Tell me more about vintage Marantz Receivers

Particularly 2252B, 2235,2240,and any other ones obtainable for under $1000.

I am in the market for a new receiver or tube amp for a modest price. Im not sure why, but I am kind of infatuated with these vintage Marantz receivers although I have never heard one. How do they compare to something more modern like a Yamaha 801 or Outlaw RR2160? What about a cheap tube amp like those made by Yaquin?

 

My first receiver was a 2270. Great. Wish I still had it. I am spoiled today by remote control and newer features but that 2270 is hard to beat.

 

You’re not alone. There’s a romance to that classic Marantz that modern stuff hasn’t replicated. I had one, 22xx that my brother gave me his old one. I used it at college then for a few years till one channel got scratchy then garage sale’d it.

Restored they are a great sounding conversation piece. Wouldn’t hesitate to use in living or guest area. Would I set up Home Theater or dedicated listening area around one? Probably not, you can get great sounding stuff cheaper...but as a functional piece of art? Heck yeah.

 

I have a 2240 and a 2265b both restored and they sounds nice and warm like you hear about Marantz receivers of the day. I think it ran around a couple hundred to have them gone through. IMO they are worth the investment. I put LED lights in the 2265b. Looks sweet at night.

 

A Model 18 is the best Marantz receiver, period. Next best is the Model 19. Those are real McIntosh competition. And outperform Outlaw anything, and all the Yamahas but their earliest and the separates (which I happen to like the best of both brands). The Model 18 and 19 are also USA built. Without compromise. The Marantz Japan gear is good, but avoid the Quad models and stick with the better ones.

 

This. But I'd rather have an 18 or 19 than a Yamaha anything.

 

I have a 2235B that I've been quite happy with. I don't have any other Marantz receivers to compare it to, but I do like it a little more than the Yamaha CR-620 and CR-820. I think the highs are a tad smoother than the Yamahas.

I'm curious to hear a Model 18 as well as the 1060 integrated amp.

 

I loved my 2325

 

Look lots of people love these vintage Marantz receivers so I'm not trying to upset anyone. But I'll share my story. I picked up an old 2245 on craigslist for $200. It needed work. I spent $270 on a full recap. I spent $100 something on a black faceplate. I had blue lights installed. It looked sweet. Every time I posted a picture of it on the forum I got lots of love. Then I bought a new Yamaha A-s801 to compare. The A-s801 destroyed it in every category soundwise except for the phono stage, which was better on the Marantz.

When I first picked up the Marantz it had an interesting warm sound to it. It was pleasant but the more I listened to it the more I realized the bass was muddy and the overall sound was not that great. This is the sound of capacitors aging and falling out of spec. some like that sound. After I got the recap done (which took 3 months because the repairman was so backlogged), the warm muddy sound was gone and it mostly sounded neutral. But the bass control was just so lacking compared to the new Yamaha.

If you want vintage retro looks and sound, get the vintage Marantz. If you want superior sound quality, get the Yamaha and a phono pre. I mostly use the Yamaha for listening to Flac files from my Mac and it sounds terrific through the onboard DAC. I have since sold the Marantz. I don't miss it. I use the Yamaha daily for my office system. It is a fantastic amp and terrific value.

I've read that the maker of Harbeth has a theory that the amplifier has little effect on sound quality and that often at shows he will demo the $4,000 plus speakers using a lower cost amp. The amp he uses is the A-s801.

Here are some pics if you want to see them in action.

 

I had a Marantz 2325 for a long time, maybe 30 years. I also had a few other Marantz items from that era. Some people call the sound warm, but I thought of it as veiled. Even so, I liked it pretty well. Many of those years I had Cerwin-Vega speakers and just played it loud.

 

Would love to own one of these Marantz receivers. Arguably, there is a significant amount of nostalgia for me with this line of receivers. I would never argue that they sound better than Brand X. But they sound really good and have a classic vibe that I find irresistible. If this describes you, buy one and you won't be sorry. If you're looking for the best sound possible or don't really care about the classic vibe thing, look to previous posts here and their good suggestions.

 

Some comments here on an old Marantz thread from our host.

Hey Guys, what about this Marantz?

 

I have owned a 1060 since 1973. Flexible (Pre/Power amp input/output loop) and more powerful than one would imagine a 30 wpc unit could be. Build quality is outstanding. They can get pretty pricey nowadays, tho....

I have also owned a 2270, 2240, 2245, 2275. Currently I own a 2265b and don't see myself letting it go......

 

Here is a fairly good history of the company: http://www.audiohistory.com/files/documents/marantzhistory.pdf
By the time I entered the hi-fi scene in the late '60s-early '70s, the classic tube Marantz gear was already considered collectible and the Superscope era products were regarded as more mass market.
Those '70s era receivers were very nice for their time. I owned one early on and had experience with others. Marantz has been reinvented a few times- I remember a large basic power amp that came out years ago, quite collectible, and reboots of some of the classic tube stuff (made by VAC?) more recently.
The original era tube gear is the stuff of hi-fi dreams, with prices to match these days.
For a good quality '70s style receiver, my recollection was that the Marantz sounded pretty good, looked nice, had a good 'feel' to that horizontal tuning wheel and didn't look like some of the other big Japanese receivers that had a 747 flight deck appearance. (Maybe Marantz made a few of those in the quadraphonic era, I don't remember). My favorite receiver from this era was the Tandberg. I doubt parts are readily available- and I can't really say how it would stack up sonically by today's standards. As a piece of industrial design, the Tandbergs were quite beautiful. (I would guess they'd be far more expensive to work on these days than the Marantz and for that reason alone, may not be a good value).
This was now a long time ago!

