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Check out what I saved from the trash today!

James Cox

James Cox

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
So my buddy called me yesterday and said he seen his neighbor throwing out some giant speakers and a "Big silver radio thing" and asked if I might want it. I told him I had enough problems but to go ahead and grab it and I'd come check it out. Worse case scenario I'd have some switches and stuff for a custom project. Well I went up there today and seen these:

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Needless to say it definitely exceded my expectations. I havnt had a chance to test any of them out yet but off the bat I notice I'll probably need a new cover for the table and feet. The feet now are 2 different sizes and it definitely is way off balance. It's also missing the clip that holds the tonearm on the rest. It all has a pretty thick layer of cigarette smoke residue and needs a very thorough cleaning. My buddy said he heard the neighbors jamming pretty regularly so I'm inclined to think the receiver and speakers probably work.
 
I noticed that too. Are they really that good or is it just the brand and looks people are paying for? I'll probably end up restoring the table and selling it. I'm very interested in the quad receiver tho. I've never had a chance to really mess with a quad setup and i think itll be alot of fun. On the speakers I have a friend who could use them so I'll probably pay it forward and pass those onto him. I want to hear them and possibly recap them before I send them off tho
 
I'm pretty good at getting old turntables back up and running but as far as the 4270 is concerned are there any known trouble spots I should check out before I fire it up? I planned on giving it a good cleaning, including all the pots and switch, and using my DBT the first time I power it on. Anything else I should do with this one?
 
I guess your living right James! :beerchug:.
Deoxit and lube the pots on the 6300 and clean the switches. The 4270 is a sweet sounding unit. DO NOT switch between 2ch and 4ch on the back with the power on or you will toast something in the amp. I don't know what but it's mentioned in the Op Manual and SM and here on AK. It's a bit of a bugger to work on due to stuffed to the brim with boards but doable. I've worked on a couple and there's lot's of threads and help on it here. Good luck with it.
:lurk:
 
jd3rdcoast said:
I guess your living right James! :beerchug:.
Deoxit and lube the pots on the 6300 and clean the switches. The 4270 is a sweet sounding unit. DO NOT switch between 2ch and 4ch on the back with the power on or you will toast something in the amp. I don't know what but it's mentioned in the Op Manual and SM and here on AK. It's a bit of a bugger to work on due to stuffed to the brim with boards but doable. I've worked on a couple and there's lot's of threads and help on it here. Good luck with it.
:lurk:
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Thanks! I've restored a few pieces of tube gear but if I decide to tackle a full restoration this would be my first solid state unit. I'm a little intimidated by how.crammed the 4270 appears to be. Most of the tube stuff I've worked on, aside from.the sherwood s8000, had plenty of space to work with and was a single layer of point to point wired parts as opposed to multiple PCB boards stacked on top.of each other.
I think I'll start slow on this one, clean the pots and check the dc offset at the speaker terminals and hope for the best. If I notice any anomalies I'll then look into possibly recapping the 4270.
The 6300 looks like itll be a much easier project so I'll probably get that done first, then focus on the 4270.
 
Nice catch! You should keep the turntable though, really high end ones are rare, and it takes a good table to reproduce quad decently (the two rear channels and encoded at 38K I think, like stereo FM).

Quad is probably mostly theoretical at this point, the recordings are rare and non-existent in CD form, would almost have to be vinyl and wasn't very common in the day as I remember.

Very nice equipment for free!
 
There is a website with a list of most all quad recordings produced with media format and quad format. Marantz used the SQ quad format and you will have to find an SQ decoder adapter to plug into the bottom of your unit if one is not there. Flip over and pull the cover. (SQ-1, SQ-2, SQ-2B). If your lucky there is a decoder in there. BONUS! 99% of time not there. But you can simulate quad with a 2 channel recording using the VariMatrix setting. The Op Manual is your friend with these. Also, research the TT cartridge/needle to see if it is capable of reading a quad formatted record.
 
HPMguy said:
Nice catch! You should keep the turntable though, really high end ones are rare, and it takes a good table to reproduce quad decently (the two rear channels and encoded at 38K I think, like stereo FM).

Quad is probably mostly theoretical at this point, the recordings are rare and non-existent in CD form, would almost have to be vinyl and wasn't very common in the day as I remember.

Very nice equipment for free!
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See I already have a pretty nice Thorens TD-125 MKII that I restored that would be very hard to beat. As far as direct drive I also have a denon DP-6000 that I like alot set up as my reference table at my record store. I'll definitely have a little shootout between the 6300 and the denon but I dont see the Marantz winning this round.

jd3rdcoast said:
There is a website with a list of most all quad recordings produced with media format and quad format. Marantz used the SQ quad format and you will have to find an SQ decoder adapter to plug into the bottom of your unit if one is not there. Flip over and pull the cover. (SQ-1, SQ-2, SQ-2B). If your lucky there is a decoder in there. BONUS! 99% of time not there. But you can simulate quad with a 2 channel recording using the VariMatrix setting. The Op Manual is your friend with these. Also, research the TT cartridge/needle to see if it is capable of reading a quad formatted record.
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Good idea, I havnt taken the cover off yet to check but I'll make sure to look tomorrow when I clean it out.
 
