Marantz ST-600
- Thread starter dr*audio
- Start date
Whitehall
Super Member
Marantz3650
Active Member
dr*audio,
It's same as 2110.
It's same as 2110.
Vinyl Rules!
Well-Known Member
Just posted in the FM Tuner Group in Yahoo:marantzbe said:
The ST-600 was likely the very first tuner
Marantz released after their acquisition by Philips.
You also asked this question in the A/K tuner group and got a link to
a Vintage Knob page showing the ST-610 was sold between 1980 and 1982:
http://tinyurl.com/p7gvd This Vintage Knob page states that some of
the circuitry for the ST-610 was derived from the ST-7 and ST-8 but I
do not believe any Marantz RF engineers were involved - Philips was
calling the shots at this point.
And for the history of Marantz's ownership, please check this link:
http://tinyurl.com/s7sbz
The acquisition of Marantz by Philips was announced at the January,
1980 CES show and many of the people working at Marantz's California
facility were riffed. As a dealer, we were told in advance of this
sale sometime in the October/November timeframe and we had been
hearing rumors since about May of 1979 what the Tushinsky brothers
were negotiating with Philips. In fact, at the June, 1979 CES show we
were told it was all but a done deal so we knew the Superscope Marantz
was going away, and we were actually happy because we thought
Superscope really cheapened many of the Marantz products in their last
few years of ownership. For example, Superscope was the driver behind
the introduction of Marantz cassette decks and the re-introduction of
Marantz-branded turntables, and these were expensive relative to the
competition, not very well built, and the cassette decks significantly
under-performed the H/K, Teac and Sony cassette decks we were selling
at the time. We never ordered any of their turntables because we were
selling truckloads of BIC turtables and inexpensive belt-drive
Technics turntables and they were great performers for the money.
We kept our Marantz rep (he repped other product lines besides
Marantz) but Marantz announced a new, much higher pricing structure
for all their products and we no longer felt they were competitive in
the price/performance arena with the H/K and Kenwood and Sony
receivers we sold. We also did a booming business with a Mitsubishi
tuner/preamp (can't remember the model #) we mated with their 70 wpc
amp that sounded extremely good for the money and we sold as a
"receiver" because the amp was designed for the tuner/preamp to "dock"
and be attached to the front of the amp.
The Marantz history link detais the ownership history of Marantz and
show that Philips actually acquired them in 1980 which reinforces my
strong belief most of their Esotec tuners produced in this time period
were Philips-based designs, EXCEPT for the ST-7 and the ST-8 that were
re-packaged 2130's. I also believe Philips "borrowed" much of the
design work for the Esotec preamps from previous Marantz designs like
the 3200, 3600 and 3800 preamp as there were many similarities in
their circuits. It was a very common industry practice at the time to
do this and some companies would only change the outside casework
sometimes when they introduced a new model (and they would change the
specs a bit too, so it would appear to be a different design).
And after their fling with Esotec, Philips efforts were really
concentrated on development of the CD in conjunction with Sony and
that is where most of the product development efforts and dollars went
so in retrospect, I think we made a good business decision to drop
Marantz when we did.
axel
Super Member
If I allowed myself to say the 610 was derived from the St-7 and/or St-8, it is because the images I have of the 610's guts and those of the St-7 are near identical... with specs and looks being slightly different and different (respectively), to probably appear... different
The 1st gen' Esotecs were all launched after the Philips deal, yet many of them were actually repackaged Marantz designs (Sm-7, Ma-5, Sm 1000, St-7). I'd well see Philips try, for instance, to make a cheaper version of an Esotec unit, keeping the design but making it less expensive to produce (looks-wise that is, and perhaps some componentry as well) just to see if it hooks those customers (market-wise) for which the Esotecs are too expensive but who still want "more" than a run of the mill unit...
But, of course, naturally, I'd love to hear what Mr Ken Ishiwata would have to say about this 1979/1980 period He still owns the first version of the Tt 1000 which was driven by a silk thread!
The 1st gen' Esotecs were all launched after the Philips deal, yet many of them were actually repackaged Marantz designs (Sm-7, Ma-5, Sm 1000, St-7). I'd well see Philips try, for instance, to make a cheaper version of an Esotec unit, keeping the design but making it less expensive to produce (looks-wise that is, and perhaps some componentry as well) just to see if it hooks those customers (market-wise) for which the Esotecs are too expensive but who still want "more" than a run of the mill unit...
But, of course, naturally, I'd love to hear what Mr Ken Ishiwata would have to say about this 1979/1980 period
He still owns the first version of the Tt 1000 which was driven by a silk thread!
Vinyl Rules!
Well-Known Member
IMHO there is very little correlation between the sound of any component and its eBay price.c3conv said:
One example I can cite is a recent sale of a pair of AR-4x's in OK condition to someone in Korea for over $400. Hell, new they only retailed for $65 each, and IMHO, the EPI 100 is a better sounding speaker and I've never seen a pair sell for anything approaching the price of these AR-4x's.
Vinyl Rules!
Well-Known Member
Let me give you an indirect answer as I have not specifically listened to a 610.c3conv said:
I have heard and had at home most every Marantz tuner from a 10B to an ST-7. How? I worked at a very large Marantz dealership from 1972 through 1979 and maintained close contact with the owner of the business until he dropped the Marantz line after Philips bought Marantz.
I could have purchased a 2130 at a salesman's accomodation price: That means you pay 1/2 of retail, less than the dealer cost. The first tuner I bought was a Marantz 125. It is the same tuner as the 150 but it does not have an O-scope.
I had the opportunity to compare a 2130 and an ST-7 to my 125 in my system, at home, and heard no difference in sound quality on the college stations I listened to. When I engaged the "Narrow" selectivity settings of the 2130 and the ST-7, the soundfield collapsed a bit and the highs rolled off a bit, but I didn't need the additional selectivity of these models as I had no problem with adjacent channels.
The best sounding Marantz tuner, IMHO, is the 20B, NOT the 10B, but there are many who would disagree with me. But this is my opinion. And I think the 125/150 series of Marantz tuners was their second best sounding tuner.
I cannot say what the 610 sounds like, but it likely has a mix of some Philips cost reductions in the RF, IF, audio output and power supply sections and it is likely based on a Marantz 2100 design since the 610 does not have adjustable selectivity.
If you are looking for that classic Marantz sound in tuners, my biased advice would be to hunt for a 125: They can usually be found on eBay for under $200 and the only issue they have is the lights for "Stereo,", "Hi-Blend," etc. are prone to burning out and are difficult, but not impossible to replace. They do not affect the performance of this tuner.
