oppinion. Thank you very much! Great channel!

Good analysis, I completely agree

I had a Yamaha CR 1020. We may be reunited soon, I'm hoping.

In the year 2001 I brought one Sansui HT1000 Amp with dolby pro logic surround decoding only cost that time's 121 dollars, came with 5 speakers and a double phase auto standby active subwoofer, the amp has no speaker distance setting, only center and rear volume controls, which could do fine calibration of more than 20 soundstage in room size from 3 meters to 15 meters size room its sound and soundstage is perfect. I never got tired listening to any sort of sound or music in that sansui amp, never repaired but from 3 year ago it's rear channels started cutting off so I brought one Sony's dolby digital pro logic 2 dts amp all the modern controls but still it could not give that quality of sansui.

That marantz has just thesame sound as my marantz cd63 player, may not so spatial but has more punch/vibration, you can feel it

I've always liked the Pioneer stuff. I have my dad's SX1000 receiver and now I have my own SX1500 with JBL Decade 36 speakers on the A set and Small Advents on the B. Both pairs sound great but sound much different at the twist of a knob.

I'll fix my earphones since start your explanation until the end I'll wait to hear the difference of sounds of these three big audio equipment..

Excellent review!

Great video. Thanks. Sansui is amazing vintage gear. I agree with you about everything.

I love the Marantz sound.

Marantz 2238 and Sansui 441, not comparable powerwise, the nearest competition for that 2238 is the Sansui 771. I agree Sansui won hands down 👍

I own a Sansu G5000 and an earlier model 4000 and I agree with you 100 percent. A receiver you can listen to all day. I also have Denon AWR-7200WA which is great for Surround and Atmos movies, but doesn't touch the Sansui for playing Vinyl and analog. These days, you need two receivers - One vintage and one for Audio/Video. NOTE: The G5000 has two Tape Deck in and outputs and looks better then the 4000, however, although the 4000 is a few years older it has a slight edge over the G5000 in sound quality.

I have the sx 1250 a technics sx 1000 and a realistic str 2000 and I personally think the realistic is a great full bodied sound especially with classic rock. But I think the technics is the king of my collection. I run it with cerwin vega D9 and D5 and it is very clean and not overly boomy bass with well placed mids

I love marantz ,love pioneer and love sansui to my soul ,but between this 3 if u asked me which one was more beautiful listening, and musical sansui all the way every day.

“Let me describe tight bass, it’s loose” lol 😂

I experience tell me to take a higher end Pioneer . . . not the 537 but the SX-950 one of the best amps sold in the 1970 and still one of best today . . .

Thank you gor this video. Brawo!!! I have two pair of speakers. Yamaha ns 690 III and JBL 4311A. I want to buy Sansui 6060. What do you think about this mech? I heard it on AR 18 and it was fantastic. I don t know is it good choice for Yamaha or JBL. My Crimson 620 is too dark and i m not happy with it. Hope you ll help me with your advice! Best regards

I had a lovely old Yamaha receiver from about 1975 which to my ears was just about perfect. It continued to work hard for decades until my cat violently vomited his grassballs into the top vent at the rear. Try as I might to get somebody to repair it (it just stopped working full stop) I can't, but I wont let it go to the dump until I've tried a hundred experts. The sound was superbly balanced, not bright or boomy, and very refined.

That was a helpful video mate. I recently heard the Marantz 1250 and was wowed by its sound stage. Any idea about the DAC chips being used in these vintage amp/Rx ? I'm looking to buy a modern Marantz Rx/Network player with a similar sound signature sound stage. I think the DAC has a lot to do with it. Plz correct me if I'm wrong here. Cheerio

I wish there were as many hi-fi shops now, as there were back in the 70s. Would love to own a great condition 70s Sansui receiver, mid level model. Ebay is hit and miss, and risky. They were always out of reach when I was a teenager in the 70s, and today they still are!!

Wish you would have included something from Sony of that era. Sansui and Sony have my favorite tone.

I have a Marantz 2245, and a 2253b receiver, and a 1030 integrated amplifier, as well as a couple of the lesser desirable SR, and MR series receivers made later in the 80s. I swear by my earlier 70s vintage Marantz units, and think they sound better than anything I've ever heard. I did own a few Sansui receivers, and didn't think they sounded as good as my Marantz receivers. They sounded more like a Harman Kardon 5.1 home theater receiver I bought in the early 2000s. Not as detailed as early Marantzes. I only have 1 Sansui left, an integrated amplifier an AU-D77X, that needs to recapped, but when I was using it, that also had a similar sound to the newer HK. Sound is all relative, and subject to opinion, and I'm sure all our ears, to some degree, will differ, as everyone will have their own opinion. As for me, my ears are biased, and loyal, and I will stick with my Marantz units over any Sansui, Pioneer, Kenwood, Rotel, Nikko, Realistic, Tandberg, etc.

