just bought a marantz 2226

ShadesPG

well i mean i reserved it for pick up and purchase tomorrow but anyways....it is in excellent cosmetic condition and near perfect working condition with the exception of:

the right channel on system 1 doesnt work and a couple of the buttons are a little sticky but still function fine.

paid $70

seeing as im only going to be using this for my SDA CRS's, the lack of system 1 will not effect me. i figured i could give the thing a little TLC or take it to a more able person and de-sticky the buttons.

anyways, your opinion:
good price?
nice unit?
i got ripped off?
wrong choice for those speakers?
could have picked a better unit?
im an idiot?


thanks

cnh

Marantz's are generally "overpriced" because of the "demand". Any time you get one, almost any one under 100 you've done good!

Open her up, get a can of DeoxIt and give a quick/light spray once or twice into each of the controls. It might help with the channel problem--that might simply be a contact problem--hopefully that's all it is!

So, are you saying that ONE system (set of speakers) is fine? Both R/L? Because that's a good sign!

I don't remember if the 2226 has pre-outs or not. Does it? Because I don't know if that particular unit has enough power for your SDA's. Maybe someone else will chime in. But I would add a power amp and use the Marantz as my pre-amp if that is possible. I really think that you'd have to be up closer to a Marantz 2270 or higher to deal with those SDAs?

In any case. They're highly sought after and you could probably flip it for twice what you paid for it! Or you might run it with something else. Marantz is one of those love/hate relationships. The fanboys would tell you that they're the best thing since chocolate ice cream and those you prefer Yamaha, Sansui or Pioneer would say they're overrated and are not as "warm" as people say they seem?

What I've found is that they are particular about what they're powering. For example, they like my Monitor 10s a lot, but they don't like a number of other vintage speakers I have, or rather, my Yammie and HK receivers sound better than the Marantz on other speakers. (I have a 2265 which has enough power for the Monitors).

What's important is that "you" like the sound. But you won't know that yet. And as I said, you haven't made a mistake because the resale value of those things is pretty high!

Tell us what you think when you get it. But "don't" PUSH the SDAs because that Marantz will "clip" on them!

cnh

ShadesPG

thanks for the input...im aware that the power is a little less than what would be ideal but what im gambling on is that this unit will be sufficient...i wont be using it for high volume listening and will probably only be using it to listen to vinyl and reel to reel. ive always wanted a vintage marantz with that classic warm honey-tone and when i bought the SDA CRS's, i did so with one of those receivers in mind. its been about a year now but when this 2226 came up in my price bracket, i decided to act.

cnh

I use the phono section of my 2265 and it does a credible job. Have a mid-fi Technics TT and some KLH 17 speakers on it, at the moment. Going for Vintage '70s vinyl sound there! lol

Good Luck with that!

cnh

evhudsons

volume is not an issue unless you really push it. For quality listening on the crs+ it's awesome, at least my 2230 which I don't think is much different. I do have the preouts and used them when I used the marantz as a phono amp.

I think the sound is warm, and delicious.

I'm getting a quad marantz that may or may not work as a gift, yeehaw!

Also, I thought I had right or left channel problems, but it was the jumpers that came with it. Try taking the jumpers our put them in. They are the things plugged into the main in/pre out.

You can get more info for that model here:

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/2226.html

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/2226b.html

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/2226BL.html

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/2226blk.html

mhardy6647

* good price (probably very good, see next point)
* fair unit (mammothly over-rated today; the Rococo Marantz cosmetics and the venerable name trump objectivity)
* not ripped off
* non-optimal speaker choice (try a pair of Monitor 10s)
* many better units (amps and receivers) from the era; Yamaha, harman/kardon and Luxman go well with vintage Polk, e.g.
* don't know you well enough to speculate about your IQ ;-)

mhardy6647

I was a tad harsher than appropriate if your new Rx is an unsuffixed 2226. That will be, if nothing else, more stoutly built than its successor, the 2226B (and most likely a somewhat better investment - so the price was quite good given the market, I'd think).

