Receiver Wars

Long before the boom boxes started growing there was another battle waging across the globe....Receiver Wars. State Side Marantz and believe it or not Radio Shack had a monster. Panasonic had a monster under the Technics name it was so heavy and chassis was very flimsy it would twist and flex when you had it apart to service. Sansui without a doubt won the receiver wars with glorious gold and brushed aluminum fronts and blistering high power. They truly flew to close to the sun. I knew a dealer who confided in me that apartments caught fire from Sansui melt down. There winners started with the G Series 9000...Their finale The Monster G - 22000 and G - 33000 that were 100 lbs units that came in two pieces that had to be docked together using hardened allen head bolts. These were the coolest running finest looking best sounding receivers ever made. I left out many other makes b/c they don't warrant your attention. I guess you're saying Pioneer, Nice Try But No Cigar Just Tons of under rated capacitors that fail while you listen. Stay Tuned....next time I'm going to tell you who won the Tuner Wars.

I love Sansui's so much I have the G9000db, G-9000, G901db, G-8700db, a 9090db w/box and lastly, the G8000. I love them and agree they sound very colorful but I also fancy the kenwood kr-9600 which I have several of as well as several Marantz 2500's and lastly, a Pioneer SX-1980. I don't know that one brand is better than the next but the guys at audiokarma will argue with you about the Sansui's being better than the others, especially the big Pioneers. Personally I like the sound of the Marantz, Sansui's, kenwod, then Pioneer, in that order. The pioneer is certainly a powerful receiver but I think it sounds too flat for my liking although a colorless amplifier that doesn't "add" to the music is a plus to many audiophiles. Me, I just know what my ears like.

I'd have to think Marantz may have won the tuner wars,............ But what do I know?

I had never even heard of the Sansui G-22000 and G-33000.

By the way, check out this nice stack.

The 3rd one down is the kenwood kr9600 but it's missing those big rack handles. The 4th one down is the Marantz 2500 (or 2600) and has that fancy oscilloscope. The one on the bottom is the pioneer SX-1980. Interestingly enough, the big and beautiful Sansui G's are not represented here. The G-2200 and G-3300 look just like the G-8000/9000 when viewed from the front. But those two splits across into a front and back half and connects via an umbilical. Rarely are they offered in 100% working condition.

I have a soft spot for the underdog Technics, when it comes to vintage audio. Here's the monster I'm constantly looking for, but not holding my breath.
All these monster receivers were just so bad ass over the top!

You would need a 50+ seat theater room to take advantage of those monsters. Using them in a typical living room is a waste. I'll stick with the 100w and under models.

Superduper said:

I love Sansui's so much I have the G9000db, G-9000, G901db, G-8700db, a 9090db w/box and lastly, the G8000. I love them and agree they sound very colorful but I also fancy the kenwood kr-9600 which I have several of as well as several Marantz 2500's and lastly, a Pioneer SX-1980. I don't know that one brand is better than the next but the guys at audiokarma will argue with you about the Sansui's being better than the others, especially the big Pioneers. Personally I like the sound of the Marantz, Sansui's, kenwod, then Pioneer, in that order. The pioneer is certainly a powerful receiver but I think it sounds too flat for my liking although a colorless amplifier that doesn't "add" to the music is a plus to many audiophiles. Me, I just know what my ears like.

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if norms got it...it must be good...
i purchased the kenwood kr-9600 about a month ago and had it delivered to my sister's here in wisconsin...
my speakers are at a friend's house...MTX aal 2230? i think. (the one's with the dual 12"s). nothin hi-fi but i had them when i was in high school and bought them off craigslist during the winter....they pound
listenin to them both for the first time tonight or tomorrow...i'll let yall know

Heres a Sansui .
Dont know what the model is.
Think it was up for sale around here.
With a power amp at the bottom.