1964 Marantz acquired by Superscope Inc. 1966 Beginning with the Model 25, and then 22 and 28, Marantz starts manufacturing its products in Japan through a partnership with Standard Radio Corp. A ' B ' was added to the end of the model number.

Nothing beats a Marantz...For the sound! as well as the resale value.

Hello, I'm just starting out to build my setup and decided to go for a vintage reciever. What you have said about sansui amps caught my atention. Do you have experience with the Sansui 350a, if so what are your thoughts and if not, can you list some good budget models?

great video thanks tks. I have an old Pioneer KX404 stereo receiver/amp in the attic. Would love to know what it is worth.

Very good shootout

It’s a difficult one. Yes they have different sounds, but it’s 40 year old equipment. Unless they have been completely refurbished, your really just assessing how well the capacitors have deteriorated / not deteriorated.

I appreciate your comments ant taste I was just wondering if you have heard the Sansui AS-100. Possibly the best speakers sbsui ever made. I have a month pair

Just bought a Sansui 9090 on Ebay. Just extraordinary. So much better and "warmer" than my NAD 7275PE. Less "shouty". Some coloration in the bass I think but so many knobs to twiddle everything can adjusted for. Playing through Rogers LS7s. Doesn't get any better. Living Stereo CDs sound incredible. My son asked me if it had a CD input (am using AUX). I told him this was built well before CD was invented!!!

I am 68 years old, I have been a professional musician most of my life…🎶🙏🏻 in 1976 I went to work for a high-end stereo shop that also sold all formats of music vinyl ,cassettes , 8 tracks…! And I honestly cannot name that a company we did not sell …? We sold Harman Karden ,Duel,Sansui,Kenwood,pioneer,JBL,Akai, Boze,Toshiba, AR, you name it , we sold it….! .It gave me a chance over my five years of being in the music store to sample just about every major high-end stereo equipment Manufacture that was on the market ….., at least that I could afford….! I’m not going to name all the systems I have right now I did just pick up a early 70s Marantz stereo receiver, a Forty Forty model 22 and like Most All Marantz it did Not Work..! I repaired it last night…! I do not know what the Mystique is about Marantz…..???? They do have colorful tone controls..( When they are not in the Shop ) …🙄 My Three favorite are #1( Sansui 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 always dependable never been in the shop “any of them” and sound fantastic ) ( #2 Kenwood 🎶👏🏻 well designed sturdy and relatively dependable, of course they sound great also ) ( #3 Macintosh…! Macintosh are kind of like a commercial stereo power amplifier of course they do sell commercial versions I have sold these also…! The old tube Mac’s are wonderful…❤️❤️❤️ highly overrated and not as dependable as people think….! But still more Mystique and a “ better designed Amplifier Than Marantz will ever dream to be……! Just my Humble opinion….🙏🏻. ( The Jeff Galey Channel )

Nice review! Maybe you can look up the newprice of the amps and correct it to todays money? That way you get a better comparison in my opinion.

Hi Sir, your channel is very interesting, congratulations. How would you compare a sansui eight deluxe or a marantz 2270, which in your opinion is better? Thank you

I think it also depends on what speakers you mate the amp with. The same speakers can sound quite different depending on the amp. I have my Marantz 2325 running through KLH Model 5s

You hit the nail on the head good review l agree totally. At the end was funny l want to turn this off😂😂 been there done that thx

Re;Marantz stick to low power amps...2225/2230 & yes definitely the blue bulbs just for the looks! The higher power through the marantz lines the more bass dominant they are. Low power amps are much more subtle & detailed. Of course just mho!

Ye p. That's the classic rap on these three. Pioneer has always had a rep for brightness compared to the other brands, Sansui a rep for smoothness, and Marantz for a big sound.

All 3 have different sound,but my favorite is the pioneer,pioneer is my choice and I have several receivers and pioneer is king of receivers.

SANSUI is sweet balance

I can't wait for those dumb lockdowns to be over. I want to go amp and speaker hunting at the local thriftshops here. Get myself a second stereo set. A real 70's vintage one.

try this combo and you will be amazed, sansui amp + pioneer HPM speakers, nothing beats this, you would love the very perfect sound, any song will do, but to test the ability, try the song Earthquake by flirtations, and you won't stop listening over and over again.

Good review mate. Yeah?