Marantz 2270 Engraved Survey

[dgunnr]

Facts: I have owned over 10 champagne engraved 2270's. I have owned 2 Silver engraved 2270's. The appearance is night and day. I currently have both a Champagne and Silver engraved faceplate in my possession. I change out the faceplates from time to time on my correct # 2270 for a different look. One of my friends also has a Silver engraved 2270. Bushikan is spot on describing some differences in plate appearances (Coarse finish and Shiny finish).

Facts: Per my survey, that I have spent 10 +/- years on, the highest Documented 2270 is 4,983. The lowest DOCUMENTED non engraved 2270 is #5025. This means between 4.983 and 5,025 the engraved line ends. Disclaimer: Somewhere is the 50K-60K range some people have shown engraved 2270's from Canada. I am not going to say they are real or not. Someone else should start a new thread and research it, I am only going to focus on the units in the lower numbers and only the 2270's. Please leave that discussion out of this thread.

Fact: Every 2270 on my survey i have looked at high resolution photos of the face plate and the serial number on the back to CONFIRM what it is. You would be surprised how many Marantz people think, assume, or don't know what an engraved face plate even means or looks like. I have also caught people putting engraved faceplates on incorrect 2270 chassis to get a better resale price. I have had 3 people admit this to me.

Opinion: I don't believe, or have any evidence, that these units were built any better than other 2270 models. I heard this years ago from sellers on E-Bay who used this language in describing there listings. I believe some old timers may have based that statement from reading it from inaccurate E-Bay ads like i did. Other E-Bay ads stated these were given to only high volume Marantz dealers as a gift as well. Again, sounds good for an E-Bay ad but not true. Fact: My restoration person has restored over 50 2270 units and has never seen anything indicating the early models were specially built units as well. He would know better than anyone else.

Irritating things: So now you know why when someone casually says there is no such thing as a Silver engraved unit I get a bit pissed off. I have spent a lot of time researching this. My biggest problem is many owners/sellers not knowing the differences and taking poor photos of the faceplate making it time consuming and difficult to determine what they have. I have had probably 20+ people tell me they have engraved units over the 5,000 mark and the units ended being non engraved units with a coarse finish that was predominate after the approximate 5,000 mark. They do look different than the more common Silver units but they are not engraved! Other things that cause confusion are invented descriptions of the the Champange or Silver engraved faceplates that further confuses the discussion.

 

[rBuckner]

I agree that they weren't built any better inside than later units. The later ones got some better parts later actually. And yes indeed, there are silver "engraved" ones out there. Of the champagne units of all models I've done, none are over serial number 5000.

 

[icko30]

There’s no reason for me to believe that silver-etched units never existed although personally, I have my doubts. But that’s just my subjective opinion.

At the moment, I have four units in front of me under identical lighting conditions: the 2215, 2230, 2245, and 2270.

The 2215 and 2245 are clearly finished in a champagne-bronze tone. The 2230 appears almost champagne when viewed from one side, but from another angle, the hue brightens noticeably toward silver. The 2270, meanwhile, is the brightest of the four.
If the 2270 were standing alone, I could easily "mistake" it for a silver model. However, when compared directly to genuine silver units with ink-stamped markings, its color tone doesn’t match.

I also have a 2285B, a 2010, and a 5010 deck, and all of them share the same silver-tan finish — yet even they differ slightly from the 2270.

 

[Parallax982]

I'm still having trouble understanding why people seem to get so animated over this. I see what I see. You see what you see. There were either engraved silver plates or there weren't. I have no energy in this. I love my engraved Marantz units. I no longer use them but I keep them around because I find them too beautiful to part with. I'd love it if one of my children cherished one or both of them (a 2270 and a 2230), as I'd be happy to pass them on. Otherwise, eventually, I'll have to sell them. So it doesn't fall on my wife and kids after I'm gone.

 

[TonyDiehl]

I spotted what was most certainly rose gold 2245 Serial 4825 (bottom in the picture below) on FB marketplace and couldn't tell from the photos if it was engraved but knew that Serial number fell close to other engraved 2245s. I picked it up and found that it was indeed rose gold but not engraved. This is the 2nd one I've owned like this, previous was serial 5114. For comparison the top one picture below is my rose gold engraved serial 3446 and then a silver face 2230 in between for comparison sake. Has anyone else come across any other rose gold but not engraved? I'm thinking towards the end of the engraved run they ran some as rose gold non-engraved to use up the material perhaps before switching to silver face. This one came with the original box, full functional, mint face plate, and some parts upgrades from a retired professional audio technician.

 

[tubelectron]

My 2270 is not engraved, but silk-screened lettering and intact ...

