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Marantz Integrated and receivers

grillebilly

grillebilly

Empty Head
This thread is NOT to ask the age old separates vs receiver question, but rather is there a "golden" era that Marantz made better sounding gear.
Why I am asking, is many folks are so big on Marantz receivers, and while I really like my 1250, I would not put it in a class all it's own. Not putting it down by any means, just don't think it is any "better" than my other near TOTL vintage receivers.
So am I still missing out on something or is the 1250 just as good as their beautiful receivers?
Thanks in advance
 
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Marantz receivers have pretty blue lights, dials, meters and AM/FM tuners so you're missing all that...:yes:
 
I had a Marantz 2325 receiver that I liked very much. But with my bad back, it was too hard getting it back and forth to the shop, so I sold it to a friend who had always wanted one. I still have a 2270 that I have in rotation. I'm probably going to catch hell, but I think my Nikko NR-1015 (85wpc) gives it some stiff competition in both sound and looks. That being said, both are still in "stock" form.
 
I don't think you're missing a thing with the 1250, considering that it has the guts of the 3600 pre and the 250 power amp. I'd say that the Marantz golden era was anything pre 1980, Philips buyout. But like thisOne said, you are missing out on the purdy blue lights and some pretty fantastic tuners in the receivers.
 
Not having actually owned any vintage Marantz myself, I'd have to say from a purely aesthetic point of view that their integrated amps are pretty homely looking compared to their receivers, and this is coming from an integrated amp fan (me).

Still, I wouldn't mind owning a vintage Marantz integrated for the right price.
 
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grillebilly said:
This thread is NOT to ask the age old separates vs receiver question, but rather is there a "golden" era that Marantz made better sounding gear.
Click to expand...

Yes. The company was run by a fellow called Saul, and the products had model numbers of 10(B) or less.
 
grillebilly said:
is there a "golden" era that Marantz made better sounding gear.
Click to expand...

Tough question. 60s through the 70s certainly saw a higher standard in quality. Whether it sounded better I can't say. Marantz has been trying to redefine itself as a quality company again over the last decade. Competition is tough.

Cristofori said:
... I'd have to say from a purely aesthetic point of view that their integrated amps are pretty homely looking compared to their receivers, and this is coming from an integrated amp fan (me).
Click to expand...

Aesthetics are what first hooked me on Marantz.

marantzs.jpg
 
I would have to say each era had it's good and bad pieces. So simply putting a lable of vintage, new, 80's, etc... really didn't mean anything. I can name a few vintage marantz pieces I've tried and didn't care for. Then there were some that were just Ok. And of course there were, or at least to me, the PEARLS. But most important is YOUR taste, setup and needs. And you have to be honest and try to resist the reviews and hypes. What works for you doesn't work for "all".

So far my favorite marantz piece/pieces would be the integrated 1200, aka 3300/250 and the 2270 receiver. This of course is a limited reveiw and my pieces have been restored and partially upgraded. Ironically I find the TOTL pieces to be more of a disappointment than a surprise.

But I do have to say the vintage Marantz receiver in general is perhaps some of the best looking gear I've seen. Excellent sounding, built like a tank and has great audio qualities. Very few short comings in general. But dull, dull dull to look at compared to the recievers.

Does a receiver sound better than an integrated. Well like I said, my two favorite pieces after 30 years of farting around with stereos is the 1200 and 2700. And I've literally had hundreds of audio pieces pass my way. My 1200 is my all time favorite. But the 2700 may not sound "as good" as the 1200, it still captures my attention and is enjoyable to listen too. So I would have one of each.

And I do find new gear to be quite impressive sounding. Even some of the stuff that is just a few hundred dollars can sound amazing!

After all these years I've never tried a Marantz 2265b. I really have to get my hands on one before I go deaf - or broke. Can any one donate one PLEASE!

charles
 
Thanks for all the replies. The fact that it is not as pretty as the receivers is not a factor for me. Yeah, it's nice and all, but all I have to impress is my ears :D
If a nice Marantz receiver lands in my lap I will do a comparo but until then it will be just fine...:yes:
Thanks again.
 
airtime said:
I would have to say each era had it's good and bad pieces. So simply putting a lable of vintage, new, 80's, etc... really didn't mean anything. I can name a few vintage marantz pieces I've tried and didn't care for. Then there were some that were just Ok. And of course there were, or at least to me, the PEARLS. But most important is YOUR taste, setup and needs. And you have to be honest and try to resist the reviews and hypes. What works for you doesn't work for "all".

So far my favorite marantz piece/pieces would be the integrated 1200, aka 3300/250 and the 2270 receiver. This of course is a limited reveiw and my pieces have been restored and partially upgraded. Ironically I find the TOTL pieces to be more of a disappointment than a surprise.

But I do have to say the vintage Marantz receiver in general is perhaps some of the best looking gear I've seen. Excellent sounding, built like a tank and has great audio qualities. Very few short comings in general. But dull, dull dull to look at compared to the recievers.

Does a receiver sound better than an integrated. Well like I said, my two favorite pieces after 30 years of farting around with stereos is the 1200 and 2700. And I've literally had hundreds of audio pieces pass my way. My 1200 is my all time favorite. But the 2700 may not sound "as good" as the 1200, it still captures my attention and is enjoyable to listen too. So I would have one of each.

And I do find new gear to be quite impressive sounding. Even some of the stuff that is just a few hundred dollars can sound amazing!

After all these years I've never tried a Marantz 2265b. I really have to get my hands on one before I go deaf - or broke. Can any one donate one PLEASE!

charles
Click to expand...

When you say "2700" in the post above, you mean the 2270 receiver, right?

I don't have a lot of experience. My first Marantz was a partially restored 2265B, and it seems to be a step up from the early 80's Yamaha R700 it replaced. I like it well enough that I got another 2265B to put in Catrafter's queue. I also got a 2238B to "learn on" as far as replacing caps, etc. I plan to LED all of them, and replace the push button speaker terminals with five-way binding posts. I have already done so to the first 2265B. The 2265B is one step down from the very highly regarded 2285B. Some say it is a big step down. I don't know as I have never heard a 2285B, much less A/B'ed them. I do know 2265Bs seem to go for about half the going rate of the 2285Bs.
 
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I have a 1200 intergrated and never wanted anything else. It was originally used for bar dance sound system. Was sold to me and later the guy wanted to by it back, Not. Have heard a lot of other systems and they'r fine. I think the 1200 is the Marantz plain-jane amp. One little blue indicator. Guess it would look better with a wooden case. Maybe one day....
Mike
 
The 1200 is my ALL TIME favorite. So far I have had NO brand or other amp come close to it. It seems to to everything well! But with some minor upgrades. Again the lytic caps, replaced a number of films with WIMA's and upped the 1uf coupling cap coming off the preamp tone board from a 1uf to a 4.7uf. It really, and I mean REALLY opened it up. and upped the 0.033uf caps in the bass tone circuit to 0.022uf wima's. Only reason was didn't care for the 0.033wima series that i had and used a different series which worked out for the better.

But as to the original post - yes a receiver can be better if properly restored! My 2270 (again restored and upgraded) smokes most other seperates.

charles
charles
 
Airtime,
I'm going to try those upgrades if they make that mutch difference. I have to let mine warm up a while before it really sings.
Thx, mike
 
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