Jumped in BIG....found a Marantz 2500.

[anderslober]

Hello forum............while patrolling the streets of a big asian metropolis, I stumbled upon this fellow of the Marantz clan........................I immediately took a liking to the clan member...................

Anyway....I am pretty darn happy about finding this unit.......the price was reasonable as well(650usd).......the unit is a bit rough......the face plate is nice and there are no missing or broken buttons.........the case will be repainted.

Inside, it needs a good clean......it appears all original....HOWEVER, someone has been messing with the softstart relay and resistors....I going to need help with rectifying that.............the unit has FM, and output...all transistors are original................scope works, but lights are out.....the fuse for the lights is blown.....speaker outputs have been modified to screw terminals, I might just change them back to the original clips.......some of the case screws are unoriginal(pm me if you have any..thanks)...............I intend to fully restore this unit and keep it.

A few pics......

Please feel free to give me any advice or insight, as I am not a "marantz' man.........thanks, and enjoy.

 

[anderslober]

I am so darned happy.....a few more pics

There are a few sniggles..............no AM antenna..............and a slight constant low hum from the speakers when the unit is ON.

I'll try to fix it all up...........

 

[skibjr]

WOW!! Awesome scroe!!! One of Marantz's sexiest receivers, IMHO - and her internals appear to be relatively un-messed-with as well!

From what little I can tell from the photos, som previous "tech" simply jumpered the 10-ohm soft-start resistor. Not good - it'll kill your power switch and possibly your main diode bridge if left unremedied. Check Echowars' elegant solution for repairing/upgrading the soft start circuit here.

As far as hardware, you can get exact replacement "NOS" case hardware from AMK products: http://www.amkproducts.com/Marantz_screws.asp

AM bar antenna is the same one used on the 2226B/2238B/2252B/2265B/2285B/2330B/2385/2600, so eventually, one'll pop up on eBay....

Good luck on 'er - please keep us posted!! :thmbsp:

 

[ChrisMarantz]

Nice score on the 2500!
It looks like it's in good original condition. Should be a fun project.

 

[anderslober]

skibjr......thanks for the excellent links. I will do EW's excellent solution for the softstart relay and fan.

I have just now purchased 2 speaker terminals and an AM antenna from the 'Bay..........should be good. I will also see if i can get the screws.

Anyway..it will be some time before I start the project(still waiting for a few parts for some other 'babies'.

Keep you posted...........

 

[JBL GUY]

Congratulations on your "new" Marantz 2500.

It will be very very nice when you complete the restore.

Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Jailtime]

Nice 2500! Should be a fun project.

I'd think about keeping those terminals. They can accept bananas, and larger gauge wire than the originals. Yeah, original is cool, but if you have some of the Marantz terminals laying around, then you could always bring the 2500 back to stock.

 

[anderslober]

I have been looking over the amp a bit.......on the PS there are 2 1.4A fuses......where can you get them? I have some 1.5A fuses....would they do?

Also, the softstart relay, FRL253/48vdc.......are they readily available? I think I'll change mine.............

Thanks.........................

 

[skibjr]

I have been looking over the amp a bit.......on the PS there are 2 1.4A fuses......where can you get them? I have some 1.5A fuses....would they do?

Not too easy to find exact 1.4A replacements. I don't see any problem with using the 1.5's.

Also, the softstart relay, FRL253/48vdc.......are they readily available? I think I'll change mine.............

Why? They're not readily available, unless you don't mind paying through the nose to a parts broker (hopefully someone else here will chime in and prove me wrong). I needed a soft-start relay for my 2600 and ended up waiting until one showed up on eBay - but mine was very obviously messed up.

 

[HAL9000]

Nice!!

Re-capp it clean it.
replace some Toshiba bad transistors!!
And also remove The transistor sockets for the bias transistor on the heat sink!!!!

