Sansui 661 receiver recap

Another recap work. This time on the work bench was Sansui 661 receiver. I have found it at the Goodwill store. Paid $40 which is kinda high for a thrift store but still less than a half the price I would have to pay on Ebay. I have always liked the sound of xx1 series of Sansui receivers. Also starting with 661 and up, I think that the design is really cool. Somehow I do not like the black buttons on 551 and lower models.

The receiver is in a really good shape. No nicks in wood cover, face plate is also scratch free and after cleaning the buttons, I have a very clean 661. I have tested it with headphones and determined that everything works as it should. Very faint scratchiness in the pots but other than that, no other problems. I have decided to keep this one and sell the AU-101 amplifier that I had (also recapped).

This particular receiver is not hard to recap. There is total of 52 electrolytic capacitors. That’s about $26 in parts from Mouser.com. You just have to pay attention because there is a couple of non-polar capacitors. Other than that it is pretty straight forward. This time I have used Panasonic FC capacitors except maybe one or two which Mouser did not have. Those I have substituted with Nichicons. The only substitutions were the two big capacitors on the power supply board. The values were upgraded from 3300uF 35V to 4700uF 50V. All other values remained the same though I have sometimes increased the maximum voltage just because it was easier to order the capacitors this way.

Here is couple of pictures from the recap.

The whole process took me two evenings because of a mistake I made ordering polarized capacitors instead of non-polarized. After the recap, I have connected the receiver thru a dim bulb tester and fired it up. No smoke, no exploding caps. That’s always a good sign. Attached iPod to the AUX, plugged in some $20 headphones and heard the music. Recap was successful.

As to the difference in sound, I think the Sansui showed similar sound change as my Marantz receiver. Everything got clearer and more dynamic. Though I am not good at describing the sound so just think about this recap as a precaution to extend the lifespan of this nice receiver.

Sansui has different sound than Marantz. To me it is easier on the ears but not as warm. The lows could be overwhelming if not adjusted. The loudness makes a lot more impact than the same function in Marantz.

One problem that this receiver still has is a loud pop when turning it off and one of the bulbs if flickering. The first problem I am currently trying to fix. The bulb is either old or maybe there is a cold solder joint on the board. I am going to upgrade the bulbs with LEDs anyway. Also on the list is upgrade of the spring loaded speaker terminals for some nice banana posts.