Sansui QS-D1000 Decoder

[bigbillquad]

Hi. All

I am a Sansui fanatic, I have about 8 QRX Quad receivers and a Sansui reel to reel & a QSD-2 stand alone decoder. the one item I thought I would never own is the pinnacle of vintage QS Decoders the QS-D1000 the last one on eBay I saw was about 1 1/2 years ago and it sold for $1600.00 us, way out of my reach.
But I have just purchased one on the Japanese Auction sites I go to, its in mint condition and have just finished going through a load of QS recordings and it sounds fantastic plus I tried some Stereo cd through the synthesizer and all so sounded fantastic so how much did it cost me well $545.00 us that includes postage & NZ tax here it is....

 

[sjcorne]

Very nice! You don't see those too often. I was under the impression that the QSD-1000 is basically the same as the QSD-2 in terms of decoding (single-band variomatrix), while the QSD-1 is tri-band variomatrix.

My QSD-2 is still going, but I think the Involve decoder actually does a better job on QS-encoded material.

 

[bigbillquad]

Very nice! You don't see those too often. I was under the impression that the QSD-1000 is basically the same as the QSD-2 in terms of decoding (single-band variomatrix), while the QSD-1 is tri-band variomatrix.

My QSD-2 is still going, but I think the Involve decoder actually does a better job on QS-encoded material.

Hi. sjcorne

Yes I would agree with you on the fact that the QSD-1 with tri-band variomatrix sounded better than the QSD-1000 that's why the SM is tri-band , but there is a sleight technical better separation on the QSD-1000 which is nit picking you can say, but it was Sansui LAST attempt in there QS system..

 

[jefe1]

I never had a QSD1 but I thought the D1000 sounded fantastic much better than the decoder in the Sansui qrx9001. It did a much better job and I really noticed greater separation when synthesisizing quad from stereo.

 

[Soundfield]

Hi. All

I am a Sansui fanatic, I have about 8 QRX Quad receivers and a Sansui reel to reel & a QSD-2 stand alone decoder. the one item I thought I would never own is the pinnacle of vintage QS Decoders the QS-D1000 the last one on eBay I saw was about 1 1/2 years ago and it sold for $1600.00 us, way out of my reach.
But I have just purchased one on the Japanese Auction sites I go to its in mint condition and have just finished going through a lode of QS recordings and it sounds fantastic plus I tried some Stereo cd through the synthesizer and all so sounded fantastic so how much did it cost me well $545.00 us that includes postage & NZ tax here it is....


View attachment 37557View attachment 37558View attachment 37559View attachment 37560View attachment 37561View attachment 37562View attachment 37563

Really interesting bit of kit there Bill, nice find! Any idea as to the date of manufacture? Whilst there are some LPs stuffed down beside the RH speaker in the brochure I note that there is no record deck on view and there are some CD's on top of the LH speaker - all very modern!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Hey Bill! Congratulations!
The QS-D1000 not only sounds great it looks like the class act that it is.
Although a single band decoder it is quite different from a QSD-2 or QRX. It is the only Sansui decoder to use a bi-polar power supply with much improved discrete input/inter-stage/output & phase shift correction. Because of the bi-polar supply many (not all!) coupling caps can be removed & wired straight. As in other mods the blend resistors can be removed.

I have owned in the past a QSD- 1 & 2 and of course the D1000 at present. Over all impressions between the three is the QSD-1 has the most stable decoded image but not greater seperation than the other two units. Also it is the lowest fidelity sound of the two just sounding a bit dirtier due to all that old & complex analog circuitry. The D-2 is cleaner but the D1000 is really neutral. If there could be such a thing as a straight wire decoder this would be it.

Gotta laugh at the SUPER AV SOUND pic. All 4 speakers lined up as a stereo pair. Not much surround but quite a wide soundscape.

Interesting that our serial numbers are so different: AA3605711M. Purchased through Dave Vacarro it is a true Japanese piece of gear requiring a 100V step down xfmr. In the last couple of years it has developed problems & quite honestly as much as I love this piece of gear I am holding off repairing it as I'm jumping at the chance to get the new SM V2. Problem is the SM V2 does not have the same surround synthesis or hall mode or multi input selection. I have a feeling I will be pulling the SM V2 board out & make a more inclusive DIY configuration in a larger enclosure.

Enjoy your toy!

 

[fizzywiggs41]

Hi. All

I am a Sansui fanatic, I have about 8 QRX Quad receivers and a Sansui reel to reel & a QSD-2 stand alone decoder. the one item I thought I would never own is the pinnacle of vintage QS Decoders the QS-D1000 the last one on eBay I saw was about 1 1/2 years ago and it sold for $1600.00 us, way out of my reach.
But I have just purchased one on the Japanese Auction sites I go to its in mint condition and have just finished going through a lode of QS recordings and it sounds fantastic plus I tried some Stereo cd through the synthesizer and all so sounded fantastic so how much did it cost me well $545.00 us that includes postage & NZ tax here it is....

