Have a chance to possibly pick up a Marantz 2238b on the cheap...

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10seventy9

Active Member
Is there anything I need to know to look out for? It is at a pawn shop, and I know the owners. They said that someone bought it and then brought it back the next day saying it would run for a while, then "shut off" then come back on after a while... which doesn't sound like what an amp typically does, and makes me think they just changed their mind and wanted their money back because it wasn't as powerful as they thought it was or something along those lines.... I have heard of a speaker relay occasionally making one of these cut out, is there anything else I need to know? I know it's got some lamps burned out, but I think I may actually have the correct lamps for it.

I recently bought a Sansui AU555a amp and I really like it a lot, but it doesn't have as many inputs as I'd like, and this Marantz does, as well as having a tuner. How comparable are the two, sound-wise?
 
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If you know the owners, bring in some speakers in and have them run it for a day in the shop to test it. They get some music and you get to test things out. Make sure they're crappy speakers otherwise the price might go up by the end of the day ;-).
 
The girl at the shop said that they hooked it up and it didn't act up on them at all... makes me wonder. They have a 48 hour return window, so I might pick it up and see what it does. Not that I really want to sell it, but I could flip the Sansui and be money ahead as long as I didn't have to spend a ton of money on the Marantz. Just wondering what my best option would be. Marantz stuff sure is pretty when it's lit up, though....
 
If the previous owner had too many low impedance speakers hooked up it may have been behaving properly trying to protect itself. That's why they call it a protection relay.

2238B is a solid performer that looks good as well. Repair parts are available for the electronics and there are plenty of parts units for the cosmetics. Compared to your Sansui you may find it a little "warmer" with looser but deeper bass, slightly less midrange bite and rolled off highs. It's called "west coast sound"

With a 48 hour window, you have nothing to loose.
 
That ^^
Or it could have a bad contact somewhere (relay or switch) and cut off at times, when the signal was weak, but play just fine when checked with high volume level. Easy to remedy with thorough cleaning.
 
wmgwizard said:
If the previous owner had too many low impedance speakers hooked up it may have been behaving properly trying to protect itself. That's why they call it a protection relay.

2238B is a solid performer that looks good as well. Repair parts are available for the electronics and there are plenty of parts units for the cosmetics. Compared to your Sansui you may find it a little "warmer" with looser but deeper bass, slightly less midrange bite and rolled off highs. It's called "west coast sound"

With a 48 hour window, you have nothing to loose.
Click to expand...

I think you have your coast confused. Marantz units have the east coast sound. West coast is booming bass and screaming highs.
 
OK, so I FINALLY got a free day away from the new job and ran by and picked up the 2238b. I got home and tested it first with headphones, then hooked up my Advent Prodigy I's. Initial impressions: It needs a couple of the controls and most of the switches cleaned, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the power amp section, it sounds AMAZING. This might be the best sounding receiver I have ever had my Sennheiser HD414's hooked up to... wow. There is definitely an issue with the FM board of some sort, one channel pops and sputters and I can't tell that I have any reception at all, but I didn't hook an antenna up to it, either. There is an FM station nearby that I ought to have been able to pick up, though, so I am guessing there is a problem or three in the FM board. Even just playing audio off my phone it sounds amazing with the Advent speakers. I now understand all the hype over these. Also, the display has about half the lamps out, but I think I actually have the correct lamps for it here, as I use the same lamp (or something very close to the same lamp) in my leak light that I use to test woodwind band instruments with... if it's the same lamp, and I'm pretty sure it is, then I have almost a complete container of 100 lamps for it, so I have that covered, LOL.

I think I'm going to drop it off with my friend who used to do stereo repair for a living and have him go through it for me. It's definitely a keeper and unless there's something major wrong, it will be my new main system receiver once I have it gone through.
 
FM is finicky with NO ANTENNA connected. FM STEREO requires approx 50% more signal strength than MONO FM. So at least connect a 6' piece of wire to the antenna terminal (300 ohm) and then see what you get.
 
I'm glad you went ahead and got it, with a little tune up, I bet it's going to work fine! I wish you all the best!
 
larryderouin said:
FM is finicky with NO ANTENNA connected. FM STEREO requires approx 50% more signal strength than MONO FM. So at least connect a 6' piece of wire to the antenna terminal (300 ohm) and then see what you get.
Click to expand...

I dropped it off with my friend this morning, so he can go through it. He said the same thing, though, about FM. There's an FM station about 10 miles from me that has a tall tower and their signal is really strong here, my old Kenwood could get them without an antenna, so I dunno. Like I said, one channel on FM was making pops and crackles, so I'm not sure there isn't something wrong on the FM board. We'll see what my buddy finds when he gets into it. Might be a little bit, though, he has a Sansui receiver on his bench that belongs to his brother at the moment.....
 
Dial lamps

The tuning dial takes 8v fuse lamps however, you can now buy LED equivalents that are brighter and come in a variety of colors.

I like the soft white as they reproduce the most original Marantz blue color. Some prefer the blue lamps as they make the dial very blue. a yellow lamp will make the face glow green.

LED re lamp kits are available on that auction site for around twenty bucks and include ALL the lamps you will need to make the Marantz look new.

Congratulations on your acquisition and enjoy your music!
 
SO, I just got a message from my friend, my 2238 is ready to be picked up! AM/FM now working, all cleaned and gone through, and lamps replaced with LEDs... he says it looks and sounds FANTASTIC! Woohoo!
 
OK, so after having a pretty rough couple of weeks since I last posted (I had a sister pass away AND an aunt all in the span of 5 days....), I finally got a chance to run by and pick up the 2238b this evening. WOW. This is far and away the best sounding receiver I have ever owned. New LED lamp kit, replaced a bad resistor in the FM tuner and aligned it, and cleaned up all the controls... I'm really happy with this thing. That sound, though.... 2238b.jpg
 
You'll have to forgive the cell phone picture, it's not as obnoxious in person as the picture makes it look, these LEDs are actually pretty subtle, I'm sitting about six feet away from it and it looks fairly dimly lit from here. My camera battery is dead or I'd have taken a real picture.... man this thing makes my old Pioneer PL-41 come alive, I've never heard this table sound this good since I was a kid and my brother had it hooked up to his Pioneer SX9000.....
 
Congrats! Fantastic

But, am I reading correctly - your friend had this unit for a year and a half ??
 
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