Help!......... Opinions NEEDED from the resident Experts

[Bruce00]

If you read my introduction, I am the orginal owner of a Sansui QXR 9001 that I bought in the mid 70's along with a set (4) of Sansui SP-X8000 speakers. This system was in storage for 40yrs
i've had issues with trying to play quad music again with a POS cheap receiver and a new Sony UBP-X800M2 player
Iam in the que with QXRrestore to have the Sanusi rebuilt with all the bells and whistles, which I am excited about
And here lies my problem/issue.......

I played some vinyl in the living room last night and it was awesome and a great experience, making me want my system to kick ass again
I was worried about the speakers being dry rotted, but Mr John Coltrane came thru loud and clear, and I cranked the high & lows
Which leads me to this issue........
Would I be better off spending the $2000 refurbishing fee on new audio equipment, namely 2023 equipment and forgetting about the old amp?
Will I have issues trying to connecting my Sansui's RCA cables to the newer HDMI stuff aka SACD's?
Within 6 hrs of joining this fine forum, I realize I know nothing about the new stuff and don't want to make a $2K mistake
Will I be able to simply connect my rebuilt Sansui to a modern blu-ray player to enjoy Quadio discs?
I found an Oppo 105 for 8 bills delivered to my house. I see it has RCA outputs which would make it easy to connect to my Sansui
While I never heard of Oppo equipment, it sure has a high reverence about it here on this forum
What equipment today compares to a vintage Sanusi Quad?

Which leads me to another question, I don't have an answer for.....
My Marantz 6300 turntable works, but something was going on with the switches and the strobe light tuning wasn't able to fine tune the table speed
I don't know how much that will be, to have checked out/repaired, but a quick search shows turntables are$300 to $3000
I get so much satisfaction dropping the stylus on a spinning album
And I see on Ebay (LOL) that a Marantz 6300 turntable are going for $2000!!!!

I have alot of great memories with my system, but what can I buy with $2500-$3000 vs reburbishing my old system?
Don't worry about hurting my feelings as I have none
Confused in New Jersey

 

[kfbkfb]

https://pioneerhomeusa.com/pioneer/vsx-534-av-receiver
I recommend new - I bought this receiver a few years ago, it decodes multichannel SACDs (which your Sony 800 will play) in addition to Dolby and DTS, it also has "Surround Enhancer" modes for creating fake surround sound (similar to the way your old Sansui receiver would do when set to QS).

https://www.fosiaudio.com/product/phono-preamplifier/box-x1/
I also bought one of these since my newer Pioneer receivers don't have phono inputs.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Sonik Wiz]

If you read my introduction, I am the orginal owner of a Sansui QXR 9001 that I bought in the mid 70's along with a set (4) of Sansui SP-X8000 speakers. This system was in storage for 40yrs
i've had issues with trying to play quad music again with a POS cheap receiver and a new Sony UBP-X800M2 player
Iam in the que with QXRrestore to have the Sanusi rebuilt with all the bells and whistles, which I am excited about
And here lies my problem/issue.......

I played some vinyl in the living room last night and it was awesome and a great experience, making me want my system to kick ass again
I was worried about the speakers being dry rotted, but Mr John Coltrane came thru loud and clear, and I cranked the high & lows
Which leads me to this issue........
Would I be better off spending the $2000 refurbishing fee on new audio equipment, namely 2023 equipment and forgetting about the old amp?
Will I have issues trying to connecting my Sansui's RCA cables to the newer HDMI stuff aka SACD's?
Within 6 hrs of joining this fine forum, I realize I know nothing about the new stuff and don't want to make a $2K mistake
Will I be able to simply connect my rebuilt Sansui to a modern blu-ray player to enjoy Quadio discs?
I found an Oppo 105 for 8 bills delivered to my house. I see it has RCA outputs which would make it easy to connect to my Sansui
While I never heard of Oppo equipment, it sure has a high reverence about it here on this forum
What equipment today compares to a vintage Sanusi Quad?

Which leads me to another question, I don't have an answer for.....
My Marantz 6300 turntable works, but something was going on with the switches and the strobe light tuning wasn't able to fine tune the table speed
I don't know how much that will be, to have checked out/repaired, but a quick search shows turntables are$300 to $3000
I get so much satisfaction dropping the stylus on a spinning album
And I see on Ebay (LOL) that a Marantz 6300 turntable are going for $2000!!!!

