Gilbert Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Gawd I love these amps! Been looking and pokin' at them on audiogon, ebay, anywhere they'd surface for years. So rare, so hard to find in this kind of condition. And though I seriously doubt their not in need of some technican TLC, I'd love to get them.... oh shyt, wake up. Oh well, dream on. Price is too high. Arguably the best tubed mono's Marantz ever made, the Model No.2. gimme, gimme, gimme.... These float my boat quite well, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Hey Gilbert, if they are your DREAM AMPS, I think you should get them! It's just money, Right? [] Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Are these as special as the Marantz 9s.Wait what is so special about either. duder And yes go buy them take out a loan if you have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWL Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Marantz and Klipsch, baby. [Y][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Heck, if I keep looking at these beauties, I may end up bidding!!! [^o)] Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhadamanthus Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 Nice looking chunks.[Y] I still have a set of Marantz Imperial 6 (I think) speakers I bought new, when I was in highschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 $7K but think they will go up in value? They aren't making more of them. Why invest in the market when you can invest in something you can enjoy as well : ) Rationalization is my forte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnBob Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 You dream proper. I used to have four of them - two with white meters and two with gold. Selling them, along with the matching One preamps and Six sidecar was the biggest audio mistake I ever made. But hey, it was the eighties, everyone was telling me parts and tubes would be unavailable, the caps were a quarter century old and not available at the time, and the only repair guy I knew who understood them was getting out of the business. Plus, with the Dahlquists I had at the time, the Audio Research D-75 seemed to sound better. They were great amps - headroom for days, a little soft on the top end, but loads of punch. The 8b (and presumably the 9a) seemed more detailed but the 2 sounded more "real." A great match for Klipschs. If you didn't mind the loud pop, and could keep from getting burned, you could switch between triode and ultra-linear on the fly. I could never tell much difference on the variable damping, so I usually just left it bypassed. The three inputs were nice, too. The "Preamp" had lower gain than the other two, and had a high-pass (20 hz.) filter on it. With the test input, it was more or less flat down to 2 hz (!) It could actually throw good two hertz square waves, if you didn't mind the loud clicking noise coming from one of the transformers and the way the amp slightly hopped. There hasn't been a week that I haven't regretted selling them. Oh, yeah. The 1974 prices - Marantz 2 = $60 each, Marantz 8b = $100, Marantz 1 = $50, Marantz 6 = $20. At least I was smart enough to keep the Marantz 7 and the Scott 330d with the Marantz faceplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 Something to lust after for sure, but these are not the finest examples out there. Notice the discoloration on the right had amp and the rear cage in the pictures. Following that offensive trend in ebay postings, a "less is more" description. What I don't say can't be held against me. Let your eyes get big, ignore the flaws, and when a piece of crap arrives, well gee the picture was right in front of you. I suspect these are two monos acquired from different sources. Minimum question would be serial numbers, and I'll bet you big money he won't post the reply to that question in the body of the listing. Second question would be could you show a pic of the underside of both amps. For $7k you should have undersides of both amps, and tons of closeups of the exterior. Sorry guys but ebay has gotten so scummy there is little to trust there anymore. In pristine condition, with a forthcoming seller. they might be worth $7k. I suspect that's why the supposed "Hong Kong guy" backed out. He sobered up and realized he was being ripped off. Besides, I never pay any more than $50 for Marantz tube gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfandbark Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 "besides, I don't pay any more then $50.00 for Marantz tube gear." Too cool I remember the cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Makes you realilze what a steal Mark's P-Cats were. Being even more rare, I can see them going for 10K+ down the line. Z'nX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 You dream proper. I used to have four of them - two with white meters and two with gold. Selling them, along with the matching One preamps and Six sidecar was the biggest audio mistake I ever made. But hey, it was the eighties, everyone was telling me parts and tubes would be unavailable, the caps were a quarter century old and not available at the time, and the only repair guy I knew who understood them was getting out of the business. Plus, with the Dahlquists I had at the time, the Audio Research D-75 seemed to sound better. They were great amps - headroom for days, a little soft on the top end, but loads of punch. The 8b (and presumably the 9a) seemed more detailed but the 2 sounded more "real." A great match for Klipschs. If you didn't mind the loud pop, and could keep from getting burned, you could switch between triode and ultra-linear on the fly. I could never tell much difference on the variable damping, so I usually just left it bypassed. The three inputs were nice, too. The "Preamp" had lower gain than the other two, and had a high-pass (20 hz.) filter on it. With the test input, it was more or less flat down to 2 hz (!) It could actually throw good two hertz square waves, if you didn't mind the loud clicking noise coming from one of the transformers and the way the amp slightly hopped. There hasn't been a week that I haven't regretted selling them. Oh, yeah. The 1974 prices - Marantz 2 = $60 each, Marantz 8b = $100, Marantz 1 = $50, Marantz 6 = $20. At least I was smart enough to keep the Marantz 7 and the Scott 330d with the Marantz faceplate. NIce, thanks. I'm not in the market for any new\used gear, funds are relatively tight right now, new house and all. Still holding mortgage on Oklahoma house, otherwise, I'd probably go ahead and buy them, even though their well over priced, IMHO. $5k I'd do for sure, but $7k...nah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Makes you realilze what a steal Mark's P-Cats were. Being even more rare, I can see them going for 10K+ down the line. Z'nX Marks preamps were/are kickasss for sure. Craigs VRD's are a darn good match up to Marks Pre's. Don't know what I'm gonna do if my BBExtreme goes bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 What do you do when the Marantz goes bad? Its all just electronics. I guess, find a local rocket scientist. Z'nX Makes you realilze what a steal Mark's P-Cats were. Being even more rare, I can see them going for 10K+ down the line. Z'nX Marks preamps were/are kickasss for sure. Craigs VRD's are a darn good match up to Marks Pre's. Don't know what I'm gonna do if my BBExtreme goes bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 It was my understanding that he still provides support for his stuff, he's just not making any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clipped and Shorn Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I assumed what was meant is how to service what will be a rare classic JuicyBBX pre or pCat amp when it is as old as a Marantz model #2, eg. 60 or so years from now. -ZnX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Makes you realilze what a steal Mark's P-Cats were. Being even more rare, I can see them going for 10K+ down the line. Z'nX Marks preamps were/are kickasss for sure. Craigs VRD's are a darn good match up to Marks Pre's. Don't know what I'm gonna do if my BBExtreme goes bad. And the Pcats are even a better match! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 Gilbert won't live that long, no worries....(ducking). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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