Vintage 1970's Sansui 551 Stereo Receiver. Working

Vintage 1970's Sansui 551 Stereo Receiver. Working Introduction

The Sansui 551 is a mid-range receiver that was on the market from around 1974 to 1976. It retailed for $259.95 and is a solid state receiver that produces 16 watts per channel. For a mid-range, low powered receiver it does its job well and looks good too. It has most of the connections you’d want including a phono, a tape, 2 speaker outputs, 2 AC outlets, and an AUX connection. The 551’s silver face coupled with faux wood-metal case, and the green dial scale gives it a great vintage look, and it’s smaller size makes it perfect for a small room, office, or garage. • Dimensions: 16 3/4 x 5 3/8 x 11 3/4 inches (424 x 135 x 285mm) • Weight: 19 pounds (7.7kg) The Sansui 551 really looks good lit up in a dark room too. So, how about its performance? As mentioned above it puts out 16 watts per channel so unless you’re pairing it with some smaller bookshelf speakers your speakers will need to be very efficient. Not really a problem. Total harmonic distortion is a respectable 0.8%. The FM tuner on the Sansui 551 is actually pretty good with a signal-to-noise ratio of better than 65 dB. Mechanically the 551 receiver is pretty well built. Not top quality but probably above average. It does have a couple IC’s in the phono and tuner sections which, if they go bad, can be hard to find replacements for. The 551 is the smallest receiver in the xx1 lineup that utilizes discrete main amplifier components.