Don't listen to all the crap being regurgitated about Marantz going downhill when Philips took over. It's plain BS from people who should know better.
The best performing, best looking and best made products with the Marantz badge on them were produced during the Philips years. This is undeniable. The stuff that simply wasn't seen by US customers. Why? Because they didn't need to compete in the discount driven US market when they had 120+ million people in their home market and financially well heeled German and European audiophiles who were prepared to pay big money for TOTL gear.
They gave the
US market (and Australia) what it wanted- cheaper stuff, and kept the best gear for themselves.
If it weren't for Philips 28 year association and investment in Marantz, it would have simply gone bankrupt and disappeared from the landscape, only to have been bought cheaply by a Chinese company to label toasters and clock radios.
Here is the pm-94 limited, a lovely
Philips era design, built to
Japanese standards, with no shortcuts- anywhere.
View attachment 1091612
And another, a 1989
Philips era design,
where the optional remote control cost more than a 2238b on its own!
View attachment 1091613
Inside, Elna cerafines, die cast chassis, copper plated,
Philips TDA1541S1 ultra high end DAC, a dozen Toshiba Mosfets for the outputs, 27.5kg in weight, gas filled relay driven input selectors, switchable Class A/AB, solid zinc diecast side panels etc. We got very limited distribution of this amplifier and a list price of AU$5999. (The matching CD12/DA12LE was also AU$5999)
View attachment 1091618
Here's the optional remote, 40,000 YEN in 1989- it's champagne gold anodised, extruded aluminium and weighs 700g on its own.
View attachment 1091622