That's a real beauty Bill.

Congratulations .......you bagged yourself probably ( MOST LIKELY ) the best Sansui QS Decoder ever made.





Really should have picked one up when (just like sonic wiz ) Dave Vacarro offered one for sale at a decent price.

In my defense , I still had my QSD -2 up and running.

 

[bigbillquad]

Really interesting bit of kit there Bill, nice find! Any idea as to the date of manufacture? Whilst there are some LPs stuffed down beside the RH speaker in the brochure I note that there is no record deck on view and there are some CD's on top of the LH speaker - all very modern!

Hi. Soundfield

I am not quite sure about the time it came out I think about the early 82 to 84 if you look at the second photo at the bottom it has 1989 I think this was its last year in production.

Hi. Sonik Wiz

Its hard to make comment on a item you need to have the 2 item set up to do a A-B test listen, and you have had these units to pass comment on I now the D1000 is technically better and thanks for your comments...

Hi. fizzywiggs

Yes it's simple and elegant and looks modern even for todays looks as I have said I am a Sansui fanatic and I am over the moon in requiring it but I will still be buying the SM v2.

 

[bigbillquad]

I have come into some information on the number of Sansui QS D-1000 units that where made "by the serial number".

My QSD-1000 serial number is: 215120245 . Here's what that tells you! The first two digits "21" is the assembly line it was manufactured on. At their peak Sansui had 5-7 factories running in Japan. Each had multiple assembly lines.........but they all were uniquely numbered. But, bottomline ALL QSD-1000's were made on assembly line 21. Interesting fact; Assembly line 21 was also used for the QSD-1..........many were made on it along with line 22 and 23. AND, assembly line 23 was the main QRX assembly line producing all of the QRX-8001/9001/999 units and some of the other quad receivers. The next digit "5" on MY unit tells you the year it was made. You have to know the decade as the serial number doesn't define that. So, a 5 could be 1965, 1975, 1985, or 1995. But, we already know for sure it is 1985 as there wasn't any QSD-1000 in 1975. And, by 1995 Sansui was already bankrupt. the next two digits are the "month of production". "12" on MY unit indicates December. The last four digits are the actual production serial number.........which always began with "0001" and counted up in order to the end of the production run.

So here is MY serial number spelled out: 215120245. Assembly line 21, produced December 1985, and it was the 245th unit produced during that production run.

We don't know "how many" were made in each production run.............but we have a pretty good estimate based upon the highest serial number we've seen produced. For the December 1985 production run the highest serial number I know of is: 215120434. So, I would give a pretty educated guess that it was 500 or less units. I hope this gives you a insight of the QS D-1000 production run...
BBQ.

 

[bigbillquad]

Hey Bill! Congratulations!
The QS-D1000 not only sounds great it looks like the class act that it is.
Although a single band decoder it is quite different from a QSD-2 or QRX. It is the only Sansui decoder to use a bi-polar power supply with much improved discrete input/inter-stage/output & phase shift correction. Because of the bi-polar supply many (not all!) coupling caps can be removed & wired straight. As in other mods the blend resistors can be removed.

I have owned in the past a QSD- 1 & 2 and of course the D1000 at present. Over all impressions between the three is the QSD-1 has the most stable decoded image but not greater seperation than the other two units. Also it is the lowest fidelity sound of the two just sounding a bit dirtier due to all that old & complex analog circuitry. The D-2 is cleaner but the D1000 is really neutral. If there could be such a thing as a straight wire decoder this would be it.

Gotta laugh at the SUPER AV SOUND pic. All 4 speakers lined up as a stereo pair. Not much surround but quite a wide soundscape.

Interesting that our serial numbers are so different: AA3605711M. Purchased through Dave Vacarro it is a true Japanese piece of gear requiring a 100V step down xfmr. In the last couple of years it has developed problems & quite honestly as much as I love this piece of gear I am holding off repairing it as I'm jumping at the chance to get the new SM V2. Problem is the SM V2 does not have the same surround synthesis or hall mode or multi input selection. I have a feeling I will be pulling the SM V2 board out & make a more inclusive DIY configuration in a larger enclosure.

Enjoy your toy!

Hi. Sonik Wiz

I am wondering the serial number you quoted of your QS D-1000 unit is correct because It does not correlate with the standard D-1000 serial number ???

 

[Sonik Wiz]

I am wondering the serial number you quoted of your QS D-1000 unit is correct because It does not correlate with the standard D-1000 serial number ???

Firstly that is fascinating info! Where/how did you discover that?

Secondly, I wanted to reply ASAP to your first note so I took a very hasty look at QSD-1000 in my Closet of Quad:

And wrote it down on a Post It note. Buffoon that I can be I probably read off the wrong note when back at my PC.

Lastly here is the correct SN. I read it as Assembly line 21, produced in February 1991, the 436th unit.

