Sansui SP-X8000 Floorstanding Speakers
Sansui SP-X8000 Floorstanding Speakers
USER REVIEWS
[Mar 14, 2012]
vintaudiofan
Audio Enthusiast
I got these in very good condition, minty drivers and small abrasions spots on some sides. These speakers are heavy and the cabs seem pretty solid. Finish is vinyl, which is unfortunate. Grille is real wood, though. I have been running these with NAD 2030B and I like the match so far.
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[Oct 22, 2011]
jason
Audio Enthusiast
i have owned these spx 8000's for over twenty years now, ......i think i may have woke up jesus with them at least three or four times....rated at 160 watts max, they have handled everything i ever hooked them up to, but they have always sounded their best when paired up with my "BIG G"....Sansui G 7000 receiver. No flaws to mention, if you take care of them, theyll rock on forever |
[Dec 10, 2007]
BW
AudioPhile
Strength:
99 SPL, bass not boomy, dynamic sound.
Weakness:
Ugly front grills remind me of Grandparents house! LOL. Just picked these up for the simple fact that they were cheap and wanted to hear them. I have to say they are not bad at all. You can run them with just about anything. I am currently using an ASL tube amp. These are so sensitive pulling the hum out of tube gear. I am listening to Kind of Blue and have to say that these speakers are delivering. Similar Products Used: Totem rainmakers, Celestion Ditton 44, Dynaco A 50, A25, A35, A10. |
[May 07, 2006]
trehane
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Overall sound quality combined with low cost make for a very high value package.
Weakness:
Haven't come across anything yet. Mine are the SP-X7700. Seller had them running on a JVC system when I heard them. Sounded nice in the driveway. I had heard about 1970's Sansui from a friend though neither of us had ever heard any. I was running some small B&W's (DM4) which sounded lovely but were light in the base. These Sansui's give a nice warm, rounded sound. I power them with a 14W/channel tube amp. Found the efficiency is rated at 97db so they have a lot more volume than I can use and keep the bride as well. These are keepers there is no doubt of that. I have no hesitation in recommending these both from a quality and cost point of view. Mine were bought at a g-sail but a pair went on ebay recently for about $260. With two separate boxes for shipping, the cost to the buyer is likely another $150. These sound like more than $400 worth so to my mind, they are a bargain at that price.
Customer Service N/A Similar Products Used: B&W, Yamaha, Dynaco, Burhoe, PSB, Paradigm etc..... |
[May 01, 2006]
Rob
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
None that I can see so far.
Weakness:
No complaints. Just found some SP-X7700 while garage-sailing. Small piece of lattice chipped off but hard to notice. One of them has a malfunctioning tweeter adjustment switch so I will be taking it to my tech to make it better. I don't normally pay $50 at g-sails but I had seen some reference to this era Sansui being good and more importantly, the seller had them hooked up in his driveway. Not disappointed with this purchase at all. I have them hooked to an Eico HF81 tube amp with about 14 watts/channel. Been playing a lot of jazz vocals. Excellent sound quality. They must be fairly efficient to do that. These are definitely keepers. All drivers working nicely. I'll do a little secret formula on the cabinets to bring them to perfection but they are in excellent shape generally. Found a website that has pics but no stats on them. My ears say if you can find these you really should buy them. Customer Service NA Similar Products Used: B&W, Burhoe, Advent, Celestion, Dynaco, Yamaha, Tandberg, Ohm |
[Sep 10, 2003]
pangl
AudioPhile
Strength:
Very tube-friendly, even 5wpc SET amp would sound magical. Musical, smooth and airy. Vocal is very very seductive.
