FYI for those into vintage electronics

drumminman

Price seems a bit high :eek: for a 50 year old preamp (Marantz 7-7C):

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/2809593281.html

No affiliation, just a curious onlooker

sda2mike

there's some marantz receivers on the e site going for crazy $...like a 2600 with a bin of 9k!

malvrich

Yeah I saw that add myself as I live in the Triangle area too. If I'm not mistaken the unit is not even in top working order. He'd definitely have to keep that one. It is undoubtedly gorgeous though.

mhardy6647

The 7C was and is a statement piece from the "real" Marantz (i.e., Saul's company). It is a classic and in very high demand. The price isn't bad for one in good shape. Think about what something like it would cost today, new; you'd probably have to double your cash outlay - and you'd get nothing like the panache (not to mention the bragging rights) that the Marantz would bring.

The above-mentioned 2600 receiver is from the era when Superscope (then also Sony's audio distributor in the US) owned the Marantz name; the hardware was built in Japan (OEM was probably either Standard or Automatic Radio) for Superscope. It's not junk, but they're not terribly robust either (and at 300 wpc, that's a consideration) and no way in heck is it worth that kind of money ($9k). EDIT: In fairness, the 2600 was a statement piece of sorts, too - one of the top echelon of the (in retrospect) somewhat bizarre receiver "power war" of the late 1970s.



Has that thing got enough knobs and buttons on it? :-)

Big Dawg

Per Audiogon, they average $4,550. That one looks to be in nice cosmetic condition, and demand for these seems to be rising in recent years, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if he gets near his asking price.

drumminman

How would the sound compare to a more modern circuit design using better components? I suppose I'm wondering, aside from the pride of ownership factor, can it really compete sonically with modern gear in the same price range?

I like vintage equipment, but only if it doesn't take a back seat performance wise.

mhardy6647

If rehabilitated to replace parts that will have deteriorated excessively over time (e.g., electrolytic capacitors - although Marantz in the 1960s typically used extremely high quality "Telco"-grade electrolytics that are often still good) the Marantz 7 is likely sonically superior to anything in its price range - although the inclusion of lots of ancillary circuitry (switching bays, tone networks, filters) compromises its performance a tad bit. Generally speaking, the phono preamps in those days were not up to modern hardware's audio performance... that said, I don't have much experience with the phono section in a Marantz 7. As I implied earlier, I reckon you'd have to spend two to three times the asking price of this particular 7C to hear much improvement in a basic two-channel preamp... and it wouldn't have close to the panache of the Marantz.

That said, the Marantz 7 isn't one of my favorite vintage pieces (although its cosmetics are unassailable) - its companion amplifier, the 8B, however, is one of the best sounding amplifiers I have ever heard, full stop.



The Superscope-era 2600 receiver is a different story, in terms of sonic performance (if you ask me) - the less said the better.