Sansui Electric

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Cossack Kikuchi

Sansui Electric ( Japanese 山 水電 気 株式会社 , Sansui Denki Kabushiki-gaisha ) is a Japanese manufacturer of audio and video equipment headquartered in Tokyo .

The first factory

The high-end hi-fi company founded by Kosaku Kikuchi on June 3, 1947 initially manufactured transformers . Before and during World War II he had worked in a radio parts distributor and wanted to offer better quality, even if it was more expensive.

Naming

Sansui means mountain and water in Japanese . The term also refers to Chinese and Japanese meditation, temple or Zen gardens (Kare Sansui) as well as Sino-Japanese landscape painting (Shan-shui hua, Sansuiga).

1954 to 1980

Q-3535 , stereo tube power amplifier 1958

In 1954, Sansui had almost 100 employees and started the production of pre / power amplifier combinations, which were also available as kits; In 1958 the first stereo tube preamplifier appeared.

AU-666 transistor integrated amplifier 1970
Sansui receiver ( model 9090DB ) from the mid-seventies in Sweden
QRX-5500 quadrophonic receiver (1973–1974)

In 1961 the shares (TYO: 6793) were admitted to trading in the 2nd section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and from 1970 in the 1st section.

In terms of device technology, Sansui followed the trend towards transistor devices in the 1960s . Externally, the AU-111 1965 integrated amplifier had a black front. In 1967 the first Sansui record player was also made. From 1968 Sansui only manufactured transformers for its own use, all older transformers including the drawings went to Hashimoto Electric Co., Ltd, which had also worked for Sansui.

In 1969 Sansui had 1,699 employees, the shares were also traded in Osaka , and Sansui Audio Europe was founded in Belgium.

In the 1970s, Sansui also developed 4-channel ( quadrophonic ) devices, including some receivers, and brought these to the market as well. Sansui was also the leader in terms of the number of quadrophonic devices. The two-channel product range was expanded to include tape recorders and cassette decks .

In 1974 Kosaku Kikuchi left the company and was succeeded by Vice President Kenzo Fujiwara.

Until 1980 Sansui developed the circuit concepts Straight DC (1976) and Diamond Differential (1979, patented).

Sansui after 1980

In 1980 the Super Feedforward circuit was developed, in 1984 X-Balanced . An automatic turntable that could play an LP without turning it around and operated like a CD player had also been developed and came onto the market ( P-L95R ).

D-X301i cassette deck from the late 1980s (new logo)

In June 1987 a new company logo was introduced.

In general, Japanese companies struggled with the strong appreciation of the yen in the 1980s. Sansui made a $ 50 million loss in 1988 on sales of $ 190 million, which is why 51% of it was sold to the London company Polly Peck International the following year . In 1992, Sansui was taken over by the Canadian holding company Semi-Tech, which had to file for bankruptcy in 1999.

High-quality amplifiers were also produced in the 1990s, for example the combination C-2302 / B-2302 and the integrated amplifier AU-07 Anniversary in 1996 . Appropriate CD players were also part of the program. In 1999 the large power amplifier B-2105 with a weight of 37 kg was brought onto the market.

In 2001 the headquarters in Shi-Yokohama was closed. Inexpensive electronics were also offered under the name Sansui. In August 2011 the company belongs to The Grande Holdings , listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1987 and based in Bermuda , which sells this brand name together with Nakamichi and Akai .

The Japanese website as a hi-fi provider was maintained until January 2014; In 2014, Sansui had to cease operations due to accumulated losses. Sansui Electric China Co Ltd, founded in 2003, has remained active beyond 2014. In Japan, the sales organization Doshisha Co., Ltd. the right to manufacture and sell products under the Sansui name.

Web links

Commons : Sansui Electric  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c http://www.tube-amps.net/Sansui_Early_History.htm from February 1, 2015, accessed on April 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b brandslex.de, Sansui (March 19, 2020) , accessed on April 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ https://audio-database.com/SANSUI/amp/au-666-e.html , accessed on April 22, 2020.
  4. ↑ hifiengine.com April 2020, Sansui QRX-5500 , accessed April 18, 2020.
  5. ↑ audio-database.com, SANSUI AU-111 , accessed April 21, 2020.
  6. ↑ a b HiFi Classics 2009, Sansui history and information (archive link), accessed on April 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ hifiengine.com April 2020, Sansui Quadraphonic Receivers , accessed April 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ https://www.hifiengine.com/database/hifi_database.php?model_type=rtr&make=Sansui&mdl= , accessed on April 18, 2020.
  9. ^ Billboard, October 26, 1974, p. 4; from Google Books , accessed April 20, 2020.
  10. ↑ a b sansui.us of January 25, 2006, SANSUI Company History - Translation from SANSUI Web Site , accessed on April 18, 2020.
  11. ^ The New York Times, May 31, 1981, Sound: An Amplifier That Gilds the Lily , accessed April 18, 2018.
  12. ↑ Douglas Self, Audio Power Amplifier Design 2013 , pages 91 following (PDF, 13.7 MB), accessed on April 18, 2020.
  13. ^ The New York Times, November 11, 1984, SOUND: Separate Amplifiers Justify High Expectations , accessed April 18, 2020.
  14. ↑ https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sansui_computerized_fully_automatic_dd_turntable_p_l95r.html , accessed on April 18, 2020.
  15. ↑ sansui.us, January 25, 2006, International vs Japanese Domestic Market , accessed April 20, 2020.
  16. ↑ The New York Times October / November 1989, Polly Peck In Accord For Sansui , available April 19, 2020.
  17. ↑ hifiengine.com, April 2020, Sansui C-2302 , accessed April 20, 2020.
  18. ↑ audio-database.com, SANSUI AU-07 Anniversary Model , accessed April 18, 2020 .
  19. ↑ hifiengine.com April 2020, Sansui CD-A917XR Compact Disc Player (1994) , accessed April 18, 2020.
  20. ↑ audio-database.com, Description of the power amplifier SANSUI B-2105 MOS (English), accessed on April 18, 2020.
  21. ↑ sansui.us, January 25, 2006, The Best of SANSUI , accessed April 18, 2020.
  22. ↑ Corporate Information. The Grande Holdings Limited, accessed August 1, 2011 .
  23. ↑ Sansui Japan company website of January 21, 2014 (English, archive link), accessed on April 18, 2020.
  24. ↑ a b Nikkei Asia Review of September 23, 2018, Pioneer's woes echo those of earlier Japanese audio legends - What became of Sansui, Nakamichi, and Akai? (English), accessed on April 21, 2020.
  25. ↑ bloomberg.com, accessed April 21, 2020.
  26. ↑ sansuisound.com (website of Sansui Electric China Co Ltd) from 2017, Development history , accessed on April 21, 2020 .