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In Reply to: RE: Not me posted by Brian Levy on March 12, 2014 at 14:24:42
Neither did I like the separates or integrated amp versions made by the major companies of the 1970s.
I agree, they were much the same sonically as their top-end receivers. I tried many via purchase and by borrowing from a great dealer, who let me take components home for several days on trial. If a component was missing from the dealer's shelves it was likely at my house!
Some of the brands that come to mind are H.H. Scott, Pioneer, Kenwood, Sansui, and Technics. The receivers' FM tuners were usually fine but the preamp/amp sections were disappointing. I liked a top-end Yamaha a bit (whichever model was made in 1976), but mostly for its elegant faceplate.
I never had an opportunity to try a Sherwood receiver. I would especially have liked to hear a Marantz 18. I did own a Marantz 1250 integrated amp and a Marantz 150 'scope tuner. Both were big letdowns. I am still curious about the sonics of the Harman/Kardon 930 receiver.
For me, it was a shocking revelation when I brought home an Audible Illusions Uranus tube preamp and a Beard (from Britain) 100 watt/channel KT88 tube power amp. I think that was 1984 or 1985. The combination made glorious music. They sounded so beautiful together that I used the pair for about 17 years. I still own the preamp and use it occasionally.
Follow Ups:
Sadly, after the 20/20b, the o'scope Marantz tuners were nothing special except the o'scope hype. I never heard the 1250, or not that I recall but, sadly the slide by Marantz started almost immediately after Saul and his crew left and the decision by the brothers to move the company into the mass market niche and away from the hi-end market. They did manage to reclaim some status later with their power amps during the power wars but never again as to the tuners and preamps, though some say the much later Esoteric (think that was the line up's name) did move back to trying to have some high quality and I have seen some photos of even later models that looked interesting.
I suspect that since the beginning of the '80s, the advent of custom ics and,digital marketing engineers have treated fm much as am was treated after fm began to overtake the am market as the main listening source. Today with the quality of the broadcast market being so limited there is less of a market for new high quality tuners when the masses could care less and hi-end is such a small %. Those who appreciate better sound understand that few stations are broadcasting using high speed tape or records any longer and "CD quality" is the new high quality level. Not many years ago, that would have been a derogatory remark for a fm station
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
" ...the slide by Marantz started almost immediately after Saul and his crew left..."
You sure have that right.
It was a sad day when Saul Marantz retired from the company and left it fully in the hands of Superscope. The Marantz brand has had its ups and downs since that time but never regained the panache it once enjoyed. I am just old enough to remember when it was Marantz versus McIntosh for consideration as to which was the ultimate brand.
As a young newspaper reporter in 1972 or 1973 I found myself in the awkward situation of bringing Saul Marantz up to date on the then-current Marantz product line. This took place about four years after he left as company president. He told me he did not keep tabs on the products that used his name.
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