I have alot of great memories with my system, but what can I buy with $2500-$3000 vs reburbishing my old system?
Don't worry about hurting my feelings as I have none
Confused in New Jersey

I posted this a while back. Might give some food for thought:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/quad-the-middle-ground.28708/

 

[Bruce00]

https://pioneerhomeusa.com/pioneer/vsx-534-av-receiver
I recommend new - I bought this receiver a few years ago, it decodes multichannel SACDs (which your Sony 800 will play) in addition to Dolby and DTS, it also has "Surround Enhancer" modes for creating fake surround sound (similar to the way your old Sansui receiver would do when set to QS).

https://www.fosiaudio.com/product/phono-preamplifier/box-x1/
I also bought one of these since my newer Pioneer receivers don't have phono inputs.


Kirk Bayne

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to my million dollar, well $2000 dollar question. I was hoping you would respond as every one of your post, that Ive read, seem well thought out and informative to me.
I know time has past by my old Sansui, but I dearly love it. (The reason I've held on to it) .... BUT, I don't want to make a $2000 dollar mistake.

I purchased a preamp box to plug my turntable in, so Ive got that much covered

I have seen that the quad format has shifted to disc's, but Iam still an old school vinyl guy. I don't want to get in a CD vs Vinyl discussion, but dropping the stylus on vinyl gives this 70yr old a sense of satisfaction. LOL
I will say this, after spending approx 10 hrs listening to vinyl now, those ablums sure seem to go by quickly vs sliding a disc into a player

Once you have sampled Quad, there is no going back to stereo. Atleast for me

What Iam trying to say is your telling me what, deep down I know. As Ive spent a few hours thinking this over on my motorcycle,.... The best place to clear your head, when cell phone addicts aren't trying to kill you

Thank you again for your input Kirk

 

[Bruce00]

I posted this a while back. Might give some food for thought:

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/quad-the-middle-ground.28708/

Thank you for taking the time to direct me in the direction for some answers. I am out the door in a few, so I will come back and read thru your links..

Thanks again

 

[barfle]

I also have a reverence for old gear (I can understand the circuitry!). I have an Altec-Lansing setup from the 1970s that’s on my bucket list to refubish and update. But (and there always is a but), a lot of modern gear isn’t compatible with that stuff, so you might well be locking yourself into a corner that’s going to be hard to get out of. Streaming will be a huge kluge, for example. The Oppo will do a lot for you, but its streaming abilities are limited, and unless you have a video monitor in the system, you’re going to have issues with the menus. Great deal on the purchase, BTW!

IMNSHO, I would opt for two setups, though. One, your beloved legacy gear, and another more modern setup. It doesn’t all have to happen at once. I’ve been building my setup since 1968, and I don’t see any signs that it’s done yet.

 

[kfbkfb]

I also thought about 2 quad/surround sound systems, the refurb Sansui for QS/SQ/CD-4 and a new receiver (such as the aforementioned Pioneer) for the new surround sound formats.

Built yourself a switch to switch your 4 speakers back and forth from the Sansui to the new receiver depending on the surround sound content you are listening to.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Bruce00]

I got a used Ebay 7.2 reciever being delivered tomorrow, so I'll have something to plug the Sony SACD player into. I also have 4 small Sony speakers mounted in the 4 corners of my TV room, up at the ceiling, that I haven't used in years. I remember I quit using that surround system because I kept getting up to answer the front door, thinking someone was knocking.
I'll hook-up the new/used reciever to my Sansui speakers, then probably hook it up to the Sony speakers and the TV , for use.
I acyually forgot that I had purchased, a couple months ago, a WiFi wireless receiver, so I can stream my many playlists in Apple Music, that I normally stream on my bike and in the truck.
I keep thinking that I saved this Sansui for 50yrs.....

 

[Horbus]

It's always about what you want to hear with your gear! Do you have lot's of Quadro Vinyl and like to listen to this than imho you should give your old equipment the 2nd. chance! If you want to go with the new stuff like SACD, DVD-A, BluRay and streaming you won't get it connected to your vintage gear and so you have to buy new. If you want to listen to both, old and new formats, then you really need 2 equipments. If the loudspeakers are still ok or only minor refurbishing (Crossover) necessary I would keep them as basis for the new set up.

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

Speed issues with a direct drive turntable could be an issue with aging components, often times capacitors.

The service manual and schematics for this turntable are available online.
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/marantz/6300.shtml
Also - I know that people sell capacitor kits for many Technics direct drive turntables on eBay. I took a quick look, and I did find one seller with a capacitor kit for the 6300.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3144766885...bkJv+0bBskaue4BBDyQd8CqSmR|tkp:Bk9SR-KCtoe4Yg

 

[par4ken]

I have no love for the newer equipment. If the Sansui is working why not just use it as is for now, assuming that it is still functioning OK. The expense of having it rebuilt is a bit like having your vintage automobile rebuilt, but on a much smaller scale. A few of us do our restoration and repair work ourselves so cost is not a big consideration (for us anyway).

