Rescued Marantz 6200

fuzzywobbles

fuzzywobbles

Lunatic Member
Found this beauty at GW for $3.99 with as is written on the sticker. Ran it to the nearest electrical outlet and the stobe lit up. AT62E cartridge and needle there and look good. Lifter works. Move the tonearm over the platter and nothing. No tension on the speed selector. Cover is there but cracked, hinges look good.

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I have already decided this is coming with me and the clerk walks over and says, "my boss said to throw that out cause it doesnt work. I said someone will buy it, its too cool to throw away, I'm putting $3.99 on it." He looks at me smiles and says, " give it a good home." Well, now I feel obligated to do so :)

I got it home and pulled the platter, expecting to find that black-naplamlike-goo that comes with a burnt up belt, but nothing. Not even a broken belt. So now I am really excited, thinking someone knew what they were doing and removed the belt for storage years ago. Open the rest up and it looks nice and clean.

So I was all set to replace the belt and vett it out further this weekend. The problem is USPS says they delivered the belt yesterday but I dont have it. Uggghhh.

Well anyways, looks like another $8.69 for another belt and hurry up and wait a few more days.

Meanwhile, I had a cartridge question or request for opinions on. If this Marantz 6200 runs the way I think it will it may go into my main system and bump the Denon DP-23F I have owned since the mid 80's. I love that Denon, but it may mainly be the Denon HOMC DL-110 on it that makes it sound so good.

Any ideas on swapping the AT and Denon cartridges? I am thinking the Marantz 6200 with the vintage Denon HOMC DL-110 would be a winner? For what its worth. It would be powered by my vintage HK PM645 Vxi Integrated Amp, and pushing Boston Acoustics VR-2's and vintage Mission 761's.

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Thanks in advance for any replies, and thanks for the cartridge ID posts in the Thrift Store Thread, you were close. :)
 
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Nice score on the Marantz. Couldn't tell you how the Denon cart will match up with that deck. Give it a whirl. Nice HK, I also have one.
 
I have been totting that HK around with me since I bought it in college which was longer ago than I would like to post. Great Amp. Glad someone else enjoys one.
 
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That's a score no matter how you slice it.. The headshell alone goes for a small fortune. I rescued the same unit from a wanna be DJ that thought is was 1200 mkII or something. I am a sucker for this series 6100 6200 6300 etc.. they just make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Not sure of the physics of it, but give that cart a try and see. do a little cart swapping and keep an open mind.
 
I havent owned a Marantz TT yet, but am excited about this one. Another reason I think this unit didnt see much action is the plastic sleeve is still on the headshell arm :)

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Thats one of my concerns with the Denon, I know it has had plenty of use (cartridge and table both purchased by me in the mid-80's), but it still sounds great. I believe there is no replacing the needle on the Denon cart, much less the age and usage on the cart itself.

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Slightly Stoopid - Top Of The World, Stoopd Records going for a spin on the Denon.
 
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The 6200 and that Denon table will be an interesting shootout. I think the 6200 is kind of a sleeper table when it comes to SQ.

The best way to make a fair comparision of the your two tables is with the same cartridge, in the same system, in the same room, etc.

The Marantz arm is medium mass and the headshell is pretty heavy actually. The DL-110 will be fine on that arm.

I set my Marantz 6300 up with an arc protractor to Stevenson specs and I can really dial this table in nicely.

The Denon specs are a little better but do not put too much stock into that. If the Marantz is properly set up and isolated from external vibration it will sound good.

Cheers, Bob
 
Once i get the new new belt I can run both tables into the HK and A/B them, there are inputs on the HK for MC and MM carts.

I am curious about that particular Audio Technica cart. I have been surprised in the past by other AT's. Does anyone have thoughts on the SQ and tracking of the AT62E?

From there I would likely start swapping things out to find the best pairing. My Denon has seen enough use that the auto-function can be twitchy. Lifter and auto-return work fine but the auto start and stop can stick when engaged, despite my attempts at cleaning. I pretty much use it as a manual table these days.

Thanks for the insight on the 6200 :)
 
Well, here is the good, bad and ugly update.

Good
The belt mysteriously showed up tuesday. Installed it and every single autofunction works properly. I was quite happy about that :)

Bad
I can't seem to dial in the spped via the 60hz strobe. I opened it up and used contact cleaner on the speed selector and the adjustment pots. Now they move more freely and I did get the speed much closer. At the slowest adjustment it runs at stable speed but just a touch fast. Wrong belt maybe or something else needs cleaned?

Ugly
On closer inspection the stylus is bent and wont track right even after zeroing out and setting the tonearm and antiskate

Time to decide about swapping carts or getting a replacement stylus for another $35.
 
fuzzywobbles said:
Well, here is the good, bad and ugly update.

Good
The belt mysteriously showed up tuesday. Installed it and every single autofunction works properly. I was quite happy about that :)

Bad
I can't seem to dial in the spped via the 60hz strobe. I opened it up and used contact cleaner on the speed selector and the adjustment pots. Now they move more freely and I did get the speed much closer. At the slowesgt adjustment it runs at stable speed but just a touch fast. Wrong belt maybe or something else needs cleaned?

Ugly
On closer inspection the stylus is bent and wont track right even after zeroing out and setting the tonearm and antiskate

Time to decide about swapping carts or getting a replacement stylus for another $35.
Click to expand...

