Kelvin is back! A pint and an afternoon of listening! cheers!

That smooth "trailed off" top end of the NAD 3020 is partially the result of the filters used when the jumpers in the back are in the "normal" setting. Switch the jumpers to the "lab" setting and it bypasses the filters. The sound is more airy and extended but also a bit etched so many folks prefer the normal setting which gives a smoother and slightly softer sound.

I started my journey with a nad amp and jpw speakers from richer sounds £150 set up

Kelvin, you describe sound in a very philosophic way. The words , sometimes it sounds like a music to me. love your videos, thank you.

A de lux video on vintage integrated amplifiers ❤🎉 Thanks a bunch Kevin.

I have the Sansui 771 and its very listenable and looks beautiful.

I have a 2220B and that midrange button is really essential to tame that edginess that I also hear, although a pair of NHT SuperOnes makes a nice match for smoothing. I also have a 2270 that does seem a good bit smoother. The 2220B seems spunkier. My Pioneer SX737 is in between; certainly not razor sharp, but nice and full and easy to listen to. I'll bet Kelvin would like it. Hard to tell is a 50 year amp is actually sounding like it's "supposed to", though.

I believe Tandberg made some interesting amps (and Tape Decks) back in the late 60's & early 70's. My very first speakers were a pair of Tandberg bookshelf speakers. The cabinets were made of teak wood, very efficient and warm sounding. Sounded great with my old 30w/ch Kenwood receiver.

If I was going to a desert island, I'd take one of the tuner amps.....at least I could listen to the radio😄 I'd take the Marantz, reliable, solid, sit back and enjoy the sound, the looks and the lighting.

I bought a Sansui 881 because of you best sound I have ever heard Thanks 🙏

I have the Sonab, it's very civilised. Beautiful too in its design and all-metal chasis. I first saw one in an episode of The Professionals where our two heroes Bodie and Doyle were prowling around some millionaire's mansion and it was the bedroom stereo.

The two best integrated amps that I've owned from the 1970s are the Pioneer SA9100, and the Luxman L100. The Pioneer, was their fully loaded, top end 60 watt version integrated amp, a real beauty in every respect! Bought it new the year it came out, after reading a rave review in Rolling Stone Magazine. It needs servicing but I still have it. It mated nicely with my large JBL s99 14 inch speakers. That Luxman came out in 1975 for Luxman's 50th Anniversary🎉, designed by Tim de Paravicini, and again was their top of the line, fully loaded monster, very conservatively rated at 110 Watts. It's a most versatile, refined beast, that I bought used in 1994, and have thoroughly enjoyed, virtually every day since. What an exciting era for audio! And for music!! Good times.. 👍 🥳

Oh, my god. The Sony TA 1010 was my first Stereo-Amp, together with a TT Pioneer PL 12 D. Nice, to see the TA 1010 again. Thank you.

Another knock out review thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and opinions when I’m having a bad day you keep me keeping on Kelvin thank you

Thanks Kelvin. Love your channel.

The NAD 3020 wasn't just used domestically, a lot of PA and sound systems utilised it as a pre-amp for it's smoother top end and deep, controlled bass. I believe it was also the single biggest selling piece of hifi equipment, ever. Nice one Kelvin, look forward to your next instalment. Cheers mate.

Many thanks Kelvin- brilliant topic, and I haven't even seen it yet!

Great to see you back doing videos again Kelvin! You inspired me early on, well done!

Another great video, I love those 70's amps, well done👍

Brilliant description of Jacob Jensen. And yes, the first thing he always did every morning, was to look at one of his designs to get "a clear view of it".

Another really interesting and fun review. Thanks Kelvin.

Thanks Kelvin, loved it.

Hey Kelvin thanks for your review I have the Marantz 2265 B fully restored very satisfied.

Finally caught up to this late. Great fun! Love these kinds of videos.

Great analysis! You are great!

That was epic.

Kelvin, thanks for sharing. It's nice to hear what you've learned about the hi-fi gear that you shai here with us. This is fun stuff. 👍

Hi Kevin, you inspired me to look for vintage staff and now I have some NADs and Sansuis. As now 317 is my favorite. Thank you and take care!

