What to do with my Marantz 2600?

Yes, I have one. I've owned this beast for about 6-7 years. I felt great when I bought it and thought of all the stuff I'd do with it. Unfortunately, my house and any speaker I could fit is a bad match. Additionally, it's also so complex that I rarely use it for the possibility of something failing I can't afford to fix.

I'm not sure if my ears are playing tricks on me, but it doesn't seem as clear as some smaller units I own. Using 40-50W NAD or Rotel gear I get more enjoyment unless the windows need blowing out.

Anyway, now I'm trying to figure out what direction I should head in. I get a kick out owning it and someday I might be able to use it in a suitable situation. It's a lifelong dream. On the other hand, I get no reasonable listening use out of it and it's dormant most of the year. I'd also prefer the centerpiece of my system to be something a little smaller and more managable.

So, any opinions? It's been a really conflicting issue for me. This is not an ad, I'm not thinking of selling at the moment, just trying to make up my mind. I'm only looking for opinions on keeping and not using vs. replacing it with a newer/different/smaller unit I'd get daily play out of. It's like owning a vintage car you never drive.

First, I'm compelled to point out that we don't allow sales pitches in the threads. In the optimistic hope that you're really after advice, here's some:

The sound quality of a 2600 is very good. You're not likely to find something today that will seriously outperform it. If you're concerned about age, it can be sent to Echowars for a complete re-do, and will come back with better sound than all but the most high-end stuff.

If you're willing to settle for lesser sound, you can buy a whole system for the price of a 2600 today.

If you're really interested in selling, pay the $2 for a classified here, and you'll be pleased with the results.

"What to do with my 2600?"

Give her to me...^_^

Yeah... I'll take it.

C'mon guys, I've never been accused of being serious, but I'm trying here. Just looking for thoughts on this.

Right now I'm sort of alternating among other equipment I've picked up here and there: Smaller Marantzes of similar vintage, various low-watt NAD gear, an '80s Luxman reciever I'm not impressed with at all, and a nice basic Rotel RA-840BX that's my current rig paired up with Heresys. One problem is that soon I'm going to repair my Walsh 4's or Realistic Mach ones and I'd like more pop than any of these can provide. The 2600 is a bit big and complex for my tastes, plus I can't afford to have it overhauled into a condition I'd be comfortable running day-in day-out.

At the moment I'm sort of leaning towards something large and very simple that I can work on. A basic amp/preamp set or an integrated amp along the lines of my Rotel but more powerful.

Lucky

I say enjoy it. I'd like to try that monster out.

Horns & tubes, John. Horns & tubes.

John in MA said:

C'mon guys, I've never been accused of being serious, but I'm trying here. Just looking for thoughts on this.

Right now I'm sort of alternating among other equipment I've picked up here and there: Smaller Marantzes of similar vintage, various low-watt NAD gear, an '80s Luxman reciever I'm not impressed with at all, and a nice basic Rotel RA-840BX that's my current rig paired up with Heresys. One problem is that soon I'm going to repair my Walsh 4's or Realistic Mach ones and I'd like more pop than any of these can provide. The 2600 is a bit big and complex for my tastes, plus I can't afford to have it overhauled into a condition I'd be comfortable running day-in day-out.

At the moment I'm sort of leaning towards something large and very simple that I can work on. A basic amp/preamp set or an integrated amp along the lines of my Rotel but more powerful.

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Well I have no specific advice for you but will tell you that I faced about the same situation about a year ago. I had been aquiring large TOTL receivers for about 10 years. Most were thrift store finds that needed only minor repairs. After a while I just felt that I had too many of these monsters and not getting that much enjoyment from them. They take up a large amount of space and are not easy to work on with all the stuff they have to fit into one case.

I then lucked into a really nice Sony preamp, 2000F, and decided to go the separate component route. I listed the large receivers locally and sold all but one, my SX-1980. I find the separate components are much easier to work on, and acquired service manuals on all. I need to upgrade the turntable next but have the funds because of the good prices the TOTL receivers fetch.

So ultimately you have to reach your own decision, but you do realize that for the price that the 2600 can fetch you could acquire just about any component system you might wish for.

Lefty

I also own a few examples of the 2600. The one I inherited from my grandpa was the only one that worked (the other two suffered from the notoriously bad transformer). In terms of sound quality, it is not Marantz's best piece, and I always found it to sound slow and lethargic when compared to the 2325 or smaller 22XX offerings. If it were more reliable, it would have made a good PA amp, and that is about it.

