i bought a sansui 9090 in a thrift store the other day for 10 dollars. it needs some work and i need to find the best (cheapest) way to get it back in shape. all of the lights work. one of the meters is flat and the inputs on one side are dead. i think that this means that one of the power sources is dead. e mail me if you know anything about these.

Price/Performance

Haven't found any

Just bought it today at a garage sale for $20.00. Sounds great on my Pioneer CS-99A's. It performs great. Really like the midrange control as my 6500 did not have one. Makes my 15" base rock. This amp replaces my Kenwood KA 3500. Primarily because it has a tuner. No problems with the Kenwood in 20 years either. At any rate from the rest of the reviews on this site, "sounds" like I went to the right garage sale.

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Sansui 6500

Very clear sound and plenty of power without distortion

Dolby switch tends to get dirty and needs cleaning, this causes loss of audio.

I purchased two of the massive receivers from sellers on eBay, all within the same week! One came from Canada, the other came from Texas. This receiver has a very sensitive tuner and really pulls in the distant stations clearly. The amplifier section is very clean and powerful. You can drive more than one set of low efficiency speakers without distortion. Many people will ask, "Why do you need so much power?" The answer is that you have much less distortion and produce less heat. You are stressing the components of a lesser powerful amplifier when you run the amp at three quarter power. This receiver will become the center of my audio set up which includes reel-to-reel, CD, DCC and Cassette. These receivers are vintage late 70's.

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Sansui 990DB (Black face) Sansui 9090, Sansui 8080 (less power)

As we engineers say we want an amp with a power bandwidth of "DC to daylight" and this amp has it. FANTASTIC SOUND!!!

VERY, VERY slight blurring of the midrange if I am being super-hyper-critical. BLOWS AWAY ALL MODERN RECEIVERS IN SOUND!!!

This review is based on my "new" Sansui 8080 DB receiver which is rated at 100 WPC. Let's talk sound. Keep in mind I'm an electrical engineer and an audiophile for 35 years. I haven't been listening to music much in the last ten years because I was buying all the latest over-hyped modern junk with bells and whistles and no substance. The amps in receivers of the last ten years have a frequency response of about 60 Hz to 12 KHz and even in that limited range the response stinks. I thought maybe it was my CD or DVD player or maybe my speakers weren't as good as I remembered. WRONG!! I plugged in the Sansui 8080 and WHAM! BAM! POW! all the sound was back and sounding nearly perfect. When I put on The WHO it sounds just like I was back at the concert in the fifth row center with the amps and speakers stacked up thirty feet high and twenty feet wide on both sides. It sounded like a full sized drum set was being pounded as hard as Keith Moon could hammer them. The vocals were like they were right there and the guitars sizzled. All the echos and ambience were there. The stereo effects had the sound swimming around the room and it is just like a drug, you could get mesmerized and hooked on it. I have listened to all types of music on it and everything sounds just right. If I A-B this against any modern amp or receiver it's like Lennox Lewis fighting a 50 pound girl scout. Both the quantity and the quality factors are miles apart. I also bought a vintage Sansui 890 DB receiver and a Pioneer SX-1080 with a huge toroidal transformer and two coke can sized power supply caps. Those caps work to stiffen the bass transient response like in car stereos. The SX-1080 can make a crisp, clean, tight bass thump that is startling and down to 10 Hz. The power bandwidth (-3DB points) for it is 2 Hz to 100,000 Hz. The 890 DB is really the same receiver as the 8080 with one or two different knobs. I'm hooking them all up to a Sherwood DD/DTS receiver for $188 with outputs for all five channels and the subwoofer when it gets here next week. Let me tell you that if you want good sound forget about NAD, Onkyo, or even B&K. Get yourself a used Sansui or big Pioneer SX series receiver and save a couple thousand dollars and the grief. THERE ARE ALMOST ZERO BAD RECORDINGS!!! Do not fall for the salesman's remarks about bad recordings, connected equipment, etc. Today's amps stink and are a huge ripoff. It's too bad I can't give a value rating of seven or eight.
Actually another note: I have bought several of these older amps and some KEF speakers to add to the speaker pairs and two subwoofers I already have and I am going to set up my system to work in surround sound and to route stereo from a source to multiple amps and speakers. I will definitely have one of the best sounding systems anywhere for a tiny fraction of anything of similar quality.

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Pioneer SX-1080, Sansui 890 DB, lots of modern trash like NAD, Onkyo, Adcom, Yamaha, Sony, JVC that sound no better than a loud AM radio.

