Classic Retro Hi-Fi - The Sansui XR-Q7 Automatic Turntable
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- A quick look at the latest addition to my classic retro Hi-Fi setup.
You can find my other Hi-Fi videos here: • HiFi / AV
Techmoan Blog Article: goo.gl/dYCz7q
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hands down one of the best youtubers around
Sansui really did make some excellent products back in the day.
I still use a 1978 Sansui R-50 receiver/amp, and it sounds beautiful.
If you like this turntable, look at Denon DP‑47F or similar vintage players. Denon was truly building something special when they were making these. I own one of these as my automatic player -- truly a work of art, fully automated, gorgeous inside and out and the sound is actually quite good.
Just bought one of these, AND, the mark2 version with the 'S' shaped tonearm - reason for two, was a spare/parts... As it turns out, this is probably the BEST direct drive turntable I have owned. This is as quiet, as any belt drive table I have and/or owned. Top stuff indeed!
As usual, I admire how sophisticate you combine pictures, web pages, you voice with video records, and produce such high quality videos. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Maybe you can make a episode on how you create these great videos.
Yes, please!
I also have a Sansui XR Q7 and love it. Mine has the hinged dustcover
I have the sansui pl50, still running after 40 years, with some minimal maintenance now and then.
I have a Pioneer PL-10 with a Pickering XV-15 400e cartridge that I found at yard sale for $10 dollars. I gave it a new belt and stylus and it's terrific.
I had this table years ago and I miss it. Big beautiful beast.
I have an Philips FP563. I bought it on a flea market for 3€. It was sold as not functioning fully. I took apart, and realised that 1 small spring was fallen out it's place. I put it back, and since that (7years) all the automatifcs works just like a dream.
Sansui made some amazing equipment.
I used to have a Technics SL-5 which was pretty neat: direct-drive motor, linear tonearm, quite compact, and it was almost fully automatic with repeat switch. As long as you listen to standard 33 or 45 formats.
That's actually why I replaced it. It was impractical to listen to "exotic" formats and I was missing manipulating the tonearm itself.
But if you look for an automatic turntable for daily use, it's probably a good choice. I got it for a decent price years ago.
Love the finish of the Denon turntable .
I love old Sansui products!
One of the nicest automatics I've used was the Dual 1229Q.
Very well built!
A repeat but also an update. I have the Pioneer Auto return (not fully auto but whatever) PL-516 that I've had forever. Now it has a brand new (ebay) belt and a drop of light oil on the motor and it plays my 80s albums like new, where new plasticy decks have skipped, jumped and not played old albums that now sound nearly new. Buy old, set them up right and enjoy. Thx Techmoan for the inspiration.
Just got this TT last month for free. Spent £104 getting it repaired. I couldn’t be happier with it. Working spot on now. Replaces my old PL-12D
This Sansui XR-Q7 is a gem of a turntable but not easy to find. I picked one up in 2010 and was pleasantly shoicked at the audio quality. The Silent Synchrotor system basically does away with noise issues of automatic direct drive turntables. Make no mistake, this is a turntable of considerable merit which Micro Seiki probably had a hand in designing in the early 80s. Now, I would love to get hold of a rare S-arm for this to complement the straight one that came with it!
Techmoan, you and I are Brother's in Arms with the same issues. I bought the same TT from Project and did not like the Rubber Loop, Also the Head and Needle played like a Microphone up way too loud on my older Receiver but most of all the lack of an Auto-Return Arm. This Drives me Crazy!
I left it on one night and it almost carved a perfect/hole/circle at the end of one of my prize Jazz Lps.
Therefore, I did the same thing you did shopped hard and ordered an old Dependable TT from EBay.
I bought a 1977 KD 2055 Kenwood with the Marble Base. It cost me $120 w/Shipping as the Electrical Cord was pulled out of the base, $125 for a Stereo Electrician (I Found an Old Stereo Repair Guy working out of his Garage) to Fix it properly and $120 for the Needle. $365 Complete.
It sound incredible, looks great and does not skip. You probably remember these TT's for the days of Great Plentiful Music.
Looking for another one for Upstairs and will explore the Sansui Brand.
Bob in Denver
Bill Smit I think there might be quite a few of us out there. People who own vinyl but don't want to play it on a manual device or on a plasticy hipster suitcase record player. The second hand market is always a bit of a gamble (especially as most people won't have access to a repair chap like yours) - so it's a surprise that there aren't a few more fully auto players around from proper manufacturers.
That turntable is awesome I'm saving up for the pro-ject classic and they look almost the same.
I have a Pro-Ject turntable and i listen to DT Images & Words that i recently got. It plays fantastic and I&W is one of my favorite DT albums.