I'm holding on to mine just in the hopes that I may be able to resurrect them some day. But, my intention all along was to fix them up and sell them, save for the one I got from my grandfather.

If I were you I would sell it (before the transformer goes bad, as it inevitably will). They fetch a pretty sum by those looking only at their specs and ignorant of the units very real shortcomings. I would take the proceeds and buy a pair of Kenwood L-09M monoblocks and (if you can find one) an L-07C preamp and be much happier for it.

It doesn't sound like you play your 2600 to really enjoy it. If that is the case, you might not miss it if you sold it. The 2600 is easily one of the most expensive and highly sought after monsters. For the money, you can get any number of receivers and separates systems that will sound great and you will not be afraid to put through it's paces.

Agreed, the Marantz 2600 is a highly sought after piece of equipment for Marantz Collectors. There's many others also, such as a Black Face 2385B, Black face 2285B (I once owned one, it's on Ben Blish's Vintage Marantz site, and it's matching 5025 Cassette Deck which was also mine is shown there too)

As far as sound, much of Marantz's gear left me wanting. I've owned a good 10 vintage recievers from Marantz, and only two I felt sounded "acceptable" (the 2285B Black Face, and a 2265)

I owned two perfect 2330B's and both sounded terrible IMO. With a Bass, Mid, and Treble Tone control, there was no getting good sound no matter which way you adjusted them. Sure, lots of power, but tonal quality, and musicality were absent.

Also owned a bought new 4400 Quad back in the old days ($1200). Two months later, the CRT Display blew, and I dumped it for a $160 loss.

Another poster mentions that there was nothing back then (or almost even today that will beat it?) Hogwash I say. Any piece of McIntosh gear back then, and now will literally stomp any piece of Marantz gear ever made, period!

Take any piece of marantz gear you choose, and I'll put a comparable Mac piece of equipment that will best it, hands down. Even Marantz's highly collectable Tube gear (8B) The Mac 275 will best it.

The problem with this Marantz 2600, is not the inability to find compatible speakers. You could hook it to a pair of $30K Dynaudio speakers, and it's not going to alleviate the shortcomings present in this piece of equipment. I've found most Marantz equipment to be veiled, cloudy, lacking air, musicality, detail.
One could buy a $250 Hafler Amp, and get much better performance, and enjoyment.

My recommendaations.... dump the 2600 for a good buck, let someone else enjoy it, and find yourself a mint McIntosh MC-7200,(200wpc) or MC-7300 (300wpc) Amp, and a compatible Mac pre-Amp. You will never look for another piece of equipment again, I assure you.

I'll never argue the fact that Marantz had some of the prettiest gear to ever hit the shelves back then. I've even personally found most Sansui Gear of the era to outperform much of the Marantz Amps-pre-amps.

I won't get into Tuners, as I feel this is a whole different topic. Mark

Negotiableterms said:

The sound quality of a 2600 is very good. You're not likely to find something today that will seriously outperform it. If you're concerned about age, it can be sent to Echowars for a complete re-do, and will come back with better sound than all but the most high-end stuff.

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markd51 said:

Another poster mentions that there was nothing back then (or almost even today that will beat it?) Hogwash I say. Any piece of McIntosh gear back then, and now will literally stomp any piece of Marantz gear ever made, period!

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Well... I'd appreciate a more polite response, but we're not actually in disagreement. Here's what reconciles things:

First, we're discussing receivers, not separates. The OP said he wants less space taken up, not more.

Second, unless you spent time with a 2600 back when they were new, it's unfair to conclude on their sound. I remember being impressed with it (for a lowly receiver) back then. I have an SX-1980, and I never thought much of its sound until EW was done with it. Now, I'm quite impressed. It's not as good as any of my Mc separate stacks, and neither is my Mc 4300V, but it's unreasonable to think they would be, and the same applies to the 2600.

There are very few receivers, yesterday or today, that will better the sound of an EW-tweaked 2600. Today, there are very few 2-ch receivers, period. The Outlaw would probably do it, but it's not nearly the same power, and almost nothing else is as likely to continue to appreciate.