If for some reason you need HDMI you could as some suggest run two receivers, switching the speaker outputs. The Oppo has RCA jacks for easy hook up to the Sansui. Remember that the left and right side outputs go to the Quad receivers rear inputs, connecting the back outputs instead will give no sound with 4.0 and 5.1 discs. Running the Oppo you can set the player to output SACDs in their native format (DSD). The Oppo can convert to PCM but at a great (IMHO) sonic penalty. One caveat is that you will miss the vocals on 5.1 SACD discs. If you run into that you can reset the player to convert DSD to PCM, then the downmix functions of the player will work.

In addition to QS decoding the Sansui has a great "Synthesizer" for stereo enhancement and the phase matrix setting is good for SQ. IMHO it blows away anything Dolby!

 

[Bruce00]

It's always about what you want to hear with your gear! Do you have lot's of Quadro Vinyl and like to listen to this than imho you should give your old equipment the 2nd. chance! If you want to go with the new stuff like SACD, DVD-A, BluRay and steaming you won't get it connected to your vintage gear and so you have to buy new. If you want to listen to both, old and new formats, then you really need 2 equipments. If the loudspeakers are still ok or only minor refurbishing (Crossover) necessary I would keep them as basis for the new set up.

I joined this forum to kind of get, up to date, with the latest in quad. I never heard of SACD until I joined. LOL!! While waiting for approval to post, I was reading and saw the post about 4 new SACD's being released. So I ordered the 4 new ones from Rhino, so that makes a total of 4 SACD's I own.

I've got approx 300 vinyl albums, with around 10 of them being quad. I was surprised, as I thought I had more, but it must have been the Sansui doing its magic giving the illusion of quad. Since joing this forum, Ive bought 10 new albums.
But I see the future of quad is SACD's right now.

Iam biting the bullet and sending in my old gal for a refresh, as I sold an old bike I had for $2000 last week

 

[Bruce00]

I have no love for the newer equipment. If the Sansui is working why not just use it as is for now, assuming that it is still functioning OK. The expense of having it rebuilt is a bit like having your vintage automobile rebuilt, but on a much smaller scale. A few of us do our restoration and repair work ourselves so cost is not a big consideration (for us anyway).

If for some reason you need HDMI you could as some suggest run two receivers, switching the speaker outputs. The Oppo has RCA jacks for easy hook up to the Sansui. Remember that the left and right side outputs go to the Quad receivers rear inputs, connecting the back outputs instead will give no sound with 4.0 and 5.1 discs. Running the Oppo you can set the player to output SACDs in their native format (DSD). The Oppo can convert to PCM but at a great (IMHO) sonic penalty. One caveat is that you will miss the vocals on 5.1 SACD discs. If
you run into that you can reset the player to convert DSD to PCM, then the downmix functions of the player will work.

In addition to QS decoding the Sansui has a great "Synthesizer" for stereo enhancement and the phase matrix setting is good for SQ. IMHO it blows away anything Dolby!

My Sanusi turns on, but produces no sound. I have been told, trying to troubleshoot takes longer than refurbishing is the only way to go for a 50yr old receiver. Which makes sense to me, but Iam clueless......

Iam still a few months away from sending my unit to QSRrestore, but I was told they will call/email when its time to send it. So Iam going to ask if its possible to add an HDMI input to the 9001.....IDK if thats even possible

While replying, the UPS man just delivered the used Yamaha reciever I bought off Ebay. I pulled it in and it turns on, but have some erands to do, before I hook up some speakers and see if it produces sound. If it does, then the Pyle goes to the garage
Maybe with any luck, I'll be able to listen to my new SACD's from the Rhino package deal

 

[Bruce00]

Speed issues with a direct drive turntable could be an issue with aging components, often times capacitors.

The service manual and schematics for this turntable are available online.
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/marantz/6300.shtml
Also - I know that people sell capacitor kits for many Technics direct drive turntables on eBay. I took a quick look, and I did find one seller with a capacitor kit for the 6300.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3144766885...bkJv+0bBskaue4BBDyQd8CqSmR|tkp:Bk9SR-KCtoe4Yg

THANK YOU

I went and ordered those 6300 capacitor kit, even though installing them is above my expertise. Hopefully I'll find a shop thats willing to tackle the job

 

[par4ken]

My Sanusi turns on, but produces no sound. I have been told, trying to troubleshoot takes longer than refurbishing is the only way to go for a 50yr old receiver. Which makes sense to me, but Iam clueless......

