You need to pick and choose carefully. Not all Japanese kit was good, but there are some classics among them. Unfortunately, vendors are getting wise to that.

My favourite Japanese hi-fi dealer is hifido - they sell a massive range of gear from very ordinary, quite cheap stuff to the higher priced esoterica and this is how it should be.
People have woken up to the fact that the best Japanese gear can rival anything for sound and build quality.

The flip side is sellers like this on ebay - www.ebay.co.uk/sch/audiokeeper/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
He chronically overprices everything he sells. But somehow it must eventually sell otherwise he wouldn't still be in business.
A lot of it is aesthetically pleasing but I suspect very mediocre in performance.

There are still bargains to be had though, I managed to pick up a quite superb Onkyo Integra tape deck for around 60 quid - it retalled at $850 new!!

Audio keeper was one of my "targets" when writing this, there are three or 4 others who have sprung up doing the same. Onkyo integra is still relatively  undiscovered. Richard Dunn often mentions Nikko too. Although I've not heard any of their stuff I wouldn't doubt his ears as they have proven to be very reliable over the years. Some of the Pioneer, Sony and Akai stuff is just ordinary tat dressed up in high prices though. 

Audiokeeper's descriptions are inflammatory and often don't give a model number. Too much use of 'Top' and all-caps, too. Some people must fall for it.

I think Jules has summed it up really. People have indeed woken up to the fact that some of the vintage Jap gear was indeed seriously good.
Some people regard this 70/80's period as the hay day.
It was when every house had some kind of stereo set up.
During the peak of that heyday the Japanese were making high end gear with serious high fidelity intent - statement pieces so to speak.
Out of that there are some stunning amps, decks and so on from the likes of Technics, Sansui, Sony, Pioneer,  Kenwood-Trio to name some.

You just have to look on dedicated sites like Vintage Knob to read the quality of components and clever technology behind the gear, all towards low low distortion and great sonic reproduction.

The down side is that much of the proper high end gear they did was never cheap from the off anyway.
Sellers can play on rarity as well as spout just how good that 'model' is.
As a result prices for the same product can vary from one extreme to the other.

Obviously some sellers clearly try it on, daft over inflated price for something that might be regarded as a bit special but without guarantees that it's been taken care of, properly serviced, tired / dodgy electronics replaced or updated then it's a mugs game to purchase one.

On the other hand, if you can pick up something really nice, that's been in the care of someone who knows that particular bit of kit properly (it's quirks, inherent potentials problems) and has really cared for it then you could end up with
a genuinely special bit of kit that will perform as it should and importantly last.

One main point I'm making is get to know the piece of regarded vintage gear you might be tempted by regardless of price.
Once you do your 'homework' you'll likely find a common theme of the good bad and ugly.
Case in pint is the Sansui AU 919 I own.
I researched extensively before pouncing on one so I was aware that to just buy one of these legendary amps and then plug and play would be like laying Russian roulette.
The 'infamous' "black flag" capacitors all over inside are a weak link and fail which will destroy the amp with little warning. The original high speed output devices that get blown are no longer obtainable if anything happens. 
Then there' the very dodgy glue Sansui used on the boards, has to be removed properly and carefully.
Those are just a few things that must be considered with this awesome amp. (40 years old, might need re-capping.....)

Armed with this info mine was bought from a very experienced Tech who loves and knows Sansui's inside out.
It was completely overhauled and upgraded and has had a complete re-cap by said tech, black flags and glue removed.
For what I've paid and knowing what so called 'exotic badged' modern audiophile amps can cost it's been worth every penny - a bargain I'd say, all things considered. 
Indeed I've ended up with something very special in my opinion. A genuine Japanese vintage audiophile piece that is as good as new. 
The best amp I've ever heard or owned and will be my last 

So yes, there are bargains to be had if you are patient BUT do your homework too and expect to have the focus of your desire 'properly' looked at serviced, even overhauled.
Some of this stuf is that good it'll be worth the effort. 






 

Nice one Rob - does that mean the Sansui is now back home??

Hi Jules,
Not home yet but the re-cap has been done- Yippee !! Upgraded from 4 x 15,000uF to 4 x 20,000uF what ever that means.
Angus is just sorting a few bits then It'll be home with daddy lol
How#s your power supply settling by the way ?

Hi Martin,

I've copied a few posts from on-line that might give further insight...

The AU-919 definitely requires a very knowledgeable tech, and as said, at a minimum the black flags need to be replaced. As a part of that "minimum refurb" I would also replace the power board caps.

There are several techs who frequent and have the skills to rebuild your 919, and I believe that you would find the expense to be worth every penny.

One of those techs describes the 919 as follows:

There's been a dozen threads about the 919, and instability problems arising from what I call the 'Black Flag' ceramic caps. There are numerous values (3pf to maybe 100pf? Too lazy to look at the moment) that need to be replaced with new caps (I use silver mica).

The 919 is a very fast amp...(kinda like owning a '79 Ferrari 308 GTB. Would you expect that car to go 40 years with no maintenance?)...and like many fast things, it is always running on the ragged edge of self-destruction. The 'Black Flag' ceramic caps do NOT hold their value, and this can (and does) lead to the amp going into oscillation and burning itself up & destroying the output devices. On most amps it isn't such a big deal...fix it and move on. But the 919 has some very special superfast output transistors that are a part of the reason for it being such a special amp. And there's no replacement for these transistors...they've been out of production for many years.

So the goal with that amp is to make sure that it is as rock-solid stable as possible, to protect those Über-rare output devices.​

I've owned many good amps over the years. An AU-919 ha been at the heart of my main system for four years now, and I have no interest in considering anything else.

Good luck with it.

And

Values, 3pF to 33pF they are square and black, hence the nickname. They have since been confirmed as polystyrene dielectric (not ceramic). They are used all over the amplifier to prevent instability, but... they are unreliable, even more so after 40 years. After being initially identified by a member as a source of trouble, a much later follow up by another member with some revealing work on these capacitors proved that they are easily subject to failure and are thus unstable.

The capacitors themselves were probably specially commissioned by Sansui, values that low in polystyrene are pretty much NLA now - so ceramic or silver mica replacements is the way to go.

I have reconditioned 2 AU-919's, one with silver mica capacitors, and one with ceramic capacitors to replace the black flags - I compared the two after they were finished and couldn't tell the difference. Mine is the one with silver mica - that amp is staying with me forever.

Not sure Martin, this might shed some light maybe ?  www.thevintageknob.org/sansui-AU-919.html

I was thinking there is plenty of non-Japanese vintage kit that can reach crazy prices beyond all reason - amps like the Cyrus 1 and Naim Nait come to mind...