Marantz 19 question

sheltie dave

Addicted Member
May be silly, but is a "custom calibrated" decal Marantz 19 any different from a regular 19. Was this just a sales gimmick? Thanks for any insight!
 
The calibration is for the FM dial. They drilled the holes for the station numbers in a more exact place. Some people think this may have also included a second alignment on the tuner.
 
AFAIK on the custom calibrated ones, the dial markings are actually calibrated to the tuner (i.e., dial glass is made for and specific to the specific receiver its installed in).
 
While on the subject of the Model 19, I have a question: Did this model ever have a lighted dial pointer? I have never seen a photo of one that did.
 
mhardy6647 said:
AFAIK on the custom calibrated ones, the dial markings are actually calibrated to the tuner (i.e., dial glass is made for and specific to the specific receiver its installed in).

As a matter of fact I have never seen a 19 without the "custom calibrated" - plate on the front panel. I seen tons of 19's through the years at Ebay and have one myself and neven seen a single one without it. I know there is a picture of one at the Marantz classics site, but thats a Brochure-photo.
To the best of my knowledge the custom calibration could have been a sales gimmick. - or I seem to remember that one very knowledgeable person once mentioned, that some of these actually were assembled in JP and came back for alignment in Sun Valley Cal. - and those got the plate (might have been all?). The same thing goes for the 2270 (but that is verified)
The thing about the "drilled holes" - and individual alignment of the scale - painted by hand and so on is not true.
The scale is backlit with transparent blue numbers - no paint job here. I think the scale-alignment was done in a normal way - making sure that the dial pointer was dead on the scale. No extras here.
The receiver itself is a very very good one and to me it sounds and looks absolutely gorgeous.

Regards
Freddy
 
Thanks Freddy, I suspected there was no lighted dial pointer although it would have been a great thing to have.
Just a coincidence there is a Model 19 on Ebay without the "Custom Calibrated" plate on the front panel. Instead of that plate, "Fifty RMS Fifty" is imprinted in that space instead. It is Item number: 130114388964.
Regards,
Stereofan
 
sometimes..

this kind of coincidence makes you feel kind of spiritual - right now I have that feeling. This particular example from the mentioned auction is the very first "non-custom-calibrated" I ever saw. Real photo!

So - I have to correct my statement form the earlier post. But still I saw maybe a hundred different 19's (97 as photos) - all of them were bearing that plate - so statistics will still have the Plate-version as the most seen version.

Regards
Freddy
 
Well, the Nineteen I picked up Friday has a custom calibrated emblem. Works well, clean, all lights good, including the O-scope tube, and cheap. One small scratch of the face, one foot missing, and one fine, fine gift for a very happy Dad for Father's Day! :banana:

Pics in the morning.
 
Hi,

Important facts about the Marantz 19. Custom Calibrated units had extra alignment by hand and the dial scale was specific to only that unit. This feature cost $50 extra. The 19 was the last unit made in the USA in Sun Valley, CA. Only the last units were assembled in Japan from USA parts. This was the most expensive receiver made then. It cost 1K new.
 
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