Marantz Cassette Decks, Why no love?

[tlgibbs]

I have a 5025B and a most recently, a 5420 top loader. Currently reworking the 5420, including a full tear down, cleaning, lube, belts, demag, and reassemble. I have the metal plates removed for polishing while I wait for the belt kit to arrive.

This deck may not be the most advanced, but it sure is built well. Very solid. Visually stunning, IMO. Great for a home studio recorder as it has four channels that can be mixed. I will post pictures as I progress.

 

[zombie1210]

Old thread, brought back to life......lotsa love from me.

 

[tlgibbs]

Here is the cover, removed, and about four hours worth of cleaning. I removed the metal plates and Plexiglas. 30 years of crud is hard to remove!

 

[Arkay]

Nice to see a thread revived. I have a bunch of Marantz cassette decks (including an ultra-rare Esotec-branded SD-4000 two-speed. I've only ever found one other mentioned; it was sold in Japan a while back. Non-Esotec SD-4000s are much more common; I keep one around just for comparison. )

I think there are two questions being considered and answered here: first, why cassettes at all, and second, why not Marantz cassettes? Let's assume one wants to listen to cassettes, and just consider why not Marantz cassette decks?

I think the first reason is that the Marantz decks that match the classic silver-fronted gear (like the 22XX receivers) do not have Dolby C or HX Pro, do not play metal tapes, etc... That is, they pre-date the best tape technology. Therefore, when compared with other later decks like Pioneers CTF-1250, they tend to lose out.

The 2-speed decks, however, make up for it with the faster speed, an inherently superior technology.

It has long been "common knowledge" that the main reason for getting a classic Marantz deck was just to complete a "stack". Just for the looks, really. But I'd bet many of the people who got them for that reason, found themselves playing them sometimes and enjoying it, especially if they have properly fixed up and aligned the decks. They really aren't bad, at all. And they do LOOK gorgeous (or at least I think they do! ) Lit up, they are among the most pretty decks ever built, I think.

Their real drawback is that they don't quite compare well enough with a few of the best other vintage models, and too many people want "only the best". A later 3-head, ultra-stable block deck with Dolby C/HX-pro and perhaps automatic alignment, from TEAC or Nakamichi, WILL SOUND BETTER... but it probalby won't look as pretty, and unless you put them up for a direct comparison, there is no reason not to enjoy the old Marantz deck, especially if it matches and completes a "stack".

Who cares if they "get no love"? That just keeps them cheaper for those of us who like them! [Although I stopped buying them a couple years ago, since I already have all the ones I want.]

 

[J. H.]

Love my 5420.:yes:

 

[tlgibbs]

I'm looking forward to getting my 5420 up and running. I love the flexibility of the 4 channel mixer. The belts shipped today. The console table top design is a real looker.

Any recommendations on polishing the brushed aluminum? I noticed a bit of residue after cleaning....... :thmbsp:

 

[tlgibbs]

Old thread, brought back to life......lotsa love from me.

That is a PURDY tape deck!

 

[RobRoy]

Personally, I prefer the sound of tape over sound of a CD. It's a bit softer to me and I like that better. Brad

Pop in a CD and turn the treble all the way down. Then it should be nice and "soft".

 

[sancho22]

Agree with all the comments and have to add that both my 5025 and 5030B work very well.

 

[SB Marantz]

Let's see......


I have or had:

5010 (B)/ 5020 / 5025B / 5030B / SD-4000 / SD-6000 / SD-8000/ SD-9000dbx/SD-9020/SD-720 / SD-820DBX/ SD-930/SD-72.
And some others not worth mentioning.


The SD-930 is by far the best deck i ever had with Auto azimuth control.

 

[Jeffery]

I couldn't give away a (really nice, clean) SD-3000 that needed a belt, so my guess is the belt costs more than the deck is worth.

 

[retox]

tlgibbs

Can you give me some direction with the tear down of a 5420? are you using the service manual to tear down the 5420? I just got one, it sounds as if it needs to be opened up for a cleaning and belt replacement. a little reluctant to open without a service manual... are the belts easy to get to, and who do you recommend for belts?

thank for any help you can offer

mark

 

[tlgibbs]

I ordered my belts from http://www.vintage-electronics.cc/

The deck is a bit challenging to change the belts. After removing the bottom cover you have to remove five screws to get the chassis out of the wood case. The four in the corners are easy, but there is one in dead center that is a little tricky. There is a hole in the main circuit board you can use to access this screw but I found it easier to take the mounting screws out of the main circuit board in order to get to that fifth screw. Just remove the mounting screws on the board and carefully lift it up and tilt it to the left and you can get good access to the fifth screw. Once you have the five screws removed carefully lift the wood case off the chassis. It takes some finagelling and the cassette lid has to be raised when you do it. Obviously the slider buttons and pot buttons have to be removed, they just pull off.