Now that is a great looking turntable and this is a great channel, love it.
Memorizes, Back in 1969 I had a complete Sansui system. Amp. per-amp, tuner, real to real, turn table, and towers on either side. All black face with a lot of knobs, lol. I was king.
We have one of these sitting in my dad's music room.
It's been extremely reliable, running flawlessly for years.
I am completely happy with my Thorens TD 316 II, which I own since 1990. A great and extremely reliable turntable. The only thing I ever had to replace was the belt 2 years ago. Apart from that - absolutely no issues...
I’m enjoying my Sansui XR/Q5.Great looking & sounding turntable.
I always wanted one of these amazing, electronic, fully automatic, programable, autochanging LP players from 70s, they had track select, shuffle function, timer, autoflip, LP select and cost like a midrange car.
Got myself a Dual 1229 last year, it is fantastic, just needs a service. But that´s as high end as I will go.
Superb choice! Beautiful turntable!
Lots of classic fully automatic turntables to be found 2nd hand. Luxman and Denon also made great turntables back in the 80ies and 90ies. They're getting pricey, but they'll give you a lifetime of no nonsense listening so they're well worth the money.
Your videos have me wanting to set up a hi-fi system in my home... as if I needed another expensive hobby. ;)
I love all those late 70's to early 80's stereo stuff. I remember as a kid checking out places like Kelly's Stereo Mart, A&B Sound , House of Stein, and even Radio Shack(in its heyday) and other stores. looking at high end turntables, speakers, FM tuners, amps, reel 2 reels, and cool boom boxes too, Todays electronics are so ugly and cheaped out now. I totally avoid it.
I Love Sansui Speakers 🔊, Amplifiers, and Turntables! Japan 🇯🇵 makes them the Best!
What a beautiful looking machine. Mechanism also looked wonderful.
That turntable sounds like a right steal, what a lovely piece of kit! :)
Just got into vinyl and got a dual 1228 turntable with a pioneer sa 420 amplifier and some B&W dm110 speakers I am so happy ^^
Kenwood, Thorens or a Sansui will be next to fit in at my system...like this unit very much.
The problem today is that there are very few mid-range products. The market tends to have two variants. Crap cheaply made junk that sounds terrible and very well built gear that will burn holes in your bank account for years.
I wish there were more sensibly priced, decent quality units. Unfortunately it's pay up or make do
Or in this case looking at used units. Once found a Panasonic automatic record player for my friend for nothing(Retired man was moving to CD's) and it only needed the belt replaced! $9 part in total.
Nick Schafer But, you often need to replace the stylus too, because after all that use it is most likely worn. Using a worn stylus degrades the sound and damages the records. But, a decent used table, with new stylus and new belt (if not direct drive), should still be more affordable than high end modern turntables
Mac McCardle I agree 100%, and yes that's why I ended up taking a gamble by shipping on eBay and having delicate equipment shipped around the world. I visited a couple of HiFi shops first, but they didn't know of any good mid-range auto decks. I'd have preferred to have bought a new machine.
Techmoan We're in the same boat that's for sure. You can get some really decent 70's era gear for a good price these days IF you're lucky. Often the prices are pushed out by the hipster type market which has created a demand for turntables.
I personally like the "boring" no nonsense, all metal designs on high end audio gear. The late 70-80's produced some ugly designs as well as some gorgeous and timeless ones.
Problem with online buying for me is shipping to NZ, you might as well buy a half-decent one new from a store for the price.
Mac McCardle Ebay is particularly bad for large items to NZ. You're often lucky if they even offer some ridiculously priced shipping option at all, in my experience
Wow that's a beautiful deck!
Remember turntables where you could stack multiple 45's on the central spindle and the next one would be dropped into place after the last one finished playing.
Loved those
David Smith If you liked those then here are a couple of record players that take the stacking idea up a notch...
Thorens td 224
1938 Garrard RC-100 Turn-over Record Changer
Clunky but cool
The dust cover was an option on some of the turntables of the 1970s and 1980s, and when equipped with one, it was typically removable without the use of tools. The reasoning was that Hi-Fi enthusiasts often installed their turntables in cabinets with glass doors, making a cover on the turntable superfluous and possibly an annoyance. My turntable, made by BSR, came with a removable cover that tilts up for access, and since it sits on an open shelf, the cover is useful. For an old turntable, such as the one discussed here, one could readily have a plastic fabrication shop make a cover out of 1/8-inch clear or tinted acrylic sheet that would look as good as the factory original.
Love the retro analog machines.