That's probably the g-22000. It's the 2-parter. The amp (below) is normally installed in the rear and the preamplifier (top piece) installs in front. They mate together. The G8000 and G9000 (/db) looks just like the top 1/2 but all integrated and full depth. The G801/G901 look similar but the cabinet is a rich rosewood color and the front metal brightwork is a smoky gunmetal finish instead of rough brushed chromed aluminum (they are the European version of the G8000/9000(/db) counterpart.

I had the Sansui 9900z At 500Watts $1,200.00 with a pair of Altec Lansing Model 19's $3,000.00.Baught them both when I was in 7th grade 1981 or maybe it was1982??? I had to send the drivers to Altec for recone and new diaphrams The speakers were thought to be wrecked by the second owner cuz the cones were shot. He didn't know what he had I paid $90 bucks for the pair and put $300.00 into new parts from Altec. The Sansui cost me $300 at a local pawn shop-the guy didn't know what he had I guess (I researched it from my dad's Stereo Review magazine and knew it retailed for $1200.00)

Love the altecs zorlac. Wish they were mine. As for the Sansui.... The 9900z came after the G-8700/G-9700 having been released around '81 or so, so the styling and reliance on modernizing and logic circuitry were just starting to come into play. Gone were the discrete output transistors with power coming from a pair of huge 2SA/2SK's.... Also gone are those beautiful and beloved analog meters. Power is not 500 watts; that's the AC power consumption. Instead, figure 160wpc, same as the kenwood kr9600, Sansui's G9000 G-8700, pioneer's SX-1250, and a little less than marantz's 2385. By comparison, I think Sansui's G-3300 might have 300wpc, the Marantz 2600 @ 300wpc and Pioneers SX-1980 @ 270wpc.

Superduper said:

Love the altecs zorlac. Wish they were mine. As for the Sansui.... The 9900z came after the G-8700/G-9700 having been released around '81 or so, so the styling and reliance on modernizing and logic circuitry were just starting to come into play. Gone were the discrete output transistors with power coming from a pair of huge 2SA/2SK's.... Also gone are those beautiful and beloved analog meters. Power is not 500 watts; that's the AC power consumption. Instead, figure 160wpc, same as the kenwood kr9600, Sansui's G9000 G-8700, pioneer's SX-1250, and a little less than marantz's 2385. By comparison, I think Sansui's G-3300 might have 300wpc, the Marantz 2600 @ 300wpc and Pioneers SX-1980 @ 270wpc.

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I knew it was 160 wpc, I remember looking it up to size up with the jbl L100's back then. I had to be careful with the volume as the L100's were not designed for that much power. The Nineteens only needed a minimum of 65 w, but the sound was so overwelming at low volumes you didn't need to turn them up as much.



I would love to somehow someway have that 9900z converted into a boombox (the face and all of the selectors as it is with sufficient speakers converters and a cool rx 7000 style case)
btw.... The spectrum analizer in place of the cool analogue vu meters was so amazing to me. I would stare at it like I just ate a couple paint chips. I loved the spectrum analizers. You are so right on, when that came out it was phasing into another era of technology. Of course some of the older items you mentioned are more saught after i'm sure.
.....300 wpc? That is sick!!! What speakers did you team that up with?
I got that same Pioneer for free years ago from a 3rd generation owner who didn't want to haul it when they moved, I let my boy dj bullfrog use it in his home studio, he said it is still in great shape after all these years.
I miss that old thick ass model Nineteen sound.

I have a whole lot of sansui speakers including the sp8000s and a pair of Z9-II which I believe handles 300 watts. I also have a set of Bose 901 series VI. One pair of the famous JBL L-300's and a couple paisof the Carver amazing loudspeakers. On the Carvers, 300wpc is not enough! those speakers handle 600 wpc and are very power hungry but oh, do they sound sweet....

Superduper said:

I have a whole lot of sansui speakers including the sp8000s and a pair of Z9-II which I believe handles 300 watts. I also have a set of Bose 901 series VI. One pair of the famous JBL L-300's and a couple paisof the Carver amazing loudspeakers. On the Carvers, 300wpc is not enough! those speakers handle 600 wpc and are very power hungry but oh, do they sound sweet....

