Poor sound on my 2252B

patpat

New Member
Hi, I am very new around here...

I just got this receiver at a yard sale, cleaned it up, looks nice, but the sound, well, she's really not doin' so well. I don't have any background with electronics so maybe I'm in the wrong place. I think it's pretty exciting to start somewhere, know-how or no, right? :yes:

Main problem: The sound is completely tinny and pretty weak, not beautiful and lush. I can imagine this being indicative of "old n tired" syndrome where maybe it will take more skill than can be mustered here to breathe some life into it. But if anyone has a good guess at a cause (and a procedure to try to remedy would be brilliant) please let me know.

Also, the light(s?) in front where the two needles hang down are out. Anyone know if I need to replace a fuse or bulb or what?

I hope my lack of schooling on the subject of your dedication does not offend anyone. Let me know if I'm hopeless!

Thanks, Amy
 
The Marantz you got is a good unit. You Might consider getting it serviced. The lights you mention are changeable and someone on this bored sells tham, but the name escapes me right now. Also, There are many here that do repairs, or might be able to steer you toward somebody near you. In my opinion, and I am biased, (as I own a 2265B) Marantz are worth putting out the cash for repairs. You state it sounds tinny, and that is definately not the sweet sound of the Marantz I know. What kind of speakers you are using could be the problem also. Have you tried the speakers on anything else? By the way. welcome to the board.
 
Bulbs

Hi Amy,

I have the same receiver and it does put out the sound you're looking for. I'm fairly new to this "vintage" journey and am having fun with it, for sure. I got my first new Marantz in 1977 (2220B) and still have it. I'm kind of reliving my youth playing with this old gear. As far as the bulbs go, if you're the slightest bit handy you can replace them yourself. I did mine without much trouble. There are a few threads here (find by searching) that should help you out. Bulb kits are available on eBay and here apparently. To do this, I removed the metal top, and very carefully popped out the green plastic panels behind the meters. They're held in by little white plastic clips that want to break off when you pry on them, so be extremely careful or expect them to break. I broke mine and used a dab of glue to hold the green panels in place after replacing the bulb. The bulbs are little fuse-like things and simply pop out of their metal clips. Just pop the new ones in and reattach the panels to the meter housing. While you're in there you might as well replace all the bulbs. The kits also come with small lights that have wires coming from them. These are for the red "stereo" light, the "dolby"light, and the tuning needle light. I replaced only the "stereo" light. The original is glued in. I used needle nose pliers to get a grip on it and slowly wiggle it out. Then I cut the wires close to the bulbs, slid one heat shrink sleeve over each remaining wire, soldered the new wires to the existing wires, slid the sleeve over the soldered joint, then heat up the sleeve to protect the soldered joint. Make sure the wires don't interfere with the tuning needle, then reassemble the case. Done... works like a champ and glows nice and bright.:thmbsp:

Good Luck with it.

CR
 
Thanks(!) and more info-

Hi, thanks for the ideas.

It's not the speakers- the ones I tested it with work reasonably well.
Also, I originally took it to a repair shop and they said it would probably take $175 for them to look it over and repair it. I didn't feel like this was reasonable- am I right or wrong? Seems like a lot to pay to try out a yardsale score when my current receiver does good enough to satisfy me most of the time (it's a kenwood kr-4600.)

Anyway, I would be a lot more excited about my above mentioned cool yard sale score if I had the satisfaction of fixing it myself. I already got a pretty good feeling of accomplishment when I prevailed over the hideous pop/fizz sound it had at first (in the initial cleaning,) and made it much prettier. So, I guess it's officially a project now, that is, unless it's over my head.

I read a post somewhere else out there on the internet hinterland that someone else's 2252 was having a similar tinniness but would work after warming up 3 minutes. I never even turned this unit on for 3 minutes but soon I will. The suggestion on that post was to take a pencil or other non-conductive prodding tool and poke around on connections inside the case and see if anything made any changes in the sound, as a way to try to find the culprit. I will most likely try that if no one has any better ideas.

Ok, well- thanks, I'll post again if I manage to find a solution!
Amy
 
patpat said:
Hi, thanks for the ideas.

It's not the speakers- the ones I tested it with work reasonably well.
Also, I originally took it to a repair shop and they said it would probably take $175 for them to look it over and repair it. I didn't feel like this was reasonable- am I right or wrong? Seems like a lot to pay to try out a yardsale score when my current receiver does good enough to satisfy me most of the time (it's a kenwood kr-4600.)

Anyway, I would be a lot more excited about my above mentioned cool yard sale score if I had the satisfaction of fixing it myself. I already got a pretty good feeling of accomplishment when I prevailed over the hideous pop/fizz sound it had at first (in the initial cleaning,) and made it much prettier. So, I guess it's officially a project now, that is, unless it's over my head.

I read a post somewhere else out there on the internet hinterland that someone else's 2252 was having a similar tinniness but would work after warming up 3 minutes. I never even turned this unit on for 3 minutes but soon I will. The suggestion on that post was to take a pencil or other non-conductive prodding tool and poke around on connections inside the case and see if anything made any changes in the sound, as a way to try to find the culprit. I will most likely try that if no one has any better ideas.

Ok, well- thanks, I'll post again if I manage to find a solution!
Amy

Open it up and look at all the electronics inside, especially the capacitors. Look at the bottom solder joints and connections everywhere. Sounds like something on the power amp board.

Oh, and I'd recommend getting a service manual too. :)
 
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