He bears the S/N° 53702, and it's an export version :

T

 

[WABrown]

I see that 6 weeks ago dgunnr summarized where he is on the survey and I found it very impressive. Good work, especially dividing the Facts from Opinions.
I also saw that he has heard from some people think that the early units may have been built better. Perhaps I can put some first hand experiences to the Opinion section.

I purchased a 2270 brand new in Los Angeles in December 1971 after auditioning a couple of units in October/November 1971. It was in the 43XX range per my sales receipt. What a great sounding receiver, and boy was it beautiful! I remember the beautiful engraved faceplate as I often ran my finger over the Marantz name just to feel the craftsmanship. However, my experience included two trips to the Marantz repair center not long after I purchased it to fix a noisy channel. They replaced transistors according to the service orders. I was not impressed. This was an expensive purchase and I thought I was buying the best.

A couple of years later when it was out of warranty I had to make another repair for the same reason, this time I borrowed an oscilloscope from the lab where I worked and I replaced it myself. Those were the good old days when you could drive over to Marantz and buy parts. Was it built any better than the later ones? I don't know about that. My guess (Opinion) is that the techs provided feedback to production and there were improvements made to the later units.

 

[tubelectron]

My 2270 is dated from 1975 (IIRC), stamped on a lip of the frontface.
If I except the replacement of the lamps, cleaning and setup in accordance with the Marantz service guide, this receiver is totally factory stock.
As are my 2250b and 2015 5-knobs from the same era.

I don't know if "engraved" models were better quality, but according to the undestructibility of my three fine "silk-screened" Marantz receiver in 2025, I consider that the quality level is met, and by far...

T

 

[Bushikan]

I’ve only owned earlier and later Marantz pieces (Model 9/7; 1152DC). Not sure how great they sound (of course each is different), but the blue-nomenclature-on-black 22 series is really beautiful.

 

[Marantz_2230]

Thanks. I see the clear difference between the silver and the champagne face plates. But in both cases the champagne are engraved and the silver is not. Until I see an engraved champagne plate next to an engraved silver plate, I'll continue to be unsure whether there really is a silver engraved plate.

I've got one

 

[TonyDiehl]

I've got one

Oh cool, can you share a picture here? I have never seen a silver engraved and would love to see what they look like. Thanks!

 

[Marantz_2230]

I hope you can see this, if not let me know.

 

[rBuckner]

I hope you can see this, if not let me know.

I can't tell a thing at that distance and resolution. Your album dividers are very cool though!!

 

[JJCalvillo]

I've got one

I worked on one as well.

 

[Marantz_2230]

I can't tell a thing at that distance and resolution. Your album dividers are very cool though!!

When I get it back I will try to get a better picture. I'm legally blind so ...... I will have my wife or son take it. I throw in a back panel and internals as well.

 

[Marantz_2230]

I can't tell a thing at that distance and resolution. Your album dividers are very cool though!!

Hello,
I got my 2230 back from the shop and my wife was able to get some pictures. When I rub my finger across I can feel the etching, the Lupe my wife uses is a for antiques etc. My tec confirmed it's etched and the serial number is a 24k. It doesn't make sense for a silver to be etched, but it is, I was thinking its a reproduction but my tec ( 47 years working on stereo) says it's the real deal but has no clue why its there. Let me know what you think or if you come up with any new information please.

 

[icko30]

That is print ( silkscreen) for sure. Etched are aprox 0.1-0.2 mm deep. Third pic is a little suspicious because of angle, but like I said...
Get the cover off, If the chassis is not yellow zink then you will prove my point.

 

[rBuckner]

It looks set in, just not as much as the earlier units.

 

[Marantz_2230]

My SR2000 feels print, this isn't print, maybe im wrong, but my fingers don't lie.

 

[dgunnr]

4/14/26 Latest overall update on the 2270 Engraved Unit Survey:

Sample Size 168 units out of 4,00 or 4.20%.

There could be a 895 possible Silver engraved units out of 4,000 or 22.37%. This is the maximum number of Silver engraved units based only on gaps in sample.
10/168 confirmed engraved units are Silver or 5.95%. I hope to get more units to fill in the gaps. The gaps are responsible for the 22.37% number. I assuming the gaps are all Silver (which i know they are not). I think the number is actually much closer to the 5.95% number. The general trend is the 22.37% number is slowly coming down toward the 5.95% number. Even with only a 4.20% sample size it is remarkably telling how rare the Silver engraved units are and the 5,000 mark may actually be the exact number when the engraved units ended. Before anyone goes off on the Canadian numbers I wish they would just start a new thread and research it as a separate topic. I am also interested in learning about that topic as well from someone else.

I just ask to please not confuse things like bringing in other models besides the 2270 or bring in non relevant posts that have nothing to do with the 2270 engraved units. Not sure how much longer I want to even do this. The information creeps in very slowly and it is a pain to always have to ask for clear photos in neutral light.