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I remember the carvers, i think? Were they the tall and wide speakers that were really thin. Maybe with a black cover and black and silver drivers?
The L300's do you still have them? I love the sound of the L300's
Now I have the Klipsch Lascala's from the first generation. All original but the cabs are a little delaminated in spots. The all black model.or maybe the original owners painted them black, I don't remember. I have a mint pair of JBL L100's (about my 8th pair-I've fixed and sold at least 7 pair, since the 80's). I have one 18" 1,000w B-52 cab/woofer which I bought from guitar center about 2 years ago. I drive that with a Crown 1,050 w amp. I use the Crown/B-52 configuration as a Low end system to compliment the high end of the Lascala's

I still have all the speakers I mentioned including the JBL's which I inherited but I'll likely need to sell them, poor as I am. Also cuz the are huge being the size / weight of washing machines each! They still look like new with original manuals. The carvers.... One set is the AL-III which is like 6-1/2 feet tall, one 48" ribbon and a down facing 10" subwoofer. The other set I have is the Carver Silver with 48" ribbon + 3 x 12" woofers per side.

Before getting into boomboxes, I was really into home audio. Now, they just collect dust.

Superduper said:

I still have all the speakers I mentioned including the JBL's which I inherited but I'll likely need to sell them, poor as I am. Also cuz the are huge being the size / weight of washing machines each! They still look like new with original manuals. The carvers.... One set is the AL-III which is like 6-1/2 feet tall, one 48" ribbon and a down facing 10" subwoofer. The other set I have is the Carver Silver with 48" ribbon + 3 x 12" woofers per side.

Before getting into boomboxes, I was really into home audio. Now, they just collect dust.

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I did the same. We must be near the same age . I was right on the carvers, they had a ribbon design. The audiophile stereo retailer, "Front Row", in Flint had a pair of the Carvers on display. They also had the jbls.
Let me ask....have you considered making a sick home theater, or do you have one with these vintage speakers? I did a little something I bought a B&K processor and hooked all of my vintage speakers up with 3 carver amps and the sound swept me away like an imax. I couldn't believe I had all these speakers all the time and didn't hook it up a long time ago. Probably because I couldn't afford the processor. Well I since have sold that set up but I miss it. I used my Clairtone for the center speaker because It was perfect for vocals-it was kinda ghetto but I didn't have anything else at the time to complete the surround and that worked great.

Superduper said:

I still have all the speakers I mentioned including the JBL's which I inherited but I'll likely need to sell them, poor as I am. Also cuz the are huge being the size / weight of washing machines each! They still look like new with original manuals. The carvers.... One set is the AL-III which is like 6-1/2 feet tall, one 48" ribbon and a down facing 10" subwoofer. The other set I have is the Carver Silver with 48" ribbon + 3 x 12" woofers per side.

Before getting into boomboxes, I was really into home audio. Now, they just collect dust.

Click to expand...

I did the same. We must be near the same age . I was right on the carvers, they had a ribbon design. The audiophile stereo retailer, "Front Row", in Flint had a pair of the Carvers on display. They also had the jbls.
Let me ask....have you considered making a sick home theater, or do you have one with these vintage speakers? I did a little something I bought a B&K processor and hooked all of my vintage speakers up with 3 carver amps and the sound swept me away like an imax. I couldn't believe I had these speakers all this time and didn't hook it up a long time ago. Probably because I couldn't afford the processor.Since then I sold that set up but I miss it. I used my Clairtone for the center speaker because It was perfect for vocals-it was kinda ghetto but I didn't have anything else at the time to complete the surround and that worked great.

Nope, didn't do that. As soon as I had my kids 19 years ago, my already small house did nothing but continuously shrink each year.

Pretty sure the kenwood kr 9600 is 160 wpc into 8 ohms but 200 wpc into 4 ohms