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Any Superscope love?

gearhound

gearhound

Lunatic Member
Hello people!!
As much as Marantz gets all the kudos it rightly deserves, I'd like to give a wink & a nod to Marantz's Superscope line.
Sold as a lower cost alternative to the Marantz line, the low cost/low powered Superscope receivers are pretty good in their own right.
Most fly WAY under the radar.
Superscope receivers share much from the more costly Marantz line, and some (R-2220, R-2240, & R-2270) are almost dead-ringers for their Marantz counterparts.
I have a little 20wpc Superscope R-340 receiver (pink dial lights and all) driving a pair of KLH 17 speakers.
The sound is very warm and fat (like a tube amp) with good imaging.
While the KLH 17's would probably like to see some more power, the little Superscope does an admirable job just the same.
While they don't have the glamor of the Marantz line, they more than hold their own against the competition!

Steve :thmbsp::music:
 
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The name Superscope reminds me how much my friends and I detested the appearance of cheap Japenese brand audio components on the shelves. In my mind Superscope and their management of Marantz, succesful as it was, are the single most important cause for the demise of quality afordable audio equipment manufactured in the U.S.A. They served as a "storefront" by marketing Japenese manufactured products as a seemingly American brand. Others were guilty of the same deceit but by far Superscope seemed to be the best, worst?. Heck they even saved Sony. In short, there is no love of Superscope in my home.
Enough ranting. I do agree though they are excellent sources to RAPE if you need parts for your Marantz equipment.
 
justw said:
The name Superscope reminds me how much my friends and I detested the appearance of cheap Japenese brand audio components on the shelves. In my mind Superscope and their management of Marantz, succesful as it was, are the single most important cause for the demise of quality afordable audio equipment manufactured in the U.S.A. They served as a "storefront" by marketing Japenese manufactured products as a seemingly American brand. Others were guilty of the same deceit but by far Superscope seemed to be the best, worst?. Heck they even saved Sony. In short, there is no love of Superscope in my home.
Enough ranting. I do agree though they are excellent sources to RAPE if you need parts for your Marantz equipment.
Click to expand...

You took the words right out of my mouth --------------- James
 
I have a Sony Superscope A-555 tubed reel to reel...almost military quality in build...
 
That Will Show Them!

justw said:
The name Superscope reminds me how much my friends and I detested the appearance of cheap Japenese brand audio components on the shelves. In my mind Superscope and their management of Marantz, succesful as it was, are the single most important cause for the demise of quality afordable audio equipment manufactured in the U.S.A. They served as a "storefront" by marketing Japenese manufactured products as a seemingly American brand. Others were guilty of the same deceit but by far Superscope seemed to be the best, worst?. Heck they even saved Sony. In short, there is no love of Superscope in my home. Enough ranting. I do agree though they are excellent sources to RAPE if you need parts for your Marantz equipment.
Click to expand...


If I understand this correctly, you would tear down a perfectly good Superscope for parts because it represents some management decisions that company made way back when?

Yeah, that will really teach them a lesson!

You cannot change history, so either SS was a good product (a position many on this forum take) or they were not. To simply sacrifice a SS for parts simply because of the company history does not make economic sense (if for no other reason). Seems comparable to a dedicated Mercury man stripping down a perfectly good Ford simply because his dad had a poor experience with that brand, or did not like some decision that division made sometime back in history.

If you do not like a brand for whatever reason but it works well, sell it and use the funds to buy something you DO like. Otherwise it is a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
 
Hello,i have a problem with my Superscope R1220 stereo bulb not working(new bulb) sometimes it goes on and slowly dissapears.
Does someone have an idea what could be wrong ?
 
I love these old threads, hopefully this doesn't get locked down as well, it's like a time capsule to the past.

The Superscope Name takes a beating on the component side but the boombox and field recorders were outstanding. Originally it was the entry-level branding, similar to Pioneer's Centrex Offerings. I think audio guys didn't like that boomboxes were made by their favorite companies so marketing thought it would be better to have a different name and possibly other distribution channels.

The CRS-4000 was a monster boombox from 1978 and I think it retailed for around $400 bones, big money back then! Superscope also had the only 3 head boombox, the CRS-5000, rarely seen outside of Japan. The CRS-7900 is from the early 80's also from Miyako Audio (Marantz of Japan), it goes for big money if they do show up for sale, this has to be one of the last Superscope Branding Audio Products.

While all the YT Historians give the exact same history, I'm not sure they're entirely correct. I think this is a museum website but 20 years ago it was active, you can search it on archive.org to find when they ceased operations, maybe 10 years ago?
www.superscopetechnologies.com

Superscope Technologies | Marantz PMD Repairs

At Superscope Technolgies we offer Digital Audio Recorders designed with specific functions for professional use by court and government legal recordings and for use by music educators to record and practice in all levels of music education. Now offering service repairs, products, parts and...
www.superscopetechnologies.com www.superscopetechnologies.com

Superscope USA had the Marantz Pro Portables, some started out as Superscope, like the CD-330 (1978?), would improve and be rebranded Marantz. They would continue to sell these until a few years ago.

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Johnny 67 said:
Hello,i have a problem with my Superscope R1220 stereo bulb not working(new bulb) sometimes it goes on and slowly dissapears.
Does someone have an idea what could be wrong ?
Click to expand...
Hello. Are you shure you have the same bulb as original? If so, I think the circuit needs adjustment. I can provide you with a service manual of Superscope R-1220 if you want.

According to the service manual, bulb M004 is the stereo indicator. Partnr. is IN1008034. Googling that leads to a bulb 8 V, 60 mA.
 
Hello,
I have already found the manual.Bulb that i have i the original one.Yes i have to make adjustments to the tuner but am a little bit afraid to do something wrong.
Regards Johnny
 
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