Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners New (to me) Amplifier?

Hi everybody;

I know that this is the Axiom forum but you have never steered me wrong in the past so here goes...
I have a chance to buy a used Sanaui Integrated Amplifier (AU-717 Dual Mono design, 85 wpc) and was wondering if it was worth it. I'll go look at it tomorrow so assuming it is in fine working order... is it worth 300$ Canadian?

I intend to use it as a two channel amp to power my mains. My mains are M22's presently but I hope to purchase M80's soon as I listen to a lot of two channel stereo (redundant?) as well as home theatre.

Maybe by the time I'm ready to purchase Axiom will have a new/updated flagship. Any rumours???

Thanks everybody...
Rob in Ottawa

Im not sure what 300 in canadian is but the 717 is a good amp. You can go to www.audiokarma.org and check out past threads of the sansui.. we have a dedicated forum just for sansui gear. If the sansui is in nice condition you might wanna pick it up but as they get older they can experience problems so watch out for things like dirty volume pots, and if possible id measure the DC offset of the amp. if you have a digital multi meter and know how to use it i can tell you more..

Hi Haoleb;

Thanks for the web site. Lots of good info there. $300 Canadian is about $200 or so US$. I do have a multimeter but I don't know which setting to use or where to touch the leads on the amp to test. In addition, what would a 'good' reading be? I'll give it a go tomorrow and see how it sounds; check the volume for scratchiness etc.

Thanks again... you guys are always very helpful.

I guess $200 isint a bad price for a good 717, its not a real deal. If you search ebay most of them are ending at around $180-200. I have a AU-517 which doesnt work too well, it needs to have some parts replaced but when it does work its a nice amp. The sound is a little lean compared to my NAD amp but i havent ever tried my axioms on it.

Honestly i think that it will leave somethings to be desired if you hook it up to the M80's because they would probbly sound better with a better amp but for 200 dollars i doubt you will be able to get anything built as good as those old sansui's

As far as measuring DC offset of the amp you can go to this thread:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?s=70356b787ba6bcfa1f128c3b8f3d81a2&threadid=5634

and read how to do it. it will give you a good idea of what kind of shape the amp is in electronically. Luckly you dont have to open the cover or know alot about electronics to do it, so you can measure the amp before you decide to buy it.

i dont know about the 22s or the amp you mentioned,but if you plan on getting the m80s you might want a more powerfull amp than 85wpc...ron

Thanks guys;

I went to see the amp on Tuesday and it was in mint condition. Clean sound, clean inside, great amp. Its all hooked up now, driving the M22's. Looks pretty good in the audio rack. Darn thing is heavy!