Sansui have made very good products in te 70s and 80s. I have 4 speakers of them. Type Es200. Still sounding smooth since mid 70s. And they look good too!
we had an old console stereo with a turn table that would hold a stack of records and just drop the next one after the last one play and it worked quite well !!!
It's fun to see this stuff again, although I'm glad that I don't own this kind of stuff anymore.
It's in 45 so you get it over with quicker ;-). I just bought a PL-990 myself, and I love it. I have a disability which means I needed a hand to set the belt up (and that if I was going to get a turntable it made sense to get an automatic one), but I'm very happy with my (internal) belt drive turntable.
That's the one I've got. You see it when techmoan's scrolling thru the cheap decks. Super value for money and a lovely sound. I prefer vinyl for classical music, the PioneerPL990 has a beautiful tone. Techmoan perhaps do a review of it. There are a few kicking about at Superfi in Manchester.
Maybe you've done this allready and I've just been to lazy to find it. BUT. I would love to see a video where you talk about Vinylrecords and the pro's and con's with the media!
Got a 1975 Teac PX550 direct drive turntable... really good deck.
Has quartz-lock so no faffing with speed controls has semi-automatic mechanism.
I got the Dual CS4551. Was like eight hundred but honestly I use it every day. The right setup can make or break your love for vinyl.
Always avoid Urban Outfitters too btw.
I remember I made comment about the Pioneer tape deck on some other video already, now its good to mention again that maybe someday you find time to make longer video about that, with all the functions and things. Thanks
When I got my turntable I was looking for something simmilar (electronic fully auto as the mechanical ones tend to get stuck like my parents semi-auto did when i wanted to use it, 1/2 inch cart mount and ofc direct drive) and ended up getting a Denon Df-23 for rather cheap and I considder it one of my best audio gear purchases so far. Yea it's plastic but I like the look and it just works. It has quarz locked speed and very simple arm setup (just counterbalance and single force/antiskate dial and tracks INSNELY well. I literally had it skip only twice in like 2 years and that was due to hair that fell on it while running, even tho i have it set quite below recomended tracking force. The automatic also works very well and I much prefer it over the manual ones.
So if you are looking for a good beginner turntable, i can highly recomend that one
When I was a toddler in the late nineties nearly all of our music as children was played on record players. It was easy to switch around on without tilting up the dust cover. When I was in high school in the late two thousands we played around with a bunch of portable manual ones from the 80s i think. It was pretty cool rapping over beats on real records though..
Another of your always excellent videos...I too, remember how well built, solid and heavy the audio gear was in the late 60's---70's period was...it seemed into the mid 80's everything became really cheaply made, lightweight etc.....I still listen to cassettes,. Reel to reel, vinyl and cd...I inherited my father's stereo setup...it has a Scott lk48 valve type amp circa 1965. And an old "hi Fi mono" era "connoisseur" turntable made by SR Sugden&co..( Brighouse, England)...it's a rim drive, so a little noisy for today's standards,. Years ago, he had fitted an "ortophon" tone arm, today it has a fairly bog standard..Shure cartridge...it still performs quite well.... anyway, love seeing all the old school and unique equipment, you showcase...keep up the good work....a definate 'fan' from Canada
Youre speaking out of my mind!
The Pro-Ject turntables look awsome at fair prices but the don't have full auto and I really don't want to miss that comfort. As you said modern Records sometimes play only 10 minutes per side so thats really annoying. There really are no fullauto turntables on the market today (except the Denon). I'm glad I have my Dual 1226 (37 years old). It even has a dropaxis mechanism which a lot of folks today have never seen before.
Nice score dude. I remember Sansui from the 70's. I'm looking forward to setting up like you have one day. Thanks for sharing that find. You're right--It's a major hassle to have to get up and take the stylus away before the needle catches the label. Happy listening and dozing after a long day.
I got a new Sony belt drive for $100.00, and it is a very nice fully automatic turntable!
I have a nice BSR Accuglide. you can pop around 6 records on it and it will automatically lift up and grab the next and continue playing.
I loved the automatic turntables you used to get where you could stack the records at the top of the spindle and watch them drop down as each record finished. I had great fun as a kid trying to see how many 7" discs I could pile on there. I wonder if any of those are still available.
+grahamlive They haven't made turntables like those for probably 30 years now, but old used ones are pretty common.
+grahamlive Had the same thing. . . Not many 7 inch singles, though, but it was sure fun.
Crosley made one (called the Stack-o-Matic) in the early 2000s. Basically a BSR clone, except belt-driven instead of an idler.
Congratulations on a successful eBay turntable transaction. Kind of down on it because of inadequate packing.
