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Need opinion to buy Marantz 1090, 1120, 1122dc, 1150d, 1152dc, 1180dc

R

ReisDaddy

Active Member
Hello, i plan to buy one of these:

1090 - US$ 235
1120 - US$ 290
1122dc - US$ 335
1150d - US$ 435
1152dc - US$ 435
1180dc - US$ 400


I never had marantz 1970s. And plan to buy one of those. Does 1090 is enough to start vintage marantz?
Thank you for any opinion and or experience very appreciated.
 
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The 1090 is pretty average and in no comparison with the others mentioned in the list, the 1180dc is near top of the line and would be end game amplifier for many people, the additional power allows more flexibility with speaker matching and has way more features. The 1152 is a close second, I’d stay away from the 1122dc as it has some obsolete parts hard to find and difficult to repair access wise.

I’ve owned them all and pretty sure you won’t look back with the 1180dc hood that helps
 
quadmatrix82 said:
The 1090 is pretty average and in no comparison with the others mentioned in the list, the 1180dc is near top of the line and would be end game amplifier for many people, the additional power allows more flexibility with speaker matching and has way more features. The 1152 is a close second, I’d stay away from the 1122dc as it has some obsolete parts hard to find and difficult to repair access wise.

I’ve owned them all and pretty sure you won’t look back with the 1180dc hood that helps
Click to expand...
How about 1060? is it comparable to 1180 beside ther watt difference?
I read that 1060 is the legend.
 
No the 1060 isn’t comparable in my view, its an older design, its best used as a pre amp and relatively low power, it has no relay so you get a nasty click through the speakers when you engage the speaker buttons. It’s a beautiful looking amp but the 1180dc is superior in my view.
 
I own both,the 1060 and the 1180 DC.
Many people do consider the 1060 a legend because of it's trademark warm tone,it really does sound great but it is only 30 watts per channel. Depending on your speakers,room size and listening habits as far as volume,you may not be satisfied with the 1060.
As Quadmatrix mentioned,the 1180 DC is an end game amp for many. It has a more neutral sound,not sterile,just not as warm as most earlier Marantz products, and much more power at 90 watts a channel. In my opinion this amp does it all very well and I just love the adjustable loudness control Marantz calls the contour adjustment.
 
I would personally stay away from the 1090 personally. It doesn't have the build quality of some of the others. So far, it's the only 70's piece of Marantz equipment I didn't like working on.
 
As an owner operator of a few Marantz units. 1070 1060 4060 1150 1180DC
The 1060 is a sweet model mated to the right speakers. Between the 1150 and the 1180DC. They both are very nice and seem to accept a wide variety of speakers with ease.
So my suggestion would be get what you like. They are all good.
 
The 1060 is just easy to find with a good preamp section. Not legendary, just popular and ubiquitous. Not enough power for lots of systems.

hoping my 1120 can drive a system, once fixed up.
 
Congratulations on the purchase! It's a great sounding amp.
Depending on your listening choices you can also get a tuner and if you like wood cases,dress them up.
I listen to local FM and like wood cases so did both with mine.
Enjoy your purchase!

20220926_161149.jpg
 
ReisDaddy said:
Guest what guys? I just bought 1180dc
Click to expand...
Well done

1). Quick
2). Reported back the purchase.

looking for update on how you like it in a week or three. Party on.

because you can’t edit title, might go new thread with questions about the new unit.
 
ReisDaddy said:
Will report back soon... so exited...
Click to expand...
Looking forward to your discussion of the sound differences between the 700 and 1180

Sure there is a power difference but if you listen well within the capabilities of the 700, curious as to the differences.
 
Its a bit funny...

When I opened it for the first time and tested it, I started to worry and sweat, why is the sound so low?
And why only on the left? After dialing the aux input, finally the sound came out to 2 channels, but why is it still so low?
And apparently, I didn't notice the muting button was on. As soon as I pressed it, the sound came out booming.

But I feel too bass/boomy, is it because of the big power, is it because my speakers are 4 ohms? pm750dc and pm44se are not like that.

For example my favorite song: Julie London - The End of The World
The instruments at the beginning felt "hoom hoom.." So I used the eq as in the photo, I lowered the left one a little, so it's really good.
And I got goosebumps...

Reminds me with Ken Ishiwata's quote, I forgot in which forum post:

Ken Ishiwata: What I always tell people is the following : whatever product you listen to, regardless of cost, if your emotion is moved by your favorite music when you put it on, then this product or system has a value to you. But if that does not happen—even if the product is very expensive—then it has no value to you.
Click to expand...
:cool:
I'll post comparation soon..
English is not my main language, so Im not good in expressing for audio language term.

Apart from marantz, is it normal that when i hear it close around 10-20 inch from the speaker it sound distorted and sound clear if we sit far around 3 feet away?
 
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ReisDaddy said:
But I feel too bass/boomy, is it because of the big power, is it because my speakers are 4 ohms? pm750dc and pm44se are not like that.
Click to expand...
Your 1180 has the contour control that is used to compensate for low level listening by boosting the bass. It may also boost the highs some, too. So if you are comparing the amp sound, be sure that the Bass, Treble, Contour and Filters are all set to their center position (Bass, Mid and Treble) or off for the filters and contour.

Then you have the additional control of where the Bass and Treble 'turnover'. The lower bass number will be just deep bass and the higher bass number will include some mid-bass boost. Similarly with the treble control, the higher number will be just the highs and the lower number will include some upper midrange in the boost the control does. These are just adjustments of the audio that the Bass and Treble will do.

If you don't have the manuals, they are available on Hifiengine if you can register and log in. JaS has been keeping registrations less than easy since his site keeps getting bombarded by multiple registrations requests from the same person, bots and all sorts of other crap, probably trying to steal his info.

If you aren't a member and can't register and need the manuals, the Service Manual is on the akdatabase site and you could ask for the owners manual here on ak and maybe someone would email it to you.

Knowing what all the controls do will be helpful as you adjust the sound to what you like.
 
ReisDaddy said:
Its a bit funny...

When I opened it for the first time and tested it, I started to worry and sweat, why is the sound so low?
And why only on the left? After dialing the aux input, finally the sound came out to 2 channels, but why is it still so low?
And apparently, I didn't notice the muting button was on. As soon as I pressed it, the sound came out booming.

But I feel too bass/boomy, is it because of the big power, is it because my speakers are 4 ohms? pm750dc and pm44se are not like that.

For example my favorite song: Julie London - The End of The World
The instruments at the beginning felt "hoom hoom.." So I used the eq as in the photo, I lowered the left one a little, so it's really good.
And I got goosebumps...


:cool:
I'll post comparation soon..
English is not my main language, so Im not good in expressing for audio language term.

Apart from marantz, is it normal that when i hear it close around 10-20 inch from the speaker it sound distorted and sound clear if we sit far around 3 feet away?
Click to expand...
As Blue Shadow mentioned,the boomy bass is probably caused by the contour control,you have it set somewhat high.
The distortion you hear can be coming from a few different reasons,could be your adjustments combined with the speakers your using,could be an issue with the amp.I started experiencing some distortion from 1 channel on mine,took it into my tech and he found a bad output transistor.
 
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