Excellent review and comparison 👍💯👍

Great to hear your thoughts on these amps, Kelvin. I have both the Sansui 221 and the Sansui AU-317 in my office and I interchange them for variation, I tend to agree with you on the AU-317, it has more space and detail than the 221 but it still has a really grippy, beefy bass. The 221 is super smooth - like syrup - but lacks a little bit of the detail. Still a lovely little receiver though and a steal for under £100 if you can find one. In my big room I use my Sansui 7000 from around 1970, which replaced the AU-317 in that room. It's powerful, deep and dynamic and you can listen to it all day, just a fabulous thing. I think it was one of the last of the Cap Coupled design Sansui did.

Hi, Kelvin. I've bought receiver Sansui-551 one year ago after Your recommendation. I am happy completely with its charming sound. Thank You.

Thanks for gathering up your collection and sharing them with us! You do such a great job of describing the sound of a piece of gear in a way that just makes sense. I have a Marantz 2252B and it is not what I would call smooth. It moves a TON of current and makes bass big and immediate, and you are right, it is a touch edgy. But the blue glow Kelvin... The blue glow makes everything so much more enjoyable!

I totally agree with you on the Marantz. I have a restored 2230 with a new black faceplate and new bulbs, absolutely gorgeous! Sound is not bad, but my Pioneer SX 737 sounds much better. My favourite sounding vintage receiver, all 25 watts, is probably like your NAD, in a class by itself. The Harmon Kardon 440 twin. It is sweet and so tonally beautiful. As close as I’ve seen to a tube amp.

Your back GREAT. cheers man.

Lovely old receivers - I have a sansui g9000 - absolutely over the top and much more power than I’ll ever need - the pots and switches make a bit of noise now and then but I’ll never get rid of it - I listen to it everyday with pleasure.

NAD is the best!No matter what you will listen!

That was the best one yet loved it 😊

i really enjoy your reviews .. so down to earth... funny, i;m 70 and grew up with most of these products..Kevin i;m still at it ..watching from connecticut ..USA.

Thank your for this ambitious endeavour!

Always a pleasure! Yes B&O is elegant, well described. Their cd players with the sliding doors were the sexiest on the planet and have aged well design wise. No idea how they sound but Im sure the have great electronics.

Settled on a Sansui AU-999 now, absolutely gorgeous with mods.

Interesting as ever! Astonishing coincidence, but the day after watching this I saw a Sansui AU117 which I believe is from 1977 in the window of a small electrical shop, so I obviously had to buy it. It is not as if I have enough amplifiers already after all. I have put it in my 'office system' where it drives a pair of 1970s Videoton Minimaxes. It replaced a relatively modern Cambridge amp- night and day difference, so much more oomph and really suited to the speakers. It claims to be 15 watts, the Cambridge was 40. All I can say is Sansui watts are bigger!Thanks Kelvin!

Sony str 6055 l have at home. It’s solid and sounds great. £100 So I am sticking with it until I find something else in my price range. Now I am happy with it I am loathe to change it.

One thing you haven't taken into consideration is component degradation. In my experiene Sansui's strength is quality caps (Nichicon and Elna) and good design regarding heat transfer. So if you take another Japanese from the same era, most of their caps have propably gone bad. Case in point, I have a fully recapped Yamaha CR-820 here that sounds as good as my Sansui AU-317. In fact its simpler phono preamp sounds better with vintage Shure cartridge (v15 type III). All of its caps on the tone control board were cooked, as they are situated above driver transistors, the hottest place of the receiver. At the moment, recapped, it's my choice for the desert island!

Kelvin is great to watch great knowledge

hi kelvin i bought my sansui au 317ii amp together with a dual 506 t/t and a pair of heybrook HB3 speakers back in 1978 when i was living in walsall. i saved hard for a year paid in total 710 pounds.everybody was after my speakers which cost the most but i kept everything and still got them today.