 

[anderslober]

hal9000...ok....no worries......the uit does function and the outputs are ok.......I have not looked at the bias transistor sockets yet...............

I just finished up an order at DK for the fan/softstart relay parts and a cap order.

I have also been looking at some photos in other threads and on the 'net......my version has the 'small' fuses (20mm)...............should be good.

 

[bobschneider]

Very nice, lah!

 

[anderslober]

EW...thanks for the post and link to your tutorial on installing the new resistors for the fan/softstart relay. The scat you directed me toward was a US-version......the wiring is apparently a bit different on my multi-voltage unit............the wires are probably not the same color........I will take a closer look once I have the unit opened up.

 

[1978_DREAMER]

:thmbsp:That sure is one sweet looking project. I can remember drooling over that scope back in the late 70's. I couldn't stretch the dollars far enough to get one but I'm still enjoying my 2285b that I ended up with. Good luck and enjoy it!

 

[EchoWars]

I have the scat for the European model too. Yep, it's considerably different (the 'blue' transformer primary wire may be brown on the multivoltage model, but because the transformer wire runs to the plug and then to the resistors, they may use a different color).

The soft-start resistor is also 22 ohms on the multivoltage model.

Got the service manual?

 

[mech986]

Very nice save, looks to be an interesting and hopefully rewarding restoration project.

If the binding post terminals were done right, I'd suggest leaving them in for now, a bit of a mess to take the back panel apart again unless you're going into it for something else.

I suspect the clean up will be a few days and look 100% better. Will be nice once all the lights (or LED's if you install them) and the scope are lit up. This is one of the best looking from a brutal hammer down sort of look.

And one of our AK'ers also discovered how to make it a black out dial for a really unique look.

Good luck, plenty of popcorn to keep us busy with.

 

[anderslober]

EW....I have the SM, but only in pdf form.......the scats aren't that good.......I may just get a good copy from Mike's.........edit :Mike's didn't have the SM.................

Regarding the 22ohm/20watt resistor.....there are no Huntington models.....I'll have to find another type.............................

I am a bit nervous about messing the installation up...................I'll be sure to post once I get it on the bench..............would absolutely kill me'self if I messed this (working) unit up!@#$.................also on the scat the R12 resistor is 680 ohm...on the parts list it is 820 ohm...................I dunno'...........

Can you remember any other special points from your restoration?

Also others with restored 2500's....please chime in with info.....that would be great............

 

[ccheath]

EW....I have the SM, but only i pdf form.......the scats aren't that good.......I may just get a good copy from Mike's.........edit :Mike's didn't have the SM.................

Regarding the 22ohm/20watt resistor.....there are no Huntington models.....I'll have to find another type.............................

I am a bit nervous about messing the installation up...................I'll be sure to post once I get it on the bench..............would absolutely kill me'self if I messed this (working) up!@#$.................also on the scat the R12 resistor is 680 ohm...on the parts list it is 820 ohm...................I dunno'...........

Can you remember any other special points from your restoration?

Also others with restored 2500's....please chime in with info.....that would be great............

I have an original service manual and the PDF from AK Database for the 2500. I used them on determining the voltages in my 2500 since it is missing a transformer. I find the original one has a few more wiring error in the schematic than the PDF one. I would assume the PDF was a copy of the later original. But still watch out for any gotchas since it STILL contains some errors.

 

[EchoWars]

The exact value of either resistor isn't going to make or break the unit. There's a 25 ohm Huntington enamel resistor that will work fine for the soft-start. And the fan resistor...well, it controls the speed of the fan at low temp...the smaller the resistor, the faster the fan. The 750 ohm that I used, with a parallel 4.7K, worked well for the stock fan, allowing it to move a modest but useful amount of air.

 

[anderslober]

Ok...that sounds good...........I am getting a bit anxious about all the errors Marantz made in its SM's..............goof-balls like me hardly have a chance........

no worries....'Press on, Winterbottom....Press on'!