This is why i love the 60s and 70s versions of vm and zenith stackers
I've noticed as well that there is a dearth of automatic record players on the market. Maybe one day you'll collaborate with tech start ups or do a Kickstarter to bring back retro high fi for a new generation!
love that turntable
Sweet! In original box n packing. Yes, I don't like new TT's either. This Sansui of your's reminds me of my Realistic LAB-440, fully automatic w/wood plinth. Mine has a pitch control though w/orange strobe. I love the direct drive too.
I had some 3ft tall Sansui speaker cabinets. They included pa style megaphone speakers with several various size speakers.
Best sounding speakers I've owned... but they weighed a ton.
I've got a few bits and bobs and was really into HiFi in the80s love your channel subbed
Oh man. Let it go on vinyl.
You know thats a good test track.
Great one! I miss the auto return and stop of the needle my previous turntable had (Technics slbd3 ) but it was belt driven and drove me crazy because it was not very precise with the 33 1/3 rpm it was suppose to be taking. So I got an MKII direct drive, which is steady as a train, but unfortunately does not have this function, which is extremely useful. And although I wouldn't use the rest of the functions of your new turntable, I am a bit jealous.
Mr. Techmoan is too cool for school .
I really get into your videos. One thing you have not covered in vintage hi-fi, is a audio compressor/dynamic range enhancer. I've had a dbx 118 Compressor/Dynamic Range Enhancer since 1980's and its great... it can enhance the quality of any audio source, even CD's. i played an elton john cd (analog to digital) and ran it through the dynamic range enhancer and listened. The piano sounded so realistic. Check it out techmoan!!!
I have a trio of turntables myself, all Pioneer, first one I got was the PL-300, S-arm, direct drive, semi-automatic (manual-start, auto-return), but had a split gear on the motor causing it to click when the return operated, next was a PL-400, same as the 300 but fully automatic (and my "daily driver"), and then I got a PL-720, also fully-auto but with a straight arm and a lighter weight platter, also had it's tails docked (flippin' cable cutters, I hate 'em!!) so I turned the 300 into a spare parts unit and fixed up the 720 by stealing it's phono and power cables, but, the 720's not as good as my 400... :)
I bought an Sr 212 off ebay (sansui) and it's an amazing deck.
The problem with today's market is that vintage products are big business: marketeers (successfully) try to evoke nostalgia in consumer's tastes, which can be seen with youngsters starting to buy vinyl in a digital age where music can be heard by just tapping on your phone. The result: the lower segment of the vinyl players currently available on the contemporary market can be considered junk (cheap materials, plastic needles, low quality sound by the use of in-built speakers etc. *read i.e. Crosley here*).
The low-end turntable I would recommend is the Nikkei NTT01U, which I got for my 21st birthday last year. It costed me around 80 EUR (I live in The Netherlands), it has a good quality stylus, auto-stop function, it's belt driven, has a USB 2.0-port (for recording purposes, and a pretty decent pre-amp (which allows me to connect it to my soundbar without spending a lot of money on hi-fi equipment. If others are looking for a low-end record player to enjoy the amazing hobby of listening/collecting vinyl, please, give this one a try.
That is just a thing of pure beauty!
I'd love to see that Pioneer cassette deck get its own video. Keep up the good work.
That Project RPM turntable looks like it was specifically designed to produce epic wow and flutter with that loose-fitting belt! You have to move the belt to a different sized pulley to change the speed? Sounds like a great way to stretch the belt and wear it out, and also, well, it falls off easily. Perfect example of style over substance!
+Simon Coles Yeah, and some "pros" on Instagram that I see love those turntables. Just why, though? They're junk.
That manual turntable in the beginning is attractive, but only an idiot would have designed that pulley arrangement. The platter should have flanges on it to keep the belt in place when the tension is removed. I guess that would ruin the Apple-esque minimalist chic, but that's the engineer in me talking.
Just having a flat-profile belt would do the trick. It wouldn't roll up & down the side of the platter like the round one does.
Excellent turntable, very heavy platter. Thanks for sharing
The whole point of a turntable these days is the manual actions involved, the labor involved to listen to a full album, all contributing to you enjoying the experience so much more.
If you want easy, get an IPod/pad/phone/whatever, probably better sound and you can play whatever you want without having to go trough a huge stack of records just to find the one you want to listen to.
+Alfred Stampe you forgot to add...'in your opinion'.
+Techmoan I am old enough to remember when a turntable was genuinely the top sound quality solution to your system, but then came the CD, with its incredible signal to noise ratio and huge dynamic range. Something even the best Thorens/Ortofon combination could never do. And with that came the remote control, now you could just skip tracks and select any song/position with just a few simple clicks.