Just an update on my previous review below. Product is still going strong and is the best audio purchase I have made yet. I no longer am offering the manuals because of lack of time to do so. Please go to A.G. Tannenbaum or Ebay if you still need the manuals to these receivers. Thanks, ABC

A great receiver, built like a tank. No way could they make this receiver today, it would cost to much. Sansui used to best parts to make it.

None

The Sansui 9090Db is an amazing receiver. Back in the late 70s, Sansui built some of best Stereo equipment. They used all metal parts and not the plastic stuff, receivers use today. I would also recommend Terry Dewick of statement audio. His store is in Tennesse. He just fixed my Classic G9000 Sansui Receiver from the 70s. It was not working, after he fixed it, I couldn't believe how good this G9000 receiver sounded, after he fixed it. Terry worked for Phillips for 12 years. He is an expert in fixing Classic Tube Amps from Mcintosh, Fisher and Marantz. He fixes High end equipment to mid high end to boomboxes. He fixes all Classic Japanese Receivers, Amps, Preamps, tuners, tape decks from the 70s 80s and 90s. Plus he can get those hard to find replacement parts, for the Japanese equipment from the 70s. He fixes all CD Players, Dacs, Transports, TVS. He has over 200 replacement tubes from Mcintosh Tube Amps from the 60s. Try him, he's great. His website is http://www.esper.com/macaudio and his email address is dewickt@esper.com

Clean accurate powerful sound

Dial lights are intermittent.

I found my Sansui 9090 in the trash when some neighbors across the street moved. I took it home and it worked! Heavy unit but built to last probably forever. I even dropped it once, (this thing weighs about 65 Lbs) but all that happened was the wood case got damaged on the rear upper corner. Reglued it and it still works great. I am in awe of how good this receiver sounds. I use AKAI Model SR-LA201 three way speakers and this combination has some serious deep bass with clear highs.

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None

Great high end sound, great low end sound. Mid range sounds good. very powerful, sounds better than new recievers.

none, but it gets hot after use.

This is obviously one of the best recievers ever made by any company. It pushes rich sound, even at high volume with crystal clarity. I put on a CD and it sounds sooo good, like I was there. The craftsmanship on this model is outstanding as well, it was made to last. One of the biggest reasons I really like it is beacause I really think this is one of the best sounding stereos ever put on the market. So, yes, if you're looking for crystal clear sound, rich bass, and enough volume to make the neighbors down the street wet the bed, BUY THIS RECIEVER.

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Sansui 9090

Power, classy good looks

Quite hefty

I'd wanted a Sansui 9090DB since I first saw one back in 1973 in a Pacific Stereo store. I was a broke student, so had to pass on it. I'd loved my Sansui 5000X that I got in Thailand during my USAF days there. But the 9090DB had those beautiful VU meters and more power, to be sure. Many years passed until I finally spotted one for sale in the San Diego Union classified adds. I scarfed it up for 200 bucks, talking the guy down from $300.
If this receiver had female genitalia, I'd make passionate love to it. Sound and power surpass anything I've ever listened to. I also own a Sansui G9700 that I have connected, out in my garage, to Bose 901-VI's ( I hate those speakers because they're so power-hungry and "Clip" with lower-powered amps...at least at the levels I like...VERY LOUD!) and I prefer the 9090DB even over that. And the g-9700 is no slouch, my friends.
For the person looking for the ultimate receiver, vintage or otherwise, he'd be hard-pressed to fing a better one than the 9090DB, regarded by those in the know as quite possibly the finest receiver ever made. Period.

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Sansui G9700 Receiver

Beautiful to look at.
Buikd

Dolby fm switch pots become dirty and need to be cleaned frequently.

Hello fellow sansui-ite!! Terrific review...
I just picked up a restored mint 9090db. I discarded my low efficiency, cheap low-end speakers (Klipsch) and bought Wharfedale 8.2 diamond bookshelf speakers with the kevlar 6.5 driver and titanium tweeter.So accurate, seperation is wonderful, etc.. Best damn receiver I have owned and I will prize it as my center piece until my dying day!! DO you know of any sansui clubs, etc that I may join and any great sansui websites?
I also bi-wired the speakers. I do not notice much difference from bi-wiring them. Any COMMENTS? Your professional opinion is requested.
List of my components:
sansui 9090db, nakamichi mb-8 musicbank changer, audio control 11 band eq, nakamichi cdc-7a cd changer, sony dvd player with 5.1 dolby dig decoder, dts, etc.

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nakamichi re-10(overpriced,underdesigned,noisy fan, bland, flat reproduction of sound at all frequencies, nak customer report that sucks), Marantz sr-4200 (good price, too many bells and whistles, complicated, not enough analog controls like treble, bass, midrange, etc, made in hong kong or china.