Weakness:
Very hard to find an very clean pair, esp with perfect lattice grills. Bass is not the strength and if you want loud, deep bass, get an subwoofer. The Sansui SP-X8000 is among the very best vintage speakers I have ever heard. With 99db sensitivity, 8ohm impedence, they just sound magical with my 300B Single-ended triode amp (9w per channel). The richness and smoothness of the vocals are way too seductive. I have to disagree with the person who complaints about the bass (or lack of). What associated equipments do you use? This is just like an crazy guy (also in AudioReview) who used an cheap Adcom to drive an B&W Matrix 803, and then complainted about how bad the speakers sound and gave an 1 star rating. The bass I found is fast, pretty clean, and adequate with most jazz, classical and vocal music (including light pop). If you are the one who obsessed with bass drums in Mahler, or Metallica type of music, give up and look else where OR just get an fast subwoofer. You got to understand that strong, loud bass is not the strength of vintage speakers (and majority of modern speakers stink in that department anyway). Only those who seek the golden age sound of turntables and tubes seem to appreciate the gorgeous sound of vintage speakers. Back to X8000. The soundstage is spacious and precise. It is not as 3D as the B&W 801 nor Revel nor Coincident I used before, of course. But that's more make up by its wonderful midrange and crisp, airy highs. From what I know, in the Sansui line, the SP-X8000 is only surpassed by top-flight SP-X9000. ***** Associated equipments: - Toshiba SD9200 / Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 as CD transports - Monarchy Model 33B & Wadia 25 as D/As - Accuphase E205 amp - ICL-Softtone 300B SET amp - NBS Master speaker cables - NBS Monitor 4 digital coax - Red Rose Silver One interconnects Similar Products Used: Too many! Newform Research R645, B&W Matrix 801 Series II, B&W 605 Series 2, Coincident Conquest, many Wharfedale junks, some Infinity craps, Celestion (SL700, UL-6), Castle, can't remember it all! |
[Nov 25, 2002]
John Medeiros
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Everything meets the demand of this listener.
Weakness:
None that I can find. Excellent speaker. I have them hooked up to a Sansui 7900Z 2-ch receiver, and they crank! Clean throughout the wave band! All speakers frames are clean, no damage found on any cone, and the grilles are mint. Similar Products Used: Pioneer CS-88A from the seventies, but they aren't as powerful as these. |
[Jun 21, 2002]
chrisSNUFF
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Good bass, mid range is decent (human hearing is accustomed to it) and the highs are good too.
Weakness:
Could use a little more high/mids Cripes almighty people. Listen to these babies with a decent amp. I attached these babies to a lovable tube amp, a yamaha from 2001, and my Technics from 76. They sound great hooked up to everything. I inherited them from my grand pappy and I am happy. They are beasts. Workhorses. I recently checked the membrane and its better than a pair of speakers from 98! Talk about quality. Never seen daylight. |
[Dec 13, 2000]
Mark Lawrence
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Durablity, great sound
Weakness:
Fifth stereo with these speakers and everytime it sounds better than the last Wish I knew what would be the best system to run them with. Mine are SP-X7700 which I bought over 20 years ago. I've gone through 5 systems with these and have found nothing to compare. If there is anyone else out there stuffing a steel horn 2 tweeters a midrange and 16 inch bass in a cabinet this small I would like to know who. If you can find a set anywhere buy them. You would have to spend several grand today to equal these. |
[Jan 09, 2001]
John Lewis
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Bass, 16" woofer.
Weakness:
Don't know yet. I have four of the Sansui SP7500X speakers that I bought from Dixie HiFi in the mid-late 70s (before Dixie HiFi became Circuit City). Love these speakers, they are a 5 speaker 4-way system with 16" woofer, 8" mid, horn tweeter, and 2 super tweeters. Only on my second amp the first one a Pioneer SX1050 lasted until last year (2000). These babies will still rattle the neighbors house next door. I am in the process of adding a powered subwoofer (500watt 15") and center channel to make it a 5.1 system. Can't say enough good about the speakers, they have cranked out endless tunes with the Bass turned up and they still sound great. Can't wait to get my new entertainment center up and running and watch (and listen to) some DVD movies. Sansui's still go for a premium on eBay today, probably mainly for the cases and grills, but they were well made, both for their day and today. |