the$inmusicisallmine wrote:

hueylew wrote:thanks for the input. is Marantz stuff any good?

no, not really.

True, but if you have been listening to cheap Sony amps most of your life, they are the first step towards wanting to spend way, way too much money on serious audio.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:

hueylew wrote:thanks for the input. is Marantz stuff any good?

no, not really.

If you are looking at vintage Marantz (1970s receivers) and you've got that kind of $$ to spend, you need to think again. That stuff is fine for a modest system but simply will not stack up to even new budget amps from NAD, Rotel, Cambridge, etc. in terms of reliability, sound quality, and ability to drive difficult speakers. Amps do age - you're talking 30 year old parts that start to leak and fail.

Absolutely. I have had to fix several things with my Marantz...the famous 'power-up' relay being one of them. And with a 4k budget, I would go for something else...but they are a decent enough match for the old JBL L-100s...

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:

hueylew wrote:thanks for the input. is Marantz stuff any good?

no, not really.

I have to disagree here, with qualifiers.

The really early tube stuff is excellent. This is reflected in the exhorbitant prices for vintage 8B amplifiers and such.

The recent stuff they've been making for their hi-fi and Reference lines are actually pretty good, and nicely bridge the gap between mass market stuff and the boutique audio at the other end. I would recommend their new stuff if you're looking for something along the same level of performance as NAD, but with slightly better pricing. They make a couple of very nice Universal disc players (DVD, CD, DVD-A, SACD, MP3, AVI) in the $600-$1200 range. They also offer a few lower priced integrated amps that sound very good.

Marantz stuff from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's is shit. Stay away from it.

Here's my amp...it is before they all went to total shit:

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/4400.html

TheMilford wrote:
http://www.audionoteusa.com/speakers.htm

2 way speakers with an 8" Woofer that top out at over $100,000k?
Get real. I can almost understand the $1950 for the AN-K/LX, but even the AN-K/SPx is nearly $6500!

I'll admit never hearing these, and maybe they are amazing, but I have a tough time believing that these 8" 2 ways would beat something like a Dunlavy or Duntech (or certain B&W's, or Wilsons, or....) at a much lower price. Especially in the low end.

yeesh...

This will save you a few bob.

goosman wrote:

TheMilford wrote:
http://www.audionoteusa.com/speakers.htm

2 way speakers with an 8" Woofer that top out at over $100,000k?
Get real. I can almost understand the $1950 for the AN-K/LX, but even the AN-K/SPx is nearly $6500!

I'll admit never hearing these, and maybe they are amazing, but I have a tough time believing that these 8" 2 ways would beat something like a Dunlavy or Duntech (or certain B&W's, or Wilsons, or....) at a much lower price. Especially in the low end.

yeesh...

Really at that point your just paying for a lot of silver wire and custom made pure silver components... same speaker as their $2000 model... just lots of expensive passive components.

Yes they sound good... but they are a product of "diminishing returns".

I have and older pair of AN-J/sp (level 1 of silver from about 10 years ago). They cost me over a grand.... and worth every penny.

Really I was trying to get at the value of their AN/E kit...

Or the AN/K... because he was asking for bookshelf speakers. these sound fantastic and work well with tubes.

Marantz stuff from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's is shit. Stay away from it.

Yeah, but the Gyro Tuner and the blue lights are awesome looking.

I suppose the top end version of those speakers is just the company indulging in the audiophool market.

I do think the basic versions look excellent though - the specs are certainly interesting:

....effective bandwidth from 18 Hz to 23 kHz at -6 dB, efficiency better than 95 dB/m and a dynamic headroom above 108 dB....