monkboughtlunch
Super Member
Prices are going up. The overseas Asian collectors are now hip to the Model 18. There are an increasing number of Asian YouTube videos about it. I suspect a lot of the 18s for sale on ebay are now going to Japan and Vietnam.
The early production 18s with the red power switches were the switches reportedly prone to failure. I wonder if Marantz selected an under spec power switch or if the supplier initially made defective ones.
The revised switch was black and was incorporated starting on the mid production 18s — maybe in the 3000 serial range? Perhaps this same revised black power switch was later used in the model 19?
Has anyone compared the red and black power switches to see what revision was made?
If you look at the McIntosh receivers of the late 1960s like the 1500 and 1700, they incorporated the power switch into the volume control along with a loudness circuit.
I think Marantz chose the better approach on the 18 and 19 using a discrete power switch and discrete volume control with no loudness tap. The discreet components Marantz used also makes serviceability easier decades later — it’s easier now to find discrete replacement controls vs a finding a custom multifunction McIntosh style control of loudness, power and loudness tap.
Has anyone determined why the HV transformer goes open on some of the 18s — and why other 18s chug along 50 years with no transformer problems whatsoever? For example, is the transformer failure caused by a defective winding, bad design, or another component—like the 500V cap— failing?
The early production 18s with the red power switches were the switches reportedly prone to failure. I wonder if Marantz selected an under spec power switch or if the supplier initially made defective ones.
The revised switch was black and was incorporated starting on the mid production 18s — maybe in the 3000 serial range? Perhaps this same revised black power switch was later used in the model 19?
Has anyone compared the red and black power switches to see what revision was made?
If you look at the McIntosh receivers of the late 1960s like the 1500 and 1700, they incorporated the power switch into the volume control along with a loudness circuit.
I think Marantz chose the better approach on the 18 and 19 using a discrete power switch and discrete volume control with no loudness tap. The discreet components Marantz used also makes serviceability easier decades later — it’s easier now to find discrete replacement controls vs a finding a custom multifunction McIntosh style control of loudness, power and loudness tap.
Has anyone determined why the HV transformer goes open on some of the 18s — and why other 18s chug along 50 years with no transformer problems whatsoever? For example, is the transformer failure caused by a defective winding, bad design, or another component—like the 500V cap— failing?
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