Just got this little Marantz 2220b running again a couple of days ago, thanks to the good information I got from researching threads here on AK. I got it adjusted in and tried it out on some cheap test speakers. I gave it a good long test run. It played well and didn't get hot or otherwise misbehave. I thought it sounded pretty darn good even through those cheapos.
I decided to try it out on the Fortes, but didn't really expect it's 20 watts to be very impressive with those big speakers. Well, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. It sounds excellent mated up with those big guys, and it doesn't have to strain to do it. Ten o'clock on the volume control is a nice moderately loud listening level, and twelve o'clock lets me hear all the music while walking my treadmill. That would be much too loud for me for passive listening.
But volume isn't everything, (nor even the only thing). This little jewel sounds superb. I gave it a twelve-hour workout today listening to several genres of music. It sounds great overall, but I was really impressed with the simultaneous clarity and smoothness of the mids and highs. I ramped it up to one o'clock briefly and heard the same effortless performance, just louder. My hand on the case above the heat sinks could barely detect any warmth. By the way, idle current is adjusted to spec.
Obviously, I am quite pleased with this arrangement. Again I thank AK members for sharing their knowledge and insight in these threads. I am including a couple of pictures. Please excuse the makeshift stands. My setup is transitional, as I have several items to rotate. Someday, I plan to do better when not involved with other projects.
I decided to try it out on the Fortes, but didn't really expect it's 20 watts to be very impressive with those big speakers. Well, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. It sounds excellent mated up with those big guys, and it doesn't have to strain to do it. Ten o'clock on the volume control is a nice moderately loud listening level, and twelve o'clock lets me hear all the music while walking my treadmill. That would be much too loud for me for passive listening.
But volume isn't everything, (nor even the only thing). This little jewel sounds superb. I gave it a twelve-hour workout today listening to several genres of music. It sounds great overall, but I was really impressed with the simultaneous clarity and smoothness of the mids and highs. I ramped it up to one o'clock briefly and heard the same effortless performance, just louder. My hand on the case above the heat sinks could barely detect any warmth. By the way, idle current is adjusted to spec.
Obviously, I am quite pleased with this arrangement. Again I thank AK members for sharing their knowledge and insight in these threads. I am including a couple of pictures. Please excuse the makeshift stands. My setup is transitional, as I have several items to rotate. Someday, I plan to do better when not involved with other projects.
