Marantz HD880 Speakers

Anybody have experience with these?gvlxnb7i2598.jpg

Comments

  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited August 2022
    Not my cup of tea, but they do have their fans.
    Lots of chatter at audiokarma about these and their kin, FWIW.

    Note that they were provided with high-density foam plugs for the bass reflex ports. They could be used as BR aligned or as (quasi) sealed enclosures at the behest of the listener. :)

    They were at the high end of the 'value priced' range of Marantz loudspeakers at that time (ca. 1977)

    14725685990_eb738da0f3_c.jpgMarantzs speakers 2 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    This was the fancy line of Marantz loudspeakers from the same catalog.

    14725686400_3d804ce408_c.jpgMarantzs speakers 1 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,567
    The HD88's were the best in that series in my opinion. I've never listened to the 880's. But imagine they are pretty good as well. Those in the pic appear to be in good shape for their age. If the price is right I'd prolly go have a listen as least. If you are able to that is.
    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    edited August 2022
    My cousin had a pair in the 70's. I wasn't really old enough at the time (9-10 years old) to appreciate if they sounded good or not. They were in his bedroom and probably too much speaker for his room. I just thought they were cool because they were expensive. I was just getting into audio at the time and had a lot to learn. He is my older cousin by about 12 years, I was jealous he had such expensive speakers....lol. He was a Marantz fan.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    edited August 2022
    I wonder why they didn't mirror image a left and right speaker for those. They look like "party" speakers from the time.

    My experience is limited to looking at them but I don't like what I see with the grilles off.

    :s
  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,567
    edited August 2022
    Emlyn wrote: »
    My experience is limited to looking at them but I don't like what I see with the grilles off.

    :s


    Remind you of JBL a lil bit? Believe an ex JBL engineer designed the HD line.


    This are the HD88's, my Dad had a pair when I was about 8-10 old. They had kinda cheap foam grills and foam port plugs. That in about 2-3 years of age. Both the grills and the plugs fell apart. They were not cheap speakers in the day either.

    HD-8811.jpg

    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited August 2022
    Bart Locanthi (of JBL L-100 fame, or infamy, depending on one's perspective) "did" (or at least was party to the developent of) the HPM-100 for Pioneer.
    Locanthi was involved (at some level) with the Marantz "Imperial 6" for Marantz, but I don't think he was involved in any of these Marantz loudspeakers.

    https://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/l100.htm
    https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/loudspeakers-when-is-good-enough-enough-part-1
    https://audiophilereview.com/affordable-speakers/the-most-famous-speaker-in-the-history-of-rock/
    http://www.audioclassic.org/pioneer-hpm-100-vintage-speakers.html

    rnsfr56u3vgt.png

    He was kind of the Andrew Jones of his era. ;)


    Post edited by mhardy6647 on