You all know how excited I get about hi-fi equipment, especially the rarer stuff…
Well, my multiple Sansui-owning customer and legend Rob finally got his hands on this peak-of-the-golden-age, uber-rare – strike that – almost unobtainable Sansui BA-5000 power amplifier and matching Sansui CA-3000 preamplifier, in almost perfect original condition. That’s right, tinkerers and recappers haven’t touched it, thank goodness, so we can give this one the TLC she needs without having to worry about damage or undocumented changes to the original, amazing design.
I won’t list all the gear Rob owns right now, but you can imagine what’s on that list including a Sansui AU-X1 which I resurrected last year, a TU-X1, SR-838, SR-929, both of which I’ve repaired and serviced and a Sansui BA-F1/CA-F1 combo which I restored in 2017, just to name a few. Perhaps we need to write an article about Rob’s collection? Comment below if you’d like to see that, and I’ll do my best to make it happen, with Rob’s permission, of course!
The Sansui BA-5000 power amplifier is from my favourite Sansui era which of course includes the beautiful AU-9900, AU-11000, AU-20000, etc. I own an AU-11000 and an AU-20000, I’ve just repaired a sweet-sounding AU-9900, a few AU-20000s and just about everything else in this series over the years, but never a BA-5000. Until now.
This stunning, top-of-the-line, 50kg transformer-coupled Sansui BA-5000, one of the greatest ever Japanese hi-fi amplifiers, is in the queue for a small repair and some much-needed service.
Stay tuned and it feels good to have broken this writer’s block BTW!
UPDATE: She is serviced, repaired and partially overhauled, details coming soon!
‘Sui Heavy Metal indeed!
Would be fun to read more about Rob’s favourites in his collection, if he feels OK with doing so, of course.
Ha ha! Thanks, Rob, I’ll pass that on and I’m sure Rob will read this anyway, let’s see if we can convince him…
Looking forward to the article Mike. I too would be interested to see a collection story, assuming Rob is comfortable with the idea.
Thank you, Steve, noted and Rob will see this.
Have you rebuilt it yet?
Hi Robert, she’s just arrived here for repair and service, not a rebuild on this occasion. That will happen later though.
Pleeeeeeeeeease Rob – we need this 😀
Ha ha ha! I love this comment and yes Rob, we need this.
How does one get a service manual for something so rare?
Sansui manuals are pretty widely distributed so, rare as this thing is, the manual is available which is good news.
Hi Mike and Rob if you’re reading!! I would very much like to read about your collection as the bar has been set pretty high!! This one in particular is an amazing bit of kit!
Thank you Michael, I’ve spoken with Rob and he is reading these comments, we will have a good chat about how to make this happen once I get the BA-5000 back to him.