Sansui AU-D22 (1982–83)
Thirty-five watts a side, a moving-coil phono stage, and the full feature set of a bigger amplifier in a low-profile box.
Overview
The AU-D22 is a solid state integrated amplifier that Sansui introduced around 1982. It is basically a small amplifier with the full feature set of its bigger brother. The numbers on the front are modest: two channels of 35 watts RMS into 8 ohms, 20 Hz to 20 kHz, per the manufacturer's own rating. The interesting part is everything packed around that rating - a phono stage that handles both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges, a monitor selector covering tape 1, tape 2, AUX, tuner, and phono, and separate MM/MC phono sensitivity switching and muting. Budget integrateds in this era routinely shipped with a single MM phono input and little else, so this is a real spread of capability for a low-profile chassis.
Period coverage exists but is not thick. High Fidelity (March 1983, p.27) listed the AU-D22 among the integrated amplifiers of the season, noting the monitor selector, the MM/MC phono sensitivity, the volume control, and the muting switch. The same magazine ran it through its New Equipment Reports bench in the March 1983 issue. Those measurements are the most useful third-party data available on the model.
One number in the documentation needs untangling first. The AU-D22 is generally cited at 35 watts per channel into 8 ohms, but High Fidelity (March 1983, p.28) measured the amplifier's 8-ohm power limit at roughly 67 watts per channel - about 18¼ dBW. That is a large gap. The 35 W figure appears in only one source and is not corroborated elsewhere. The magazine's measured limit is the number to trust for real-world headroom. The 35 W nameplate is the conservative published rating.
Physically, the amplifier is compact. A net weight of 6.8 kg puts it firmly in the carry-it-under-one-arm category, and the low-profile, easy-to-use presentation Sansui's own marketing leaned on is fair to the design. It is not rare, but it is not heavily written about either. It sits in the shadow of Sansui's better-known AU series, and that has kept the price of entry low for what is functionally a very complete little integrated.
Key Features
Super Feedforward DC Circuit
Sansui bills the AU-D22 as a Super Feed Forward DC Integrated Amplifier, and the Super Feedforward System is the technical story the company pushed hardest. The claim, repeated in period marketing, is that the circuit reduces harmonic distortion to an absolute minimum, giving a clean, detailed, dynamic presentation from an amplifier of modest power. Whether the topology lives up to the brochure language is something each owner will judge for themselves. The design intent is clear, though: Sansui wanted low measured distortion from a small chassis.
The "DC" in the name means something too. The AU-D22 belongs to Sansui's DC series, which means a direct-coupled circuit with no capacitors in the signal path. Period materials describe the result as tighter bass and more high-frequency detail than a capacitor-coupled design of the same era would typically deliver. The AU-D22 also operates in class A/B. It is not a small class-A room heater. It is a conventional push-pull design that runs cool enough to live in a bookshelf.
MM/MC Phono Stage
The phono stage is what separates the AU-D22 from most of its price-class contemporaries. It accepts both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges, with switchable phono sensitivity for each. High Fidelity (March 1983, p.28) measured the 1-kHz phono overload point at 170 mV for fixed-coil (MM) cartridges and 16 mV for moving-coil. The MM figure is generous headroom, enough to keep a hot high-output cartridge from clipping the input stage on loud passages. The MC number is the tighter, more typical figure for a low-output coil loading into a modest gain stage. A genuine MC input at this level was not universal in the early 1980s.
Monitor Selector and Control Layout
The front panel carries a monitor selector with positions for tape 1, tape 2, AUX, tuner, and phono, which is the full source complement of a period system in one switch. High Fidelity (March 1983, p.27) also noted the MM/MC phono sensitivity switching, the calibrated volume control, and a muting switch. There are plenty of inputs for a small amplifier: two tape loops, a tuner, an auxiliary line, and a phono stage that covers both cartridge types.
Historical Context
Sansui introduced the AU-D22 around 1982, and the model shows up in the March 1983 issue of High Fidelity, both in the New Equipment Reports section and in the magazine's seasonal roundup of integrated amplifiers. The AU-D22 shares its documentation with the AU-D33 - the AU-D22 specifications appear inside the Sansui AU-D33 service manual - and period brochure material groups the AU-D22 with the AU-D33 and the TU-S33 tuner, which suggests the three were sold as a matched system. The available documentation does not say whether the AU-D22 was a stripped AU-D33 or a sibling design. Treat the relationship as a family grouping, not a confirmed lineage.
Production dating is loose. The model is most often described as introduced around 1982, with a 1982-83 window cited in some references and a single 1983 date in others. No source confirms a firm end-of-production year, and the widely-quoted 1981-1984 range belongs to the AU-D33, not the AU-D22. Buyers looking for a precise build date should go by the serial number rather than any published range.
Collectibility & Value
The AU-D22 is not rare, and it is not heavily documented. That is good news for anyone hunting a working example. The model does not command the collector premium of the higher-powered AU series, and serviced units have turned up in the €259 range. Listings describe examples that have been recapped with high-grade capacitors, fitted with new 4 mm banana speaker sockets and a new earthed power supply socket, and cleaned, checked, and adjusted. Others simply note cleaned pots and a recap. The recurring maintenance items are what you would expect from a 1980s solid-state integrated: tired electrolytics and dirty potentiometers, both addressed by a standard service.
Because the model is common, parts units are not hard to find, and the service documentation is widely available. A complete service manual in PDF form circulates for around $7.99, and the user manual runs 18 pages. Common failures specific to the AU-D22 are not well documented in the sources available, so a buyer should treat any example like any forty-year-old amplifier: check the power supply, listen for channel imbalance, and confirm the phono stage works on both MM and MC settings before committing.
Original pricing is not documented. Current asking prices are thin - the €259 serviced listing is the clearest data point - so anyone valuing a unit should look at recent sold listings rather than published price guides.
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