I don't have any info on the original, blackout dial 2226 or the blackout dial 2226B. I do have a full line brochure (ca. 1977) with the silver-faced 2226B. Here's a fair to middlin' scan thereof FYI and FWIW.

sda2mike

you done good....your sda's will exalt like the angels with higher current, tho

ShadesPG

UPDATE:...picked it up yesterday and i was filthy...but, after about 2-3 hours of quality TLC, it looks beautiful...now as expected, it did had a few problems but i was able to get it to work properly after connecting my CRS's and i can only say WOW!....i mean like really WOW...it was astonishing...the sound was so warm and so rich and so full...i always knew that these amps were supposed to behave this way but no amount of talk or rumor can paint an accurate picture of the feeling you get when you connect it for the first time...it reminded me of the first time i plugged in my sda1c's. and the power.....there is soooo much power there. i dont care what the specs and/or stats say..this thing made the crs's blare..and with 0 distortion. i had a sony da555es with about 130wpc running them (and before that a pioneer elite vsx-99) and its no exaggeration that this marantz made the speakers sound bigger and better than they ever had....so, i immediately decided that i not only had no intentions of reselling this but that i must take the unit into the shop and fix the few issues it has and i dont care what it costs..(well not really, i totally care but you get the point). i brought it in this morning and i should have an estimate by the end of the week....i figured i waited this long to own one, i can wait a little longer for it to be perfect.

anyways, thanks everyone for the advice and guidance and i hope this thread will help others as well.

evhudsons

That's the same reaction I had when I hooked the Marantz directly up to my CRS


Amazing.im not familiar with other vintage receivers but the Marantz is awesome. R1 had a really good point about eliminating as many offshoot electronics as possible to get the source to speaker connection as pure as possible. This isn't the best way but what you and I experienced is a whack between the ears that its the right direction.

Incredible sound huh?

sucks2beme

I always liked old Marantz.
I've picked up a couple cheap around here, and had no problem selling them.
More like a stampede when they showed up on CL. Good warm sound, typical
of the era, but can be bettered by more modern gear of the last couple decades.
I owned some Marantz stuff back in the day as well. On a budget, always a good choice.
I'm trying NOTto clutter up my house with this stuff. At one time, I had a bunch of
old gear here. The old H/K receivers were even better than Marantz. But to each their own.

cnh

sucks2beme wrote: »

I always liked old Marantz.
I've picked up a couple cheap around here, and had no problem selling them.
More like a stampede when they showed up on CL. Good warm sound, typical
of the era, but can be bettered by more modern gear of the last couple decades.
I owned some Marantz stuff back in the day as well. On a budget, always a good choice.
I'm trying NOTto clutter up my house with this stuff. At one time, I had a bunch of
old gear here. The old H/K receivers were even better than Marantz. But to each their own.

Just had an HK 430 arrive today. Mint, owner's manual and "original" box! I already own the 730. Love the HK Twin Power models. I'm going to run a couple of old Celestion bookshelves I have coming tomorrow on one of them.

Marantz may be warmish but the "stereo" separation and detail you get from this HK Twin design is almost as good as it gets for vintage receivers!

Either way! Put some tunes on!!

cnh

apc

Count me in as a Marantz fan. I bought a 2252B not too long ago. I love the sound, which is 'warm and delicious' as stated above. Pics soon?

mhardy6647

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/0027.html

I wouldn't pay that for one but it is one of the last old-style (albeit solid state) Marantz receivers and may have even been designed by the last gasp of the "real" Marantz rather than a Superscope (actually Standard Radio) era product.
I think that the twenty-sevens do go for pretty significant Gelt.

ShadesPG

UPDATE: just got the marantz and my carver amp back from the repair shop and spent 4 hours re-setting up my whole rig. im totally in love with the sound coming from the Marantz 2226>Polk Audio SDA CRS's. I hooked up the Carver TFM-25 to my SDA1c's and it was the current they craved. (225wpc x2, jumping up from the Rotel RB980BX 120wpc x2)

with the new equipment in the rig, all of my 2-channel speaker rigs upgraded their amplification and the whole thing sounds awesome.

thanks for all the advice

schwarcw

I never get tired of postin my Marantz photos!!!!!!

vcwatkins

Congrats Shades on the score and pairing. I'm with you on the Marantz-CRS honey-dripping goodness.

ViperZ

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/648980459-marantz_vintage_rack_stereo_components_system__very_rare/

Just saw these come up since you guys like those pictures...

ShadesPG

ViperZ wrote: »

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/648980459-marantz_vintage_rack_stereo_components_system__very_rare/

Just saw these come up since you guys like those pictures...

thats like stereo ****

sda2mike

not exactly priced to move

sda2mike

these gets me heart pumping a lot more than the canuckmart ad

schwarcw wrote: »

I never get tired of postin my Marantz photos!!!!!!

cnh

Those sure are "purdy"! Blue lights and all!

cnh

kcoc321

I was looking at one of those (Model 2226b) and in my search I found a source for the service manual.
It is free download if you register

http://www.hifiengine.com/manuals/marantz/2226b.shtml

I might have one too, if I can get as good a deal as you did.
FYI: it does have preouts, so it can be used as just a preamp too