Now, Mike's comment about the transformers was a surprise to me, as I thought that problem was mostly confined to the 2500. But, if he's got two DOAs on his hands, it must be a 2600 problem, too.

There's one other point. If it were me, now that you (John, the OP) have mentioned you own other vintage stuff, I'd sell off the excess to pay for the 2600 to go see Glenn (Echowars). I'd do that before I did anything else. Then, I'd see how I liked the results. If you don't, it'll fetch a very high price, and you can move on to some great separates, or a 2385, or a 4300V, or whatever, as you'll have plenty of funds to burn.

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. My issue with the 2600 wasn't so much as finding a speaker to make it sound good, but that at the low power ranges I can listen at it just doesn't come into its own. If I had a big hall and a stack of massive speakers maybe it could win me over on power by itself. It's certainly attractive to look at, and the oscilloscope gets major style points.

If I did have the 2600 reworked I'd still be using at far less than its capacity, and the reliability issue would still hang over my head. I don't need the features. But really the biggest factor is that it's worth a dispropotionate amount compared with how much I'd enjoy it. Given my limited means it's hard to justify keeping that value sitting on a shelf when the audio side of things could be replaced.

Any more suggestions for simple combos or integrated amps in the 100-200 watt range? I'm not looking for a reciever--I already have a Pioneer TX-9500-II tuner I'm very pleased with. If there was something that was both good and affordable I wouldn't be opposed to a bulky amp. Since the replacement would actually get used I could live it.

Wow... John, for what that 2600 will bring, there are a lot of choices. What speakers are you using?

John in MA said:

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it. My issue with the 2600 wasn't so much as finding a speaker to make it sound good, but that at the low power ranges I can listen at it just doesn't come into its own. If I had a big hall and a stack of massive speakers maybe it could win me over on power by itself. It's certainly attractive to look at, and the oscilloscope gets major style points.

If I did have the 2600 reworked I'd still be using at far less than its capacity, and the reliability issue would still hang over my head. I don't need the features. But really the biggest factor is that it's worth a dispropotionate amount compared with how much I'd enjoy it. Given my limited means it's hard to justify keeping that value sitting on a shelf when the audio side of things could be replaced.

Any more suggestions for simple combos or integrated amps in the 100-200 watt range? I'm not looking for a reciever--I already have a Pioneer TX-9500-II tuner I'm very pleased with. If there was something that was both good and affordable I wouldn't be opposed to a bulky amp. Since the replacement would actually get used I could live it.

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Well if 100 watts per channel would fill your needs then I can certainly recommend the Sony components I have now, the TA-2000F preamp and TA-3200F amp. It's a little off the mainstream of brands and models but being in the electronics field my whole life I was super impressed with the design, material and construction that Sony put into this series. They use no weird or impossible to find parts (except their transformers of course) that could not be substituted with modern replacements. The service manuals are complete and easy to read. In all I'm just very comfortable with living with them now and long into the future. I just didn't feel that way with the TOTL receivers I had accumulated.

Lefty

Why not a mcintosh amp/preamp combo used from one of our fine sponsors?You know it will be in great shape sonically,and you can always find parts and service for Mac components.
Jimmy

Negotiableterms said:

Wow... John, for what that 2600 will bring, there are a lot of choices. What speakers are you using?

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Well, I'm not looking to get a $2000+ replacement. Truck needs new AC, etc. Main factors are reliability, clarity and range over pure power, and ease of service. I wouldn't mind it being a little cool but that's really beside the point.

At the moment I'm running a pair of vintage Klipsch Heresys in a small, live room. They'll probably be replaced with either the Realistic Mach Ones I just picked up, or a pair of Ohm Walsh 4's that've been perpetually waiting for repairs--another use for some of the 2600's value. Future possibilities include a pair of Marantz HD-880's needing woofers that I happen to have a line on. For any of the big speakers I'm a little limted in powering options since I have nothing capable of more than 50W/channel.

Everything else is fairly mundane. The Pioneer tuner, Thorens TD-280 table, surprisingly good Onkyo 6-disc changer, and a better Sony dual tape deck that's filling in for my Nakamichi RX-202 and Teac 3-head I keep forgetting to overhaul.

If you're really in MA, John... I don't think we're gonna be needing A/C much for quite some time!

Ah, but you forget how it helps defrost.

How about a Yamaha CR-2020, understated at 105 wpc, and <10% of the proceeds of the 2600?