Shall we Marantz? A Piece from the Past (1 Viewer)

[Bill Kane]

A friend bestowed on me a cast-off 1980s Marantz AM/FM Stereo Receiver, from the Quadraphonic era. Museum piece?

According to the manual it's the top-of-the-line Model 2270, 70watts per channel solidstate, THD 0.3%, -80dB Noise, R/L Main In/Preouts, two VU signal strength meters, and tape deck capable. It weighs 38 lbs. Whew...

Wish I'd had this Back Then, but now it's just out in the garage and I haven't tried to fire it up.

I can't think of anything to do with this, except maybe in a second-room application, which I don't need. It this just a dust-catcher nowadays?

 

[Jin E]

I set up a "vintage" system for shits and grins. YOu can do the same youself. You can usually pick up the peices pretty cheap from estate auctions, pawn shops, and sometimes Ebay. Of course... the stuff during the 80's was pretty ugly looking. Check out the vintage Kenwoods I have from th late 70's. I went with asthetics instead of performance for mine. I have a silver faces Kenwood int-amp, matching Kenwood tunerm and silver Pioneer turntable. They really do look nice together, and add a bit of flair to the bedroom. You can see my two Kenwood Int-amps here before I movd the bottom one to the back bedroom.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

They really do look nice together, and add a bit of flair to the bedroom.

Yeah, surre.

 

[Allen W]

Bill I think you might be impressed with how it good it sounds when you fire it up. There are alot of fans of the classic Marantz and silver faced Kenwoood pieces around.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

I have no doubt they look and sound great (my first receiver was a 1979-vintage Pioneer SX-3700 and I still pine for that blue fluorescent display!).
I was chuckling at the (supposedly unintended) double entendre in Jin's post.

 

[Jack Briggs]

The 2270 was not a "classic" or vintage Marantz product in any way. It was manufactured by Superscope in Japan, long after Saul Marantz had sold the company off to mid-fi interests. At the time, only a handful of "real" Marantz products were still being hand-assembled in the U.S.: the Models 250 and 500 power amplifiers, the 3300 preamplifier, and the Model 1200 integrated amplifier. Everything else was built by Superscope.

Marantz sold his company in 1963.

The true classics you want to find are the legendary Model 7 vacuum tube preamp, the Models 8 and 9 power amplifiers, the Model 10 FM tuner, and such.

 

[Bill Kane]

well, this 2207 is NOT coming into my house. Unless I unearth the ol' turntable and monaural LPs. Fat chance. RIP.

I've already run out of space/room.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, the 2270 was a sturdy little unit pumping out good power for a receiver in its day.

By the way, the top-of-the-line Marantz stereo receiver of that era--and another of the "real" Marantz products being manufactured at the time--was the Model 19 stereophonic receiver, which was also handcrafted (it featured a tiny oscilloscpe on the front panel for FM signal-strength detection!).

Though the 2270 pumped out a rated 70 watts into 8 ohms at all frequencies with both channels driven, the much, much more expensive Model 19 provided 50 watts per channel.

 

[Scott Strang]

Hey Jin

I lust after those vintage Kenwoods. Beautiful gear. Sure they're mid-fi, but still very easy on the eyes.

 

[KeithH]

Jack said:

The true classics you want to find are the legendary Model 7 vacuum tube preamp, the Models 8 and 9 power amplifiers, the Model 10 FM tuner, and such.

My parents bought the Model 7 tube pre-amp and Model 8B tube power amp back around 1962. For some reason, my dad put these components out to pasture in the late '80s in favor of JVC solid-state equipment, and my older brother took the tube components. After using the tube equipment for several years, my brother then put together a home-theater system and passed the tube gear down to me. Actually, the components are at my parents' house, but I will be bringing them to my house soon. They should be fun to play with. My dad still knows how to adjust the bias, but I will have to figure out how to connect my speakers to the pre-amp. The speaker terminals are not the type you see on current equipment.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Keith: In what shape are those devices? Describe their condition. Seriously. You have, shall we say, "fine wine" in your house. Please do tell all.

Everybody: Something I forgot to mention earlier--as best as I recall (and I recall well, having owned "real" Marantz equipment), the 2270 receiver is of early 1970s vintage. I know. I decided against purchasing one, going instead for the "real stuff": a Model 3300 preamplifier and Model 500 power amplifier combination.

 

[Bill Kane]

1970s? Well, I thought the tip-off was that the 2207 is a quadraphonic receiver/amp.
Of course I Rip Van Winkled the entire quad era, so I really don't know!

 

[Jin E]

Thought I should mention... I just sold off the Phono and speakers in the back bedroom. Back down to 1 system for me :frowning:
The Kenwood from the bedroom will now power my outdoor speakers (the new Marantz did not have A/B speaker outputs). I'm using my other kenwood to power my SVS 25-31 with excellent results. I am curious what the SVS would do with more then 75 watts of power though!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Bill: Even I am getting confused. All along, I thought your were referring to the 2270 receiver--a two-channel device of good repute, but just not the "real" thing. But the Superscope-driven company had plunged headlong--along with almost the rest of the misguided industry--into quad. And quad was a strictly 1972-through-early 1975 disaster, the audio equivalent of "New Coke."

 

[Bill Kane]

ok Jack, dont be confused -- I am.

Yes, this is a Superscope Marantz and it IS Stereo, not quadraphonic. The second set/pair of speaker outs is for a REMOTE ap I now see, not "New Coke" quad. So what year-vintage might it be?

 

[KeithH]

Jack, my brother said that when he last used the Marantz components about 18 months ago, they worked fine. He had them on the floor of a carpeted closet until he gave them to me. I don't have them in front of me as they still are at my parents' house, but they look to be in good condition. The tubes on the pre-amp (inserted in the back panel) look a bit dusty, but they can be cleaned. Of course, to clean them, I have to figure out how to remove them (if they need to be removed to be cleaned). The tubes are surrounded by what looks to me like some sort of strange coils. Granted, I really haven't taken the time to play with these components much. I feel I have some real audio jewels there, but I need the time to get them here and play with them to see exactly what I have. I know they are classics.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Keith: I'll give you a really, really good deal. How about $50 each? No kidding, man. Seriously. PM me immediately and we will work out the logistics!
Bill: I would be willing to bet your receiver was manufactured in either 1972 or 1973. The model, I don't think, was available after that. But, by then, I was already fixating on other equipment--Audio Research and such. By then, I had gone mad, cascading down the misguided waterfall that is "high end" audio.