frankmarsi
Active Member
Not to offend anyone here but, when in 1974 I was fed up with my AR-Xa (bought new in 1972 for $78.00) table due to its feeble nature and lack of important adjustment capabilities, I went searching or a new T.T.
Being from NYC, I had many stereo stores, salons and outlets available to browse along with a few friends who were into hi-fi also..
Reading the big three main stereo magazines I came upon the test report for a new table made by a joint venture of Tannoy and Micro-Seiki.
Tannoy a British maker of speakers in England apparently went to Micro-Seiki as they were already in the business of making quality turntables.
The test reports gave their new table glorious reports and high marks. It had a beautifully made tone arm and was boasting of a relatively new technology of less than two years something called ‘direct-drive’. This introduction was about 2 &1/2 years after Panasonic came out with their first SL-120 with or w/o tonearm.
My situation was one of desperation due to the AR table being much to simple and spartan by design and although at times simple is good, it was just to inexpensively built in order to reach a sales and price point. Although the design was well executed, the table was anything but involving, even though it operated well, was relatively quiet while its speed was close enough without actually knowing as there wasn’t any way to read or vary it.
Within two weeks I bought one if I recall correctly for about $370.00. As soon as I hooked my new table up I was amazed at the total loss of mild acoustic-feed back that I was experiencing with the the AR, the highs were so much more there and realistic sounding, the bass was solid and without any noticeable rumble and certainly there wasn’t any hint of acoustic feedback.
With in two years while still being a reader of the 3 most audio popular magazines, I started to see ads by Marantz showing their new line of tables.
I was shocked to see how much the Marantz resembled my Tannoy-Micro-Seiki TM55 table almost to the point of being plagiarized and looking to copy my Tannoy/Micro-Seiki. I had to laugh as the Marantz looked cheap and thrown together with definite signs that they must’ve owned a table just like mine and decided to copy it. Link shows some might agree.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/marantz-6300-turntable-value-whaaaat.646875/
Performance of my new TM55 table was high and sounded excellent. It out performed my AR table by leaps and bounds. I vaguely recall reading the test reports of the Marantz and it didn't measure up to the stellar reviews of my TM55.
Anybody who was aware of the TM55 in 1974 when it first came out agreed that the Marantz 6300 just couldn’t measure up in any way.
These days I see novices spewing falsehoods about the Marantz as if it were a great table, it really isn’t and certainly not in the same league as the TM55. Folks who talk well of the 6300 are like I said, either novices or obviously new comers to the world of Hi-Fi. I see there’s a thread on this site where folks speak of the 6300 as if it was great, these opinions have no real basis and are the usual parroting by beginners to this hobby. Such misinformation has caused prices to soar to absurd high levels and apparently some unknowingly will subscribe.
I’ve been enjoying the world of Hi-Fi since I was a teenager and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
FM
Below Foto of Tannoy/Micro-Seiki TM55:
FM
Below: Foto of my system in 2014. You can see, I'm into vintage except for cartridges and cables, which are current.
FM
Being from NYC, I had many stereo stores, salons and outlets available to browse along with a few friends who were into hi-fi also..
Reading the big three main stereo magazines I came upon the test report for a new table made by a joint venture of Tannoy and Micro-Seiki.
Tannoy a British maker of speakers in England apparently went to Micro-Seiki as they were already in the business of making quality turntables.
The test reports gave their new table glorious reports and high marks. It had a beautifully made tone arm and was boasting of a relatively new technology of less than two years something called ‘direct-drive’. This introduction was about 2 &1/2 years after Panasonic came out with their first SL-120 with or w/o tonearm.
My situation was one of desperation due to the AR table being much to simple and spartan by design and although at times simple is good, it was just to inexpensively built in order to reach a sales and price point. Although the design was well executed, the table was anything but involving, even though it operated well, was relatively quiet while its speed was close enough without actually knowing as there wasn’t any way to read or vary it.
Within two weeks I bought one if I recall correctly for about $370.00. As soon as I hooked my new table up I was amazed at the total loss of mild acoustic-feed back that I was experiencing with the the AR, the highs were so much more there and realistic sounding, the bass was solid and without any noticeable rumble and certainly there wasn’t any hint of acoustic feedback.
With in two years while still being a reader of the 3 most audio popular magazines, I started to see ads by Marantz showing their new line of tables.
I was shocked to see how much the Marantz resembled my Tannoy-Micro-Seiki TM55 table almost to the point of being plagiarized and looking to copy my Tannoy/Micro-Seiki. I had to laugh as the Marantz looked cheap and thrown together with definite signs that they must’ve owned a table just like mine and decided to copy it. Link shows some might agree.
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/marantz-6300-turntable-value-whaaaat.646875/
Performance of my new TM55 table was high and sounded excellent. It out performed my AR table by leaps and bounds. I vaguely recall reading the test reports of the Marantz and it didn't measure up to the stellar reviews of my TM55.
Anybody who was aware of the TM55 in 1974 when it first came out agreed that the Marantz 6300 just couldn’t measure up in any way.
These days I see novices spewing falsehoods about the Marantz as if it were a great table, it really isn’t and certainly not in the same league as the TM55. Folks who talk well of the 6300 are like I said, either novices or obviously new comers to the world of Hi-Fi. I see there’s a thread on this site where folks speak of the 6300 as if it was great, these opinions have no real basis and are the usual parroting by beginners to this hobby. Such misinformation has caused prices to soar to absurd high levels and apparently some unknowingly will subscribe.
I’ve been enjoying the world of Hi-Fi since I was a teenager and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
FM
Below Foto of Tannoy/Micro-Seiki TM55:
FM
Below: Foto of my system in 2014. You can see, I'm into vintage except for cartridges and cables, which are current.
FM
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