Thanks for uploading- appreciate the effort

Just a great video concept and execution

Great info on some brands I’ve never even heard of. And that’s quite an accomplishment! In my massive vtg. Components collection, my favorites are the Marantz model 1120 integrated. Made in USA! I use the pre - amp out to a Marantz model 140 power amp. Superb 3 dimensional sound plus plenty of bass even for the most serious bass heads. Eventually to a pair of late 60’s early 70’s Dynaco A 50 loudspeakers!!

Gotta love this channel!

I didn't know NAD was once based in the UK. Their headquarters is 20 minutes down the road from me here in 🇨🇦. Always wanted to hear a Sugden A48 or a A21, they're not too popular over hear. Great video as always!

Hello Kevin,I would like to thank you for your efforts doing this nice presentation. Maybe in some point I would become a reviewer also. I am here because I am a Sansui fan. While teenager, experienced the Sansui AU-717 of a friend of mine who the father use to be a longhaul Airline Captain, like me now. And this explain why this guy had that huge refined amp in southamerica in the 80’s. I became astonished with the amount of good sound produced, and never would forget the nice time discovering. Long time after, in the 2000’s I had the opportunity to grab a Sansui myself, and it was the AU-G99X 160WPC 0.003THD at 20-20.000hz SN 110db line, very fast in transitions (Slew rate of 200V/uS) beast in power and refinement. Now I have two of them as well as the Au-317 recently preamp recapped, and I love it, sound exactally as you say, Au-717, 9090, Eight and the 800 and the piece junk that is the A-1100P. Kenwood Model 9G, surprisingly awesome, KR-4600, KR-8010, KR-7050 Pioneer SX-34B, Onkyo (2)TX-4500 not mark II(bargain in US), Sony STR V3. To resume Receiver reception are Kenwood’s. Amps are the Sansuis, Even the 90’s are very good, except for the cheapest lines that are excessively colored plastic with sliding controls, they are junk. There are no limits for Sansui’s good engineering, but they are limited in market now, and the prices reflect this. That is the advise for the enthusiasts like me and you. Thank’s again and Cheers!

I have a collection of vintage which includes two Sansui’s, McIntosh, Fisher and Concept. I had the Marantz 2325 and it’s sound to me was the least desirable. Compared to all the others I knew I would not want to listen to it. Although it was the most beautiful of all the pieces, I sold it. Just did not prefer it’s sound. But what a beauty!

Hi Kelvin! another great review 👏

You Da Man Kelvin.

Another great video thank you

The best amp I think I had from the 70’s was the Armstrong 625/626. Also, the industrial design was excellent. Good review. That looks like a lot of work.

love your channel!!

thanks a lot . still have a AU317 mark 2 .I have later amps but keep coming back to this one. Do find time we need good input on vintage Hi Fi.😁

I've got a Sony SR 6055 powering My Sony 5520 turntable & I'm very happy with the sound 🙌

THANKS for another one .....

Super test and super video. You’ve a great collection. Obviously the amps on comparison here are from the 70s and early 80s. Are you going to do an 80s to 90s test? Ha ! Did you ever manage to hear any Michell amps of the 80s? The Argo pre and Alecto power amps seriously shifted the audio landscape. British designed AND built. Tom Evans and Graham Fowler are UK Hifi heroes. They then formed their own companies with great success. Tom Evans audio design and Trichord. If you’ve never heard an Argo pre amp then do yourself favour. Different level of transparency and naturalness which maintained the UK excellence in the Hifi world. Cheers

Fantastic, very informative

Re the Sugden, i am not surprised that it is not working. The first one that i had on my bench i got a shock with, not an electical one but at the low quality components that they had used, very old 10% carbon resistors and capacitors that were leaking probably before it was assembled. Yet once i had rebuilt it with better components it did sound good but suffered from a high noise floor the constant hiss on quite parts in the music was not what i could tollerate for long. But the customer was happy to get it back. Not all gear from the 70's or early 80's was good yet because the Hi-Fi magazines raved about it they sold in large numbers.