 

See post #13. I bought all those MARANTZ units either when new in the 1970's or approx 10-15 years ago before the inflation set in.

I respectfully suggest trying one of the following MONOPRICE units. I own this MONOPRICE tube hybrid amp. Only 1 RCA input but does have bluetooth input & tone controls plus preamp out for powered subwoofer hookup. The listing states 50 wpc, but it's not true rms. Does drive my EPI 100's just fine.

Monoprice 50 Watt Stereo Hybrid Tube Amplifier with Bluetooth & Line Output - Monoprice.com

This is a little less power, loses the preamp out, but does have a headphone jack.

Monoprice 25 Watt Stereo Hybrid Tube Amplifier with Bluetooth - Monoprice.com

Here is a true full-tube amp with phono input

Monoprice Pure Tube Stereo Amplifier with Bluetooth, Line, and Phono Inputs - Monoprice.com

Hope this helps....

GT

 

Functional art, I like that!

I see them and feel happy, but I am old.

 

Love my 2230 with all those tone controls, especially the loudness button . Warm, forgiving and wonderfully non-fatiguing.

 

If my house was on fire it would be a tossup as to what I would grab first, my 2270 or my Technics 1200G. I love it that much. I bought it for $280 in 2006 and will absolutely never sell it. They are warm and a joy to listen to. I also have a Pioneer receiver that doesn't get any use because it sounds like a pile of turds compared to the Marantz. It has the backlight out for the multipath display, and I'm sure it could use a recap but it sounds so pleasant to my ears that I don't want to risk changing how the sound is colored.

I'm also quite guilty of enjoying the loudness button.

 

Until late last year, I've bought and sold xxx amount of hifi gear over the years as a hobby and to make a few quid to fund my other hobbies (mainly buying records)
None of it has sounded as good as the Marantz 2230 I bought about 7 years ago.
Since that I've bought another 2 of them and have rebuilt/restored them all.
They look like a work of art and the sound is everything I could ever want, smooth, warm, yet detailed with a nice 3D effect soundstage.
My search for anything else is over.

 

Agreed on the Loudness button. Mine's always on with tone controls flat......

 

Same here! These amps are voiced in such a way you don't need to alter any of the tone controls from 0.
They sound just right.
We also have a newer Marantz NR1605 in daily use for the TV etc, supposed to be 70wpc but it has nowhere near the power of the 2230 (30wpc). It also doesn't sound as good, its missing that deep growl in the bass (amongst other things)

 

Up until a year ago, I was using the same Marantz 2238B my grandfather bought me back in the 70’s. About a year ago, the FM just stopped working. I would set the selector to FM and nothing, just dead quiet. So the Marantz went into storage and I purchased some new gear. Sad that the FM section just died.

 

I have a Marantz 2325-one of the so-called “monster” receivers of the day. These are definitely works of industrial art and have strong tuners, multiple features like tone controls, mono switches, loudness buttons, etc. They are fun to look at at night when they are all lit up. They have a big sound which is probably a lot less controlled and transparent than modern equipment but also a lot less sterile. Of course all of this is subjective.

 

Marantz 240 and 3600 separates owner here.... there's a Marantz receiver on my bucket list just not sure which one or where/how to use it yet. I use these in a vintage system set up opposite my main system in the listening room. I agree with what many have said and would say @Daedalus captures it best with, "a big (I would add warm) sound which is probably a lot less controlled and transparent than modern equipment but also a lot less sterile." Sometimes I'm just in the mood for that "warm" and less "sterile" sound, which is never fatiguing to me. Like my music mood... sometimes I want to hear something more acoustic with lots of space in the material.... sometimes I want to rock out more. Also agree that you cannot beat the nostalgia or build/looks of vintage Marantz. And yes, guilty as charged on the loudness button (until about 10:00 on the volume control anyway).

 

I owned a Model 16 (80 RMS watts/ch dual monoblock chassis from 1969) paired with a Model 3300 preamp. That combination bested any receiver combo (including the Marantz models I referenced above) as it relates to 'depth' of sonics. I would still have them except one side of the 16 developed a problem my trusted tech couldn't restore. Plus to replace 1 monoblock side was cost prohibitive, so sold it at a loss to bless someone who could revive, restore, and return it to service instead of lying in a box all stored away.....these treasures need to be in service and enjoyed.



My current units:




Showing my age, when Rolling Stone magazine published in a newspaper format and paper, they included coupons to cut and mail for promotional materials. Well, I sent in for this belt buckle, and in consideration for the $.50 or $1 I sent in, I received this about 45-47 years ago: