There are Jap integratedes & Jap integrateds. – Did an awful lot of research on this, bought a few from Ebay before I did anything too rash. The naim kit was relocated upstairs during Feb to see if I could indeed live without it.
The ‘AU’ series Sansui amp’s from the mid to late 70’s are a very good place to start. ( better than the competition from around the same era) Things like construction & quality of components seemed to go downhill in the 1980’s and onwards.
Tbh – I think I might have just been looking for something different. I’ve had Naim kit for about the last 15 years, possibly more. Wanted to reduce the box count, it was sat in the living room where the kids seem to rule. – I end up on a battered old settee in the kitchen with a Tivoli Model 1. ( I quite like hanging out in the kitchen though – feels somehow comfortable)
There’s no denying that the Naim kit was fantastic but I was always fretting about something or other not sounding quite right – It obviously was – it was just me.
Al,
If you’re into sound systems & looking for a cheap play thing for a while, it’s worth keeping a look on Ebay to see what these things go for – A lot of the time, it’s peanuts & at that kind of price, its worth it just to ‘play’ as you can easily sell it if you get bored ( The AU317 or the MK2 version would be my preference on the bang per buck basis – The lesser AU217 sounds very open and very musical but a little lacking in that gutsy feeling, where as the AU417, whist sounding very good indeed, becomes quite an internally complex beast & the same applies the further up the line you go)
If things go wrong with it, there’s a very healthy & supportive Sansui group on AudioKarma.org
Chris