Have you had a chance to play with yet? Any evaluations?

 

[Soundfield]

I took a very hasty look... in my Closet of Quad:

I recognise some of that stuff! In particular the infamous NRDC Ambisonic Decoder - I built mine from the kit - despite the cost, time and effort it was a very poor matrix decoder and I was very disappointed! And I spy a Tandy/Realistic/Radio Shack graphic equaliser - the only piece of audio kit I've ever had that had a case made out of hardboard (!) - I only bought mine for the sexy LED spectrum analyser display. Happy days!

 

[Circular Vibes]

Firstly that is fascinating info! Where/how did you discover that?

Secondly, I wanted to reply ASAP to your first note so I took a very hasty look at QSD-1000 in my Closet of Quad:
View attachment 37714

And wrote it down on a Post It note. Buffoon that I can be I probably read off the wrong note when back at my PC.

View attachment 37715

Lastly here is the correct SN. I read it as Assembly line 21, produced in February 1991, the 436th unit.

Have you had a chance to play with yet? Any evaluations?

Now, THERE is a closet I'd go into.

 

[Soundfield]

Lastly here is the correct SN. I read it as Assembly line 21, produced in February 1991, the 436th unit.

Actually, isn't it the same batch as Bill's, i.e. Assembly line 21, produced December 1985?

 

[Sonik Wiz]

I recognise some of that stuff! In particular the infamous NRDC Ambisonic Decoder - I built mine from the kit - despite the cost, time and effort it was a very poor matrix decoder and I was very disappointed! And I spy a Tandy/Realistic/Radio Shack graphic equaliser - the only piece of audio kit I've ever had that had a case made out of hardboard (!) - I only bought mine for the sexy LED spectrum analyser display. Happy days!

Ha Thanks for the reply!
My honeymoon was in the UK. We had a London hotel for two weeks & we traveled out from there. One phone call, train ride plus taxi I was at the Integrex factory. Strange business park looked like somewhere they would film old Avengers location shots. Anyway I'm glad I didn't have to build mine. The Super Stereo didn't do anything simpler methids did better. But really I don't know how good the decoder actually was since I never found anything that was a definitive demo. UHJ never had a DSotM.

That ten band RS graphic EQ was an upgrade from the five band

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Actually, isn't it the same batch as Bill's, i.e. Assembly line 21, produced December 1985?

Of course you are correct. There's no way production would have made it into th 90's even with one last production run.
I am now freshly retired so I plan on giving my Tate 101A & QS-D1000 some TLC repair work.

 

[ss9001]

Beautiful piece of audio gear regardless of whether it's better than the QSD1 or not And a really great find in such excellent condition! I have a QSD1 that I got off ebay & had restored. While it's superior to my restored & modded QXR9001 (owned since '79), the QSD1 can't compare to the QSD1000 in elegance.

bigbillquad, you did good!

 

[Soundfield]

I am now freshly retired so I plan on giving my Tate 101A & QS-D1000 some TLC repair work.

Good luck with that. Now I've retired I've an ever growing list of projects, and I'm easily seduced onto the next one!

My honeymoon was in the UK. We had a London hotel for two weeks & we traveled out from there. One phone call, train ride plus taxi I was at the Integrex factory. Strange business park looked like somewhere they would film old Avengers location shots. Anyway I'm glad I didn't have to build mine.

That was some honeymoon - you know how to treat a lady! The instructions for the kit give the address for Integrex as Burton -on-Trent a good two and a half hours by train from London!!

Those instructions weren't very comprehensive, they sort of assumed you knew what you were doing and had read the associated Wireless World articles.

 

[DuncanS]

Out of curiosity I must dig out my old wireless World and see if I have those articles, but I think the earliest one I still have is May 1975

 

[Sonik Wiz]

That was some honeymoon - you know how to treat a lady!

As I remember there was a plethora of audio shops on Reagents street. Unlike USA where an audio store carries several brands this was a situation where you could go into the Sony shop, or the JVC shop. At the former I also purchased a Sony FM digital tuner. Why buy a Japanese tuner that would need a step up xfmr back home? Because it had an extra short wave band on it that I thought was so cool. Turned out be useless.

Funny story then I promise to stay on topic. One day we we're strolling about Leicester Square when I was overwhelmed by a huge promotional structure. It was tall maybe three stories, made to look like brick structure with huge neon letters spelling out THE WALL. I count myself as a PF fan since Atom Heart but with a new job, getting married & buying a house I had no idea what it was all about. A quick check of the news stand set me right. A great chance to see a Pink Floyd movie in London. But when I saw the cost was a whopping $5 American I said no way. I had other things to spend my money on. Like Glenfiddich! I never did see The Wall in a movie theater.


RE: Instructions
Really? That was it? As you said you we're dissa[pointed in the performance. A kit of that complexity with bad directions would have left me wondering if I had screwed up somewhere. But no I think it just had marginal performance.