Thanks Kelvin❤,microfone You use in the past was better.i love you voice and i thing i loose something.where is the wax lamp ??😂

Hey Kelvin! nice speech about vintage amps, never seen the JES and the SONAB, very interesting about these, i would say that about the japanese onese i found many Mitshubishi vintage, very nice sounding, not all are a beauty but always different and interesting stuff

I have a Pioneer SX-780, 40 watts per channel. The CPU’s are 50 watts. The receivers had to pass a run test for distortion, heat, and at a certain power level. The Pioneers are therefore underrated in their output wattage.

Great video i am enjoy very much !!👌🏆

You're back! I thought you'd died of the jibby jabby!

If you are anywhere near the South Coast...? I can sort out the A48. Engineer for 40+ years. Fascinating as usual. I agree with a lot of your appraisals. You mentioned the 405 v 303. I can't understand how anyone likes the 405, so disappointing and well,, boring. The 303 always wonderful. PS been in the industry since the 80s and was around when the NAD, 217,317 etc were released. I remember the excitement well.

The NAD 3020 is about as British as Fu Manchu! It was designed by Bjørn Erik Edvardsen of Norway and built by Fulet/ Proton in Taiwan. Nothing British about it at all. It was distributed by HiFi Markets in the UK.

I started with a Luxman R-1040. Replaced it after 3 months with a Sansui Au-919 and never looked back. 🤗

How wonderful! And it comes to us for free

another goldy x9, thanks Kevin

Just wondering why an Onkyo receiver wasn’t included in your review. Onkyo always built a high quality, attractive, very well respected product. I own an early ‘70’s, TX7000, 90 watts per side model, which replaced a Pioneer receiver. Excellent dynamic amplifier, exceptional digital tuner, and a beautiful piece to own. Keep up the good work!

As an English man living in Canada, hearing your description of amplifiers with plenty of "welly" would be lost over here... but not on me! Music to my ears, I hope you continue your riveting reviews and the Sugden has half a day at the repair shop and not the undertakers, thanks

Nice bit of information. Every Sansui in the xx1 series sound elegant. Pioneer SX series start at 850 and above. The smaller ones don't have the same sound qualities. We need another shootout.

Great review Kelvin .I got the Sudgen @ the Sansui ; Prefer the Sugden. A amp I really like from the 1970's is the Luxman SQ 507 X .I think it's the best although it's real close

The old tube amps worked real well with the massive horn loaded speakers like klipsch cornwall, or altecs, but horns have their drawbacks too, usually require a large space. Although these combinations predate 70's solid state.

Can’t beat sansui and vintage jbl 😊

The Pioneer Elite M10x power amp from the late 90s is worth checking out if you can find it used. You'll be suprised how good it sounds.

I'm really surprised your review did not include what was one of the most highly marketed amps in Britain back in the 70's from a Company brought into existence by one of our most popular and respected business leaders; indeed, someone who is still seen regularly on national tv to this day ............... the astounding Amstrad Integra 4000 mkii 😉

Hey Kelvin - Chip from USA checking in. Picked up the Sansui 771 recently after your Sansui (1) series videos. I will try the 331 because of the passion that I have been seeing from you for a long time. I sold my Sansui 317 a couple of years ago and I still miss it! I heard Jazz on another level with that little machine. I did not know you were such a fan? May I make a suggestion to the ultimate Sansui man? Bought a Harman Kardon 330 C and I was knocked out by how comfortable the sound was. I recently listened to Skylabs Audio (I think you would like their approach and their shop) out of Des Moines, Iowa USA- the owner Kevin said it was a favorite of his inexpensive amps- what a great value! I really think the 330 C is your cup of tea - try it as I think it will really fit your style / ear. So happy that you are back Mr Kelvin!

I have a late-70's 16wpc Marantz receiver set up with 'vintage' Advents (8" woofer, acoustic suspension) and on the same shelf a 300wpc Harman/Kardon . . . their 'swan song' amplifier with specs from 3Hz to 200kHz hooked up complex crossover Dahlquist speakers, 5 drivers per speaker . . . The NAD . . . like Carver . . . had that reserve power for transients. Quality of components is key. The Marantz is chugging along just fine with its original parts. The H/K, half the age of the Marantz, required a full restoration . . . 60 capacitors.