Clean the pulley with isopropyl and a soft cotton cloth. Clean the area on the platter that the belt rides on with isopropyl. Dust off the belt in talc powder and reinstall.

See if this helps and you may need to Deoxit the speed pot again.

As for the stylus you should expect to replace a used one asap.

http://www.lpgear.com/product/ATSAT0062E.html
 
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AT had more model numbers for the same cartridge than any one person can keep track of but it looks like that AT uses the same stylus as an AT11E. You can get a replacement or go a little higher up the food chain and get the 12 or 13 series stylus. You can pictures of them at www.stereoneedles.com. All the same group of stylus will fit.
 
The updated update:

Went ahead an swapped the Denon DL-110 in on the Marantz. Man those old wires and solders are brittle. Had to re-solder two wires before I was done. Probably need to replace the wires asap.

The catridge was also filthy. Cleaned it up in the process with isopropyl.

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Took another shot at cleaning the speed adjustment switches and pots. Took them completely out of the plinth this time and dowsed them with contact cleaner and worked it in well. The rest if the unit looks pretty clean given its vintage.

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Didnt try and clean the pulley as I have to admit I am not sure where I should be cleaning. Sorry this is my first belt drive and my first non-quartz lock TT that I have tried to work with in decades.

Did wipe down the platter with isopropyl, talced the belt and reinstall it. Re-adjusted the tracking force/anti-skate (no protractor here but zeroed it out and set the force to 1.7g). Also realized last attempt to dial in the speed was without the drag of the needle on an album, so figured it was worth a shot.

So finally got a chance to listen to it. Wilco-Being There... Holy crap, it does sound amazing. I don't know if this is possible, or the result of cleaning the cartridge and zeroing out the tone-arm, or just how good the TT is but it is not just an appreciable improvement, I feel like it even improved the imaging and soundstage of my speakers. Seems like the speakers disappeared and the sound is just everywhere. Rich, warm, punchy sound. :). I think I may have a winning combo here.

One fly in the ointment. It still is playing a touch fast. Barely noticable until I played Talking Heads - Born Under Punches, and with everything going on in that song and with the hundreds of times I have heard it, I was easily aware that the speed was off.

What/where are the parts of the pulley assembly I need to wipe down? I am truly impressed with the sound already but need to be able to dial in the speed. Any other suggestions would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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pushing Bi-wired Boston Acoustics VR-2's and vintage Mission 761's.

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I have been listening to this Marantz 6200 with the Denon DL-110 on it for about a week now and am truly impressed with the sound and the fact that all the auto-features are working perfectly (except the speed is just a touch fast). I think all things considered it has beat out my beloved Denon DP-23F.

I have one more turntable that may be a contender for top-dog and I am going to try them out this weekend head to head on the HK Integrated.

Any bets on Marantz 6200/Denon DL-110 v. Technics SL-10/MC310?

Both are moving coil carts, but the Technics is p-mount so I can't use the same cart for the test.

Edit: oh, one more question, the HK has two turntable hook ups, MC and MM. Since the Denon cart is high output moving coil I can hook it to the MM input and was going to do so in order to go back and forth between tables easily. Will the sound quality suffer by virtue of using the MM input even with the high output moving coil?
 
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That speed being a touch fast thing would worry me senseless.

Having perfect pitch is sometimes a curse. I once took back 2 brand new Sanyo tape decks as a 10 year old, precocious as hell, because it "wasn't playing right."

I remember the guy behind the counter looking like he wanted to slap me. Turns out, old Sanyo walkman type players ALL played a touch slow. I heard it then, I'd hear it now.

Ended up with the classic Sony Walkman, which served me for two decades.
 
onwardjames said:
That speed being a touch fast thing would worry me senseless.
. End quote


i agree. I am assuming I can eventually isolate and resolve the speed issue. I played music for many years so am sensitive to pitch as well but even so it is only barely noticeable when its a song I am intimately familiar with.
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fuzzywobbles said:
onwardjames said:
That speed being a touch fast thing would worry me senseless.
i agree. I am assuming I can eventually isolate and resolve the speed issue. I played music for many years so am sensitive to pitch as well but even so it is only barely noticeable when its a song I am intimately familiar with.
Click to expand...

Clean the pulley. Simply clean the areas that contact the belt. Use isopropyl and a soft cloth.

Add a drop of sewing machine oil on the motor, I think you need to go down the pulley shaft. I would then check the spindle bearing to see if it needs oil too.

The DL 110 will work on the MM input.
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bobins08 said:
fuzzywobbles said:
onwardjames said:
That speed being a touch fast thing would worry me senseless.



Clean the pulley. Simply clean the areas that contact the belt. Use isopropyl and a soft cloth.



Add a drop of sewing machine oil on the motor, I think you need to go down the pulley shaft. I would then check the spindle bearing to see if it needs oil too.



The DL 110 will work on the MM input.
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Thanks again for the tips, I will do that. Btw, any opinion on which will be the victor ? I will run them both once I have a dedicated listening space.
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Managed to desroy the stylus on my Pioneer PL-670 so the Technics SL-10 has been pinch-hitting in my second system.

Have a new stylus on the way but had to delay the head to head test. Hope to post results soon.
 
I'd have no problem wagering that the Technics SL10 with EPC310MC will trounce the Marantz 6200 by a country mile.
 
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