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marantz 500??

First of all; the 500 is very simalar in design to the 240 and 250 family.

Same PCB's and components passive and active.
I cannot imagine why a 500 should be unreliable at all.

Is a 240 or 250 unreliable?
Don't think so........

Anything goes south at some point.

I ordered the service manual from Marantz and will get it tomorrow.
So when i have it i will sit down with a bunch of tech's and we will go through this amp if there are any weaknesses.

Keep you informed :D :smoke:
 
Reminds me of my parents Zenith 19EC45 Color TV. Bought new in 1974 and still has a great picture.
A neighbor of theirs had the same model. Hated it!! Said it was the worst TV they ever bought. That was 30 years ago.
It's like anything eles. A lemon is a lemon where as a set that works well right out of the box usually will be reliable.
The Marantz 500 did have reliability issues in its day. That's why they switched to the 510/510M.
Todays semiconductors are light years better that those of the 500s era. Replacement of the newer semi's into the 500 should make it more reliable.

Ron
 
Hi Ron,

The semiconductor's better?
I do not agree.
You own a 300DC right, those parts a slightly newer then the ones used in the previous models.

As you know by now that i am a collector and allso do repairs.

I own or owned a few oldies from Marantz.

For exmaple the very old model 15; never been repaired, i did a re-cap job on the thingie, that's all.
We are talking 1966/67 here!

Allso 2 model 240's a 250M a 140 a 170 and the 510.

As far as quality, the pcb's of the USA models are far better then the later Japanese model's like the 170 and 300 etc.....

Do not understand me the wrong way because that are realy great amplifiers too.
 
Come's to my mind that Hal 9000 is having a pretty good chance to get his hands on a 500.

When/if he get's it we are going to look at the thingie very carefully to see if some people tempered with it.

I allso ordered the full service manual at Marantz over here and i will check some fellow technicians over here and we will go over it to see what the ''weakness'' is, if there is any.

Keep you all informed! :smoke:
 
Hi SB Marantz,
I was thinking more in the way of Germanium transistors vs the Silicon transistors as far as reliability. Also, the eariler amplifiers were semi-complementary.
In fairness, I've never worked on a 500. A few 250M, my own 300DC as well as a fellow AK members along with a few 15. You have more experience than I do with vintage Marantz.

Yes, before working on the 500 be certain that it wasn't 'modified' or tampered with.

I disagree with you regarding the board quality of the later 300DC. Those boards are very well made. The eariler Marantz used wire to wire connections on some of their amps and pre amps. This leads to an overall higher noise level.

Transistors over the years did get quiter themselves. New and better materials and manufacturing technics have led to a lower noise floor. Higher speed transistors are also a plus. The overall result, especially with todays digital recordings produce a much more dynamic presentation.

Please do post your findings regarding areas of the 500 you feel are important. Your experience in that area is a very valuable asset.
Thanks for your input.

Ron
 
I sold one new back in the day and it was very reliable, no problems. The only issue was cost and the Mc2300 was much more popular for the same money.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
i will here from him. but it will be next month. or later.
:tears: :tears: :tears: :tears: :tears: :boring:
 
Well i have heard what has happened to the marantz 500.

front is 5 cm displaced. because of new main capacitors.. :scratch2: :scratch2: :scratch2:

okay.... weird

all the relai's have been removed. :nono:
power transistors too :nono:

relai's isn't a problem. (if better ones have been put in!)
:yes:

capacitors. replaced why?? 80V or 100V 20.000MFD.
the marantz 250 uses 63V 20.000MFD. and it measures fine.
same brand. same year.


power transistors. wich ones??
MJ15016 are good ones.
but 2sb555 isn't very relaible.
so i've heard

so i think it's a little too much modification. i will probably see it this saturday
 
I like Marantz too!

Hi HAL,

Good luck on your Marantz 500 endeavour. I too like Marantz! Although I've been a devout McIntosh fan for many years (I grew up in the Binghamton area) my very first "true" component amplifier was a Marantz model 1030 (I know, only 15 watts per channel-but hey, I was only 13 years old at the time!) and I still have it!

To this day I marvel at the Marantz components of "the day", and I usually have a few of them on my eBay watch list. Trouble is, right now I'm not working and so I have to watch my spending. Nevertheless, I recently broke down and almost snagged a model 19 receiver, but the unit developed a problem, and the seller told me about it and issued me a refund. (I did a buy it now on eBay). And so, there was a big one that got away. My other problem is I already have 4 systems in my house and I really don't even have anywhere to set up another system. But, I still find that Vintage Marantz gear irresistable. I'd like to have a 3300 preamp, a 510M amp and a 150 tuner. But where to set it all up? :dunno:

BTW I'm new here and really enjoying reading the forum. Good luck and Godspeed with your Marantz gear!

And oh yes, I really like your Avatar!!

Best regards,

Peter
"Vintage Pete"
 
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