KELVIN! Loved this!! I'm currently hooked up to a Sansui AU217mk2 & Monitor Audio MA4 Mk1 and sounds lush! Try out Marillion 'Abraham Martin and John (live) with your rig...great 'air' in the recording, nice round bass and creamy guitars... Not to mention sublime vocals!

Hello Kelvin your channel is the best channel for audio reviews. The the equipment is described in a way that really gives the information people need to start hunting for equipment. Are you thinking about getting the Sugden repaired?

Great comparison. While talking about Nordic sound, I wish to hear your thougts about Tandberg. Cheers from Norway

Good show Kelvin . Dug it. 👍

Great reviews Kelvin. As a Sansui fan I love your summing up and as far as Sansui goes I know exactly what you mean. I am intrigued with the Sugden and want to test one out myself. Talking of testing out could you review a well renowned Luxman i really want to know what you think of them and prove if they are all hype or not. Cheers

I had the NAD 302 which is the successor of the 3020 and I found that an amp that was smooth and with a good midrange, just like you described the 3020. I understand the Sansui 331 has an STK module in it. They get a lot of flak those STK modules but I think they sound good. Not saying they are great, just saying I think they sound good.

Thanks for another interesting video Kelvin. I was especially interested in what you had to say about the Sonab R4000, as many years ago I was keen on getting a Sonab P4000 (amp only version, no built in receiver). I still haven't actually heard one so I was pleased to hear your description of the R4000 sound, which I assume is much the same as the P4000. I did buy a secondhand Proton D540 which I think is a very good amp. Have you ever heard a Proton D540? It is generally considered a higher quality and a bit more expensive version of late 1980's to mid 1990's equivalent NAD amps ( Proton and NAD amps were then both made in Taiwan by the same manufacturing company). The AMC XiA 150 amp (150 watts RMS} that I generally use these days, was also made by the latest incarnation of that Taiwanese Co. Weltronics corp. It's a great sounding low cost amp and like those NADs it was designed in Britain. Looking forward to your next video. All the best.

A humdinger of a yt channel

The sansui au317 is your favourite amp I remember you saying, I must try and get one

Nice review Kelvin! I have have both sansui 317 and 3020, but my preference is using 3020 as preamp into the power of 317. Did you tried this combo? For me the sound is fantastic

It's too new for this slot 1990s but the Kenwood ka 3020se is a super sounding amplifier for absolute peanuts a real gem for me .. Have you got one Kelvin?

I believe the Sugden A48 amplifier is a pure Class A amplifier where the others are Class A/B which means the comparison not really a level one, as they generally make them sound more involving & intimate which is a good thing sonically. The downside is the reliability due to the much higher operating temperature and as a result tend to be more a fair bit more expensive when new . The good thing about class A/B amplifiers are that tend to run much cooler and hence generally much more reliable in comparison. When I first got into hi-fi back in the early 1990s, I had an opportunity to hear a Musical Fidelity A1 pure Class A amplifier with a Rega Planer 2 record player with Rogers LS3/5a. Very impressive sound, but didn't dare buy pure Class A have a quite a reputation for not running very long before things going wrong. Over the years, most audiophiles have agreed that on pure reliability, Pure Class A amps do tend to suffer reliability issues.

You should try a Beomaster 2200 which is a better amplifier or the 4400 if you want the best of the 70s. Not as dramatic as the 1900/2400 but the components are better. The other plus with B&O is that they are designed so they can be serviced - great service manuals. The weakness was the red capacitors which were great but have not aged well.

Good videos, I wonder how you would power the amps on a desert island Plus you would get sand inside 😅? Marantz is Philips high end department, like Panasonic and Technics... Cheers

'Jump out and grab you round the neck and throw you around the room'. Said Alan Sircom never 🤣

Kevin, you forgot to bring in your Optonica... 🤣🤣😂😂