Best advice is to trouble shoot first. Dirty switches are a common problem. Use Deoxit to clean them. I would endeavor to determine if the Power Amplifier(s) are causing the problem or if it's in the low level (preamp) section. You can do some quick troubleshooting yourself to at least get an idea where the problem might be.

Don't discount using your eyes first to look for swollen, blackened or oozing capacitors. Also look for blackened/burnt resistors. Refurbishing might fix the problem if the defective component is one that actually gets replaced. If not the problem will remain and could be compounded if any error was made during the refurb process.

 

[Petr Kropotkin]

... I never heard of SACD until I joined. LOL!! While waiting for approval to post, I was reading and saw the post about 4 new SACD's being released. So I ordered the 4 new ones from Rhino, so that makes a total of 4 SACD's I own.

Er, I hate to burst your bubble, but if you're referring to the recent quadio Rhino bundle of Sabbath/Cooper/Starship/Geils, they're all Blu-rays, not SACDs.

I don't think Rhino produce any SACDs, but if you want to start collecting some, the first four Santana albums released by Sony Japan in the last few years have (rightly) received a lot of praise on here. Personally, I'd go for the latest one, Caravanserai, QQ reviews here:

HiRez Poll - Santana - CARAVANSERAI [SACD]

 

[Bruce00]

Er, I hate to burst your bubble, but if you're referring to the recent quadio Rhino bundle of Sabbath/Cooper/Starship/Geils, they're all Blu-rays, not SACDs.

I don't think Rhino produce any SACDs, but if you want to start collecting some, the first four Santana albums released by Sony Japan in the last few years have (rightly) received a lot of praise on here. Personally, I'd go for the latest one, Caravanserai, QQ reviews here:

HiRez Poll - Santana - CARAVANSERAI [SACD]

Yep, consider it burst.......LOL.
I'll be the first to admit, I know nothing about todays audio world. Trying to learn, but todays terminology has me more confused than ever

 

[barfle]

Yep, consider it burst.......LOL.
I'll be the first to admit, I know nothing about todays audio world. Trying to learn, but todays terminology has me more confused than ever

Yeah, the old quad format war, just like the videocassette format war, gave us quite the alphabet soup of choices and/or needs. It can be learned, but it’s a mess, no doubt.

 

[par4ken]

Yep, consider it burst.......LOL.
I'll be the first to admit, I know nothing about todays audio world. Trying to learn, but todays terminology has me more confused than ever

It makes no difference as to format, players like your Oppo handle them all! Rhino might have helped to muddy the waters by using "Super Jewel Cases" with the recent batch of Blu-ray Audio discs. But that is OK by me, it makes them look more special and they stand out from regular CDs.

Others place Blu-ray Audio discs in video type cases which are a bit of a waste of space. They can get misplaced amongst your video collection.

On the other hand Dutton Vocalion uses regular jewel cases for their SACD releases. Lower cost for them I suppose, but are easily misplaced amongst your regular CDs!

Also DVD-Audio was once a popular format and were usually issued in their own special jewel case. Some recent releases say DVD-Audio on the label but are in fact DVD-Video discs, they use DTS and Dolby Digital to get surround albeit in "lossy" format.

 

[Bruce00]

It makes no difference as to format, players like your Oppo handle them all! Rhino might have helped to muddy the waters by using "Super Jewel Cases" with the recent batch of Blu-ray Audio discs. But that is OK by me, it makes them look more special and they stand out from regular CDs.

Others place Blu-ray Audio discs in video type cases which are a bit of a waste of space. They can get misplaced amongst your video collection.

On the other hand Dutton Vocalion uses regular jewel cases for their SACD releases. Lower cost for them I suppose, but are easily misplaced amongst your regular CDs!

Also DVD-Audio was once a popular format and were usually issued in their own special jewel case. Some recent releases say DVD-Audio on the label but are in fact DVD-Video discs, they use DTS and Dolby Digital to get surround albeit in "lossy" format.

Just a correction, I dont own an Oppo, I found a used one for $800, was wondering if thats a good price......is the reason I mentioned it
I bought a new Sony UBP X800M2 thats suppose to play SACDs, but couldn't get it to play the Rhino's as it wasn't hooked up to a TV to see the menu settings

Everything is back on hold again, as this 4 tier rack I bought to house my equipment, has these spiked legs, that makes it impossible to slide around on the carpet. Had to order some M8 stainless button head bolts. This is just a temporany solution anyway
Whats a couple more days anyway.........