Vintage 1980 Marantz SR 4000 -- classic Marantz?

442_Tom

Active Member
Hi I'm looking at picking up an SR 4000 it's priced nicely and to me it looks awesome. What are your thoughts on how it sounds -- I do have a 2238b that I love, but this unit seems to me a 'marantz version' of my first meaningful receiver ever - Technics SA 505.

I'm buying it without hearing it because it is in great shape and priced right. Your input is greatly appreciated thank you
 
It would have to be very cheap.

It is not remotely a 'classic' Marantz and well into the poor build quality era. It uses difficult to obtain STK hybrid output chips and an STK voltage amplifier all in a cheaply constructed cabinet.

That said, they perform quite well and sound good.
 
This is not in the same league as the 2238b. It has output IC's rather than discrete transistors. It will not sound as good and if one of the output IC's blows you will not be able to get a replacement. The Marantz equipment to own was made in the 1970's. After that they went downhill.
 
Great info thanks guys. Recent sr4000s sold on fleabay for 2 to 300 I'm looking at about 100 for this unit. I also have an SR 325 I picked up for 50 that I like - great little bedroom unit. I think I'll put this in the garage for 100 bucks - I don't think I'll be disappointed.

Maybe one day I'll drop the four figures On a 2500/2600 but until then I'll enjoy these lower-priced beauties
 
Ok so let's vote - clean working 1980 sr4000 not worth 100? I look forward to your responses!
 
I would not pay $100 for it unless you just need any old random receiver for a second listening space. And honestly, if that was the case, I would be looking for a mid-level Pioneer SX series receiver. They are good sounding, good looking, fairly numerous, and less expensive than equivalent Marantz receivers. I have an SX 780 as a second receiver, untouched internally and it still sounds great.
 
I recently bought a broken PM 750 DC (less than 30 $ shipped :) ) from around 1983, after fixing and a full recap I was VERY surprised with how REALLY good it sounds ! A very dynamic, clear, full sound !
And I have a few fully restored "classic" Marantz as well : 2220, 1060, 2226B....and a modern PM8005. The PM 750 DC is not put to shame at all by any of those...
Unlike the SR-4000, the PM 750DC has discrete Sanken outputs. But it has op-amps in the preamp.
 
I paid $150 for my SR9000G and after restoring it no one will pry it from my hands. I’ll admit build quality is shaky inside but it sounds wonderful. And I actually like the looks.

So that said I probably wouldn’t pay $100 for a lesser model. Not really a deal.

photo apr 14, 11 44 49 am.jpg
 
1980 is about when Superscope sold Marantz out to Philips and the quality dropped big time.

1980 is the turnover point of most gear.

All the trick wazoo, super feftan, blinky light, touch panel button junk was the coolest kid on the block thing.

Working, they are fun but not a serious thing.

The 80s and later stuff became too one-of proprietary parts sort of thing. If they fail, you need another one to (hopefully) get parts from.

1980 was the beginning of the end of just about all good things on earth.
 
Great info guys keep it coming please. You are the keepers of the knowledge for Marantz -- and I didn't know superscope was involved. I have a $20 r310? in storage I need to fire up.

1980 was such a special year for me I may just offer this guy 75 for his SR 4000. But if he looks in need I'll go to 100!
 
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.

Marantz-PM-84-gold.jpg

And another, a 1989 Philips era design, where the optional remote control cost more than a 2238b on its own!

pm953.JPG

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)

pm952.jpg

Here's the optional remote, 40,000 YEN in 1989- it's champagne gold anodised, extruded aluminium and weighs 700g on its own.

rc-95.JPG
 
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I’m sure all of that is true. That is truly beautiful gear obviously built to TOTL standards. I wish it had been available in the U.S. Doesn’t change the fact that I wouldn’t pay $100 for an SR4000, which was the OP’s question.
 
Thank you AKrs I love the discussion and I'm learning a lot - I really appreciate everyone's time and comments. I will say this if I could locate a working clean 70s Marantz receiver for 100 bucks... Well I honestly think those days are gone - pretty much like finding a unicorn these days! Anyone have one for sale I'll send you a shipping label right now! :banana:
 
It would have to be very cheap.

It is not remotely a 'classic' Marantz and well into the poor build quality era. It uses difficult to obtain STK hybrid output chips and an STK voltage amplifier all in a cheaply constructed cabinet.

That said, they perform quite well and sound good.

I am not an expert who can say if they are "classic" or not, but they do perform well. They do lack the "cool" lighting that earlier models had, but still have a clean silver face look.

As for build quality, the wood (particle board) case is indeed poor quality and age makes it weaker. A heavy piece of equipment placed on top would cause it to cave in on the saw cut vents. The SR6000 (next model up) used a perforated metal vent instead. Other than that, they are solidly built.

The STK amps can be purchased, but they are knock offs from China. That said, I have repaired a few of these SR4000's with the knock off STK modules and had good results. Tested with my 8 ohm dummy load and watching the wave form on my oscilloscope, measured output was and honest 49.5 watts before clipping. They hold up under normal listening use as well.

Biggest problems I have seen on these is:
-Crushed cabinet vents.
-Bad filter caps on the power supply which often take out the amp chips when they go.
-Speaker protection relays getting worn contacts and not always getting the sound out to the speakers.
 
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

Ok, correction. Looked up the history.
Had confusion on the Philips take over.

1952 Saul Marantz sell first gear

1964 Superscope buys Marantz

1966 Marantz started building by Standard Radio Corp.

1975 Standard Radio Corp becomes Marantz Japan.

1980 Philips gets all Marantz except US and CA

1992 Philips got US and CA Marantz.

2001 Marantz Japan took over the brand.

2002 Marantz and Denon merge into D&M holdings. Other audio companies merge in.

2008 Philips sell out of the Marantz line completely.


The Marantz in the US and I assume in CA took a massive step down in quality in 1980. Seems like Superscope let it go downhill.

I talked to the Pioneer retailer back in the 80s.
You are correct, cheap ruled the day.
His comment was, most people didn’t know the difference between audiophile and music box.
Pioneer died.

It was like a huge switch had been flipped.
It was the beginning of the digital age.
 
I had a few of the mid 80's receivers. Holy cow was it built like crap but they did sounded OK. Nothing to go start selling your 2230 over but just OK.

I sold them off pretty quick and never had any regret
 
Can you tell me where this second hand store is? I could use some more "paper weights" that sound this good. For what it is worth, broken SR4000's run close to $100 (including shipping) on everyone's "favorite" auction site. Prices tend to be high there, but a far cry from $10.
 
They're not great if they let out the magic smoke.

To be fair I still have an SR7000 and an SR9000G sitting on the shelf in working condition. Not terrible units and you could definitely tell that there was investment in there but the conflict of the American market for bottom dollar stuff very much killed the interest of many companies who sold to the US.

Problems further exacerbated by the Yen crash in Japan as well in the 80s. That's not to say there aren't amazing units that came out, but the US mid range of marantz totally went down the gutter.
 
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