2285 Restore

Fairlane

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Just thought I would share a few pictures and thoughts on this model. Guess they are on the rarer side as I did my research it kept wanting to bring up information on the 2285B.

A quick background on the unit. Bought it from the original owners son who was going through his stuff and listed this on the local CL. Said it worked and the relay clicked so I drove about 30 minutes to get it. Was not quite sure if I would as I got there he said he had offers for more money but since I was in his living room with cash in hand and explained I would restore and not flip it he agreed to sell at the original price. I do not play that game and would have left pissed but it worked out.

Get it home and it has a nasty hum in the left channel. Turns out someone had put in a wrong transistor on the left amplifier board; some big antiquated metal looking thing and it was causing all kinds of noise and the hum. Replaced it with a new KSC992 and that solved the problem.

MBuras already did the definitive restore thread (terrific by the way) and his post was the guide I used. Just one thing I thought I would post about is upgrading the caps from the old Nichicons solder type to the screw in United Chemi-Cons. I was able to use the original mounting and grounding bar with some modifications. Primarily drilling two holes and using a file to make spots for two machine screws to attach the grounds back where they were soldered before. A little trial in the fit and finish but it worked out very well I thought.

Since these pictures were taken I have added bypass cap to each main caps. This unit sounds great and is a pleasure to work on. Did the usual, power supply, phono, tone, amp boards, differential pairs, Dolby. I did not touch the FM as it is perfectly aligned and sounds great. Added new vellum and the soft blue LED's from our own DGWOJO and they look really good.

Dead silent at idle and has almost as much power as my restored 2325... Almost :biggrin:

Very detailed receiver with a little brighter modern sound compared to the older ones I have had over the years. A tad brighter than the 2325 so they compliment each other very nicely. If one of these crosses your path pick it up! Separate amplifier boards, single filter caps and four power transistors per amp. Built really well. I think the later 2285B had some cost cutting measures done and looks to be harder to work on too.

It cleaned up really well. Inside has some surface corrosion here and there as it spent the last 40 years by the SF bay.

Trickiest part of the job for me anyway was replacing this.
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Holes drilled for the screws on the caps. Holes made for the other grounds in the middle of the bar with my trusty rat tail file.
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Ready to go.
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All done. Good for another 40 years.
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Big blues.
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The gut pile, most of it anyway.
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New LED's
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Doing some vetting in my test location. Presently hooked up to my favorite Braun L-710's.
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This has been a great project and is one of the easiest units to get at everything. My wife even commented on how nice it looks and sounds. She rarely does that. :smoke:
 

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Well done! Definitely one of my favorite looking receivers from Marantz. Enjoy! :rockon:
 
I agree that the 2285 (non-B) is a much more detailed sounding receiver than the 2325 (and brighter than the standard Marantz sound IMO). Definitely a keeper.
 
The brighter cleaner sound was a bit of a surprise as I did not now much about this series.

Really improved with the recap too, not surprising but it was more noticeable on the 2285. Hard to really hear it before with the low level hum.
It was all I could hear in my mind though. :rflmao:
 
I felt the same. Personally I have never been a big fan of the "Marantz sound", wasn't in the '70s, still am not. I also never loved the JBL L100s, preferred the L166, ...

But that Marantz sound is not an absolute I've found as there are definitely warmer sounding models and brighter sounding models, ... I characterize the 2285 as a classic Marantz with a more detailed and analytical signature and I do like the 2285. The 2325 is warmer, I've read that the 2330 is not as warm as the 2325 (but I don't own a 2330) so maybe I'd like the 2330 more than my 2325?

... Or maybe it's just me.
 
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