(A little edit here. You don't actually have to remove the case if you are just changing belts. Since I was going through all the sliders, pots, transport mechanism, etc., I needed to remove the case.)
Let me know if you get this far..... :thmbsp:

Here are a couple nudies

 

[Marantz7t15]

Pop in a CD and turn the treble all the way down. Then it should be nice and "soft".

And then at the same volume level, a nice steady FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF! AM radio sounds awesome too!

 

[tlgibbs]

And then at the same volume level, a nice steady FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF! AM radio sounds awesome too!

You know, it's interesting. I have a friend who specializes in AM radios, primarily tube equipment from the 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's. He has a collection of vintage radios that is unrivaled. I have heard several examples of his collection, and these vintage radios sound awesome! Of course, due to the limitations of technology at the time, a lot of these radios are limited to 10 or 12 Khz frequency response, but I have to tell you, so many of these units sound absolutely incredible. Back in the day, when everyone listened to AM, builders of audio equipment, as well as sound engineers that recorded popular music, set their equalization curves to match the best equipment available at the time. The tube equipment of the era varied in quality, but overall a good quality radio with a good signal from the station resulted in a very warm, wonderful listening experience in the ears of millions of listeners.

It is out of pure ignorance that AM radio is dismissed as an obsolete technology. Although the state of the art has progressed somewhat in the intervening years, I can speak from experience that a good AM tuner tuned to a good signal with a tube tuner and amp is an absolutely wonderful exprerience. Anyone that has only heard AM through a solid state tuner has not heard the potential the technology has.

:thmbsp:

 

[Marantz7t15]

You know, it's interesting. I have a friend who specializes in AM radios, primarily tube equipment from the 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's. He has a collection of vintage radios that is unrivaled. I have heard several examples of his collection, and these vintage radios sound awesome! Of course, due to the limitations of technology at the time, a lot of these radios are limited to 10 or 12 Khz frequency response, but I have to tell you, so many of these units sound absolutely incredible. Back in the day, when everyone listened to AM, builders of audio equipment, as well as sound engineers that recorded popular music, set their equalization curves to match the best equipment available at the time. The tube equipment of the era varied in quality, but overall a good quality radio with a good signal from the station resulted in a very warm, wonderful listening experience in the ears of millions of listeners.

It is out of pure ignorance that AM radio is dismissed as an obsolete technology. Although the state of the art has progressed somewhat in the intervening years, I can speak from experience that a good AM tuner tuned to a good signal with a tube tuner and amp is an absolutely wonderful exprerience. Anyone that has only heard AM through a solid state tuner has not heard the potential the technology has.

:thmbsp:

I know! I have a 1946 philco console, needs work, and a 1931 philco model 70 that works well. They do sound awesome. I was just poking fun at the cassette deck thing. It sort of reminded me of comparing Blue ray to a 1976 video! Or a flat panel tv to a 1968 console. My dad likes tape cassettes and listens to Ray Coniff and the BGs but he's 80 and beginning to go loose it (Sorry DAD!)

 

[tlgibbs]

Ok, so let's get this thread back on track. I finally got my Marantz 5420 console cassette deck cleaned, lubed, belted, and back together. Impressive in the build quality, and a nice deck. Considered TOTL when it was released, but strangely only featured two heads. A deck like this certainly could have used a three head design.

A very cool feature of the deck is the panpot system where you can take a line source or microphone and place it anywhere you want while recording, left channel, right channel, or anywhere in between. The recordings I have made so far sound great. With CR O2 tape the high end goes up to 16k, so not bad. It is probably the nicest two head deck I have heard. I really like the look and the top loading console design. :thmbsp:

 

[Tapehead47]

I have one in storage. Can't recall the model # but it is a 2-head with lever operation. Not a fancy looking model.

But let me say it records and plays back better than any deck I've ever owned!! Fabulous dynamic range, and stereo separation.

I don't use it because the auto stop quit working, and I also bought a Nakamichi I have hooked up now.

If I ever see a nice Marantz cassette deck you know I'll snatch it up!

Rick

 

[loneraider]

Well i have my marantz 5220 deck and plays great for being 35 yrs old,
i'm still looking for the wood case/

 

[Hull Rust]

Have an SD-3000 I am struggling with to replace all belts on. The large belt was easy, the two smaller I am having trouble getting at. No service manual available online.

Anyone replace belts on a SD-3000 before? The counter doesn't work. Unit runs for a little bit then shuts down. Any tips on how to get at the two smaller belts would be much appreciated. Last time I took a run at it was about a month ago, but I'm going to again this weekend. Thanks in advance.