+Alfred Stampe
Yes CD has higher sinal to noise ratio but it also has drawbacks compared to vinyl which sounds less mechanical, is less fatiguing, have conveys a greater sense of being there and is frankly more musical. In my opinion of course.
Like your retro Hi-FI.I`m after a Pioneer CT-95 analog cassette deck from the early 90`s ,no luck yet.It was the best analog deck you could buy at the time but at $1500 out of my reach.I`ll keep looking.Anyway Be Good........
Nice, I had one fully automatic from sony decades ago.. it also detected the lp size on it's own.
I bought one of these new years ago. I was very happy with it until the platter started spinning in reverse. I got no help from Sansui, so into the garbage it went. I do remember it seeming to be incredibly well built, with a very heavy platter.
There really needs to be a modern turntable that takes advantage of old and new technologies. Then again it’s an antiquated music format, take what you can get.
Today you can find automatic only on cheap plastic belt-drive units. All from decent to very good direct-drive turntables are fully manual. I think the reason for this is because market has changed. DD units are primary intended for DJ purposes, so they need to be without automatic mechanism. Because turntable market is still a niche, it would be too expensive to made separate version for hifi use with automatic. So you can buy only a DJ version of direct-drive turntable.
That is truly beautiful turntable.
I agree wholehearthly your comments.
That looks really nice. You forget how well things were made back then. Please do a review on the tape deck when you get time. I love vintage hifi. Cheers.
When it comes to vinyl, you can't beat furniture.
I have the audio technica atlp 60 and it's great
Automatic? Direct Drive? Quartz Lock? Goddamn that table was cutting edge in it's day! I still prefer the strobe on my SL1300 however.
You can get a device made by Pro-Ject which changes the speed of their turntables without the need to touch the belt.
Sansui made some great gear back in the day.
i got a sony ps lx5 fully automatic direct drive with a shure m97xe
very nice working
I have a stack of inexpensive (second hand and well used) vinyl that I play on a BSR record changer in a Murphy stereogram. Sure, they're not a nice unit, some say they can be responsible for irreversible damage to the records, but I don't really care. I'm actually very happy with the sound, but I'm a bit of an anti-audiophile.
Cheap, functional, fun, and entertaining. Electro-mechanical, and most importantly retro. The whole console cost me a total of $42.
That sounds really nice. My gran had a wooden stereogram and the sound from it was loud and bassy. I have some of the old 1960's records I used to play on it and they sound tinny through my new Pioneer turntable and hifi. Both pretty good items i may add.
Old is Gold. Someone take me back to the 80s please.
It is a beautiful table, I have the pioneer competitor to that the PL-707 also a very nice table. I wouldn't trust my vinyl to any modern player less than about 300-400 dollars if at all, the Japanese had it right in the 80's pure performance and nice looks all in one.
As of right now, I own a Jensen JTA-220, which is a very recent device. I received it for my 12th birthday in 2014, and as good as it is, I'm thinking of getting an automatic turntable. Mine is fully manual, and (in a way) is similar to those Crosley machines. The arm has popped off a few times, and it uses these crummy built-in speakers. I have it hooked up to a pair of Kenwood speakers from the 70's, which sound good but always fall off my table. I'm keeping an eye out for an automatic machine in good condition, as I said. My only problem: my table is quite small.
[EDIT, OCTOBER 2017] I’ve been through two turntables since this comment was written. The first was an Audio Technica AT-LP60 belt drive turntable, which lasted me about 9 months before the belt began slipping and wrecking the speed. Since April of this year, I’ve been using a Denon DP-23F direct drive from 1986, which is an excellent turntable that (fingers crossed) has served me with no problems. I love it.
A video of the panasonic tape deck would be great. The cassette mount looks interesting. I recently bought a vintage marantz sd351.
Very nice turntable!
A very nice turntable. I've got the poor man's version. The (Fully Automatic) Realistic LAB-440 from the 1980's which I've installed a Ortofon Super OM30 cartridge.
To think all of the people who through out their vinyl records when CD's came out. Now vinyl is back in and coming in strong. I knew a guy back in the early 90's traveling to cities far away to buy used and new vinyl records for his massive collection, he hatted CD and said vinyl sounded more musical. His stereo was worth 30 thousand dollars. His 2 speakers were worth 10 grand.
Might want to look for an ADC Acutrack 6, an automatic with an umbrella spindle that could actually be programmed to play any set of tracks from any of 6 records (the way a CD changer can), in any order. If the record requested had already dropped, it had a little elevator built into the platter to raise the whole stack and find it again.