James Cox said:
So my buddy called me yesterday and said he seen his neighbor throwing out some giant speakers and a "Big silver radio thing" and asked if I might want it. I told him I had enough problems but to go ahead and grab it and I'd come check it out. Worse case scenario I'd have some switches and stuff for a custom project. Well I went up there today and seen these:

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SCROE! :D
 
James Cox said:
So my buddy called me yesterday and said he seen his neighbor throwing out some giant speakers and a "Big silver radio thing" and asked if I might want it. I told him I had enough problems but to go ahead and grab it and I'd come check it out. Worse case scenario I'd have some switches and stuff for a custom project. Well I went up there today and seen these:
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Nice find. It's amazing what people will throw out with no regard to their value. A friend of mine once found a 2275 at the curb right down his block.
Needing nothing more than a thorough cleaning, he made a quick sale on the unit (a move he still regrets).
As for your 4270, I've got one in my arsenal and is a fine sounding unit. I have to admit that it's only ever been used in a 2 channel set up. Find an ops manual online and familiarize yourself
with the different mode selections, it can get a little confusing if you're in one mode and are expecting something different. Surprisingly, it offers a lot of functionality.

Agree with your assessment on the turntable, your Thorens is often considered a holy grail. That Marantz doesn't come close to that, even though it currently commands a lot of money these days.
If nothing else, it will provide you with a nice chunk of cash to invest back into your system (yes, I enable). Good luck.
 
James Cox said:
Thanks! I've restored a few pieces of tube gear but if I decide to tackle a full restoration this would be my first solid state unit.
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The 4270 is a huge pain to rebuild if you want to get ALL the caps. I would strongly advise against starting with it.

As far as the 6300, it's a pain and is overrated as well. All those microswitches act up, and there's a circuit board tucked in the motor that has caps that go bad and can mess up the speed. I would stick with your Thorens.
 
I agree with EastPoint. The 6300 is pretty, and a decent turntable, but not a great one. The price for a nice working model has skyrocketed to around $1000. Clean it, get it working properly and sell it, since you already have a great turntable. Unless the cover is broken, you should be able to polish it up to look like new.
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Steven Tate said:
I agree with EastPoint. The 6300 is pretty, and a decent turntable, but not a great one. The price for a nice working model has skyrocketed to around $1000. Clean it, get it working properly and sell it, since you already have a great turntable. Unless the cover is broken, you should be able to polish it up to look like new.
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I'm just not getting this infatuation with anything Marantz these days. Why someone would spend $1000 on one of these turntables, as opposed to say a Thorens is a mystery to me.
The same inflated pricing is now applied to their receivers. Don't get me wrong, I like their gear, I have several 22xx units in use throughout my world, but the reality is they were not in the upper echelon of audio gear when new. Hi quality mid grade that sounds good, absolutely. Audiophile caliber, nope.
 
I think a lot of it is just people wanting to put together a completely Marantz system just for the nostalgia factor. It is a good looking turntable, and it has the Marantz logo on the front. Voila! $1000 turntable. No, I wouldn't pay it either. However, I do have a Marantz 6100 turntable that I really like. It's simple, belt drive, not automatic, and still looks good. It's not a Thorens, but I bought it cheap and cleaned it up. And it works great.
 
Steven Tate said:
I agree with EastPoint. The 6300 is pretty, and a decent turntable, but not a great one. The price for a nice working model has skyrocketed to around $1000. Clean it, get it working properly and sell it, since you already have a great turntable. Unless the cover is broken, you should be able to polish it up to look like new.
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So the cover is pretty much cracked in half but since it was free I figure buying a new cover and some feet wouldnt hurt. I'm going to get it as close to new as I can before I decide what to.do.with it. If it doesnt beat the thorens (which I doubt it will) I'll end up selling it to cover the cost of my next project. I'm torn between building a set of m-125 monoblocks or a VTA ST-120. I have some dahlquist dq-20i's just sitting because I don't have anything powerful enough to really run them. Probably try running them.with the 4270 and see how that goes.
 
peterp1 said:
Holy Crap!

I want to move to one of these cities where the thrift stores and dumpsters are paved with gold!!!
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Haha it's almost always junk around here and this is the only time I've found any worthwhile stereo gear about to be thrown out. Just the luck of the draw I guess, you know even a broken clock is right twice a day haha.
 
James Cox said:
Haha it's almost always junk around here and this is the only time I've found any worthwhile stereo gear about to be thrown out. Just the luck of the draw I guess, you know even a broken clock is right twice a day haha.
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I just keep reading all these stories about finds and incredible thrifts store buys -- the few times I've been in a thrift store, I see stuff like a standalone VHS tape rewinder with leaking batteries for $20 :)
 
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