Marantz vacuum tube equipment

[Unknown]

Hello Mr. Hoffman,

Enjoyed seeing your cabinet full of
vintage Marantz equipment as pictured in
Stereophile. I have a 10b and am working on
acquiring other pieces (7c and 8b). Do you
use the Marantz for normal listening?
What do you think of the 7c? Personally,
I prefer to have tone controls. For the time
being my transistorized Marantz Model 30
integrated will have to do.

What system do you normally audition future
releases on? The Marantz? Do you use
headphones? If so, what kind? I use Stax
SR-5 and SR-X with SRD-7 self-bias adapter.

To me, the SR-5 have a bit more "air" while
the SR-X have more bass power.

Keep up the great work!

Best regards,

Paul Bigelow

[Steve Hoffman]

Hey Paul,

Glad to see you here. Call me Steve.

I love old Marantz and McIntosh gear, for both their looks and their (each) unique sound.

I have a 10B, 7c and 8b in that Cabinet along with a pair of Mac 30's and C-20 on the other side. I can switch back and forth at will. Comes in handy when I want to really "see in" to the midrange with the Mac, or really get that lofty airy Marantz sound. I have a pair of Legacy Victoria speakers hooked up there at the moment. Seems to be a good combination with that "vintage" sound.

Nothing beats a Marantz 10b for FM, as I'm sure you know.

I like the 7c, but I use it more for controlling playback of 78's than anything else. The great design has held up over all of these years, but I can't do any really critical listening on the unit. It's too colored ( but in a good way). I use nothing but Telefunken 12AX7's in there for that extra midrange magic.

The 8b is a great stereo amp. I used to have 3 of them, but I sold the other two. Much better and faster bass response than the Mac gear. More dynamic as well, but a tad less lower midrange magic. Probably the result of the SS rectifier that tightens up the bass.

Be sure to use real Mullard EL-34's in there if you can. Those are the tubes that the amp was voiced with!

Funny, none of my Marantz (or Mac) gear has ever had any service, but after 40+ years they just play on and on.

Amazing, eh? :)

[Sckott]

I don't know how old the Mullards are in one of my Dynaco's (EL-34s), but judging from the silk-screening on the older one, these tubes, knowing the amp is 40-50 years old, are branded "Dynaco By Mullard" and still play like new (brown based).

This is the amp that got a deadly drop from a UPS truck too, the 7199's didn't survive. Says a lot about the absolute muscular build of them Mullards. Age can't kill em.

[ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: Sckott ]

[feinstein]

God, I wish there was something worth listening to on FM here in the Detroit area! I have a 10B sitting in my closet that I hook up every once in a while. But, as I tune through the trash rock, rap, and oldies FM stations, I just can't justify leaving it on the rack permanently.

I would suggest that you read a review that Harry Pearson did in 1995 about the 7C, 8B, and 9's in The Absolute Sound. If you send me your postal address, I'll be glad to photocopy it and send you a copy. I use a pair of Marantz 9's and a 7C for the majority of my listening and I really can relax and enjoy the music. Although the 7C's have colorations, they are still a pleasure to own and listen to.

[Steve Hoffman]

You have a 10b in the closet? Send it over here, pal! I'll make good use of it. Lotsa College Radio here in LA with pretty good sounding signals...

What do you say? ;)

[ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: Steve Hoffman ]

[Unknown]

Hello Steve,

What I really like about the 10b (apart from
the superb sound -- the 18 poles of phase
linear IF filtering) is the RF capability.
Austin TX (as I would think LA as well)
has strong, closely spaced stations that
play havoc with the front ends of cheap
tuners and prevents FM "DX'ing".

Another great tuner is the Sumo Charlie.
Exceeds the 10b in some respects and
doesn't cost nearly as much.

In Austin we are blessed with a few fine
sounding stations including KUT (University
of Texas) KMFA (listener supported
Classical) and a few others.

My "reference" preamp is the GAS Thaedra.
Full featured, neutral, can drive headphones,
and has those incredible hemetically
sealed controls.

CD listening is done with a Sony CDP-X77ES.
Sounds fine and built like a tank.
For some fun ,"vintage" CD listening I'll use
a Phase Linear 9500.

Vinyl listening is done with Technics
SL-10 (linear tracking) with MC cartridge.
This may be a big, fat, audiophile no-no,
but I think the Technics outperforms the
Rega Planar 3!

[Steve Hoffman]

Paul,

I love Austin, a great place, with friendly people and good music everywhere.

You're lucky to live there!

I agree about the 10b. Many features ahead of its time. Too bad it cost so much (still does) and was SO hard to make.