Good question!
To be fair, only some of it arrived today. The black chokes, the open fram ones, the Lundhal OPTs and the large mains transformer are recent purchases. The ITs to the left are leftovers from old projects that never happened, and the large grey chokes are pulls from some kind of low voltage power supplies.
The idea is to use all this stuff and more to build a nice IT-coupled 300B SET with LCLC filament power supplies.
The little that I have built using transformers for output makes me wonder why I waited so long. Something about the sound is addicting. Have never used chokes a power supply. Maybe that will be on the short list. I have 6SN7 tube build that is up next.
The point of rebuilding some thing vintage is to keep it honest to what it was when it was built. Obviously I won't bother with crappy products to begin with but stuff that was good and worthwhile because the point is to keep the sound that it had to begin with.
Think of putting a small block Chevy in a 60s Jag, or a Vega GT Sure, it makes the car better and more reliable but it then it's not a Jag, or a Vega.
We used only the best parts, I didn't do the BoM... the guy has been doing this for 20+ years and does an excellent job.
Anyhow, if I want modern sounding parts... well, I got over 33 amps, seven preamps, etc, etc... the idea is to have modern and vintage and whatever floats my boat. I do not want my Sansui G7500 to sound like the Marantz 2325... nor the Marantz 4415 like the Akai AS980, etc, etc...
Hi Tony,
Just working on a 2325. Degraded big time with multiple faults I wasn't told about. Someone scratched the faceplate and nuts by using pliers. 🙁
Anyway, the enhancements don't change the sound, it sounds the same but with lower noise and distortion. The unit is stil what the namelate says it is. Kinda like that old 283 that now starts reliably, runs more smoothly but still handles the same. Not installing a small block. That might equate to a class D amp inside (yuck!). They look very close to original if not exact inside when done.
I am being honest, and I install parts that don't have the same shortcomings as the older ones. They even fit properly! Why one earth would you spend similar money on parts that are substandard?
Anyway, LEDs lamps in this one, I make the function lamps myself. Real vellum to replace the yellowed / browned diffuser. I did have to cut away the warped reflector just enough to remove the old lamps. By installing LEDs, I am conserving the unit and saving it from further damage. I determine the BOM carefully for each model, selecting parts that fit properly. Then there are sourcing new parts to replace discontinued parts. I match parts that should be matched, and that alone improves performance.
This is just a quick snap of it so far. Any complaints? The last fault is no stereo on FM, and I already fixed a few other faults in this area. I'll be overjoyed when this one is done. But guess what? It is every bit still a Marantz 2325, same schematic.
Just working on a 2325. Degraded big time with multiple faults I wasn't told about. Someone scratched the faceplate and nuts by using pliers. 🙁
Anyway, the enhancements don't change the sound, it sounds the same but with lower noise and distortion. The unit is stil what the namelate says it is. Kinda like that old 283 that now starts reliably, runs more smoothly but still handles the same. Not installing a small block. That might equate to a class D amp inside (yuck!). They look very close to original if not exact inside when done.
I am being honest, and I install parts that don't have the same shortcomings as the older ones. They even fit properly! Why one earth would you spend similar money on parts that are substandard?
Anyway, LEDs lamps in this one, I make the function lamps myself. Real vellum to replace the yellowed / browned diffuser. I did have to cut away the warped reflector just enough to remove the old lamps. By installing LEDs, I am conserving the unit and saving it from further damage. I determine the BOM carefully for each model, selecting parts that fit properly. Then there are sourcing new parts to replace discontinued parts. I match parts that should be matched, and that alone improves performance.
This is just a quick snap of it so far. Any complaints? The last fault is no stereo on FM, and I already fixed a few other faults in this area. I'll be overjoyed when this one is done. But guess what? It is every bit still a Marantz 2325, same schematic.
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The "transformer sound" can indeed be addictive, but keep the measuring equipment far away from such amps...😳
2325, no stereo on FM? We ran into the same issue. Check out the traces on the board. We had to bypass a couple of lifting traces. Note in the schematic how the MPX decoder works...
It is a bear. I saw it when it was all taken apart and he took before and after pictures of everything. But it is a good looking unit. Sort of like a 747 before they went to a glass cockpit.
Unfortunately, for all its heft, it will not drive Maggies. When the big bass comes along, the lights on the front panel dim ( incandescent ), and that's not even driving it loud.
So, I got it hooked up to my ADS L810s ( with new caps on the crossover and a repair done to one of the woofer -a spyder gash required a new coil assembly.
Those two together play very, very well.
It is a bear. I saw it when it was all taken apart and he took before and after pictures of everything. But it is a good looking unit. Sort of like a 747 before they went to a glass cockpit.
Unfortunately, for all its heft, it will not drive Maggies. When the big bass comes along, the lights on the front panel dim ( incandescent ), and that's not even driving it loud.
So, I got it hooked up to my ADS L810s ( with new caps on the crossover and a repair done to one of the woofer -a spyder gash required a new coil assembly.
Those two together play very, very well.
Hi Tony,
Yes, checked all that. Thank you. Been down this road a few times over the years. Someone had chewed on this problem and had messed up the detector alignment so badly the FM didn't even work.
No, it also had problems with centre tune varying with signal strength as well (after alignment). Rebuilt the detector using some matched parts, problem gone. Now all the various mute signals are fine and I still don't have FM stereo. Shorting the HA1156 pin 6 to ground lights the lamp, osc runs and locks. Before I was getting excessive HF noise, and that killed the stereo. Shorted that to ground (H319 anode or C333) and it switched to stereo no problem before. I am sure the HA1156 is fine, it worked before and I haven't touched anything near it. It still detects the pilot and happily locks to it. H303 is now off as it should be for stereo. No trace problems found on this one - yet. I'm also not happy with the sensitivity, not awful but not normal either.
I'm just really tired of fixing all the problems it had. It had a dead left channel in the buffer amp, low bias out of range on one channel and a bunch of small stuff, bad relay of course.
It came in for lamps and noisy controls. Right.
These were only supposed to run 4R loads minimum, and maggies weren't what they had in mind. They will run my PSB Stratus Gold speakers just fine. Don't forget that Marantz employed delayed current limiting. The 300DC throws the PSBs around okay. A Yamaha PC2002 much better, a 2500 is like endless power and the Bryston 4B cubed is heaven on those.
The nightmare receivers to work on? Marantz 2500 and 2385 in the phono / function PCB. Once someone else has been inside you have your work cut out for you! I'll include MPX faults in these older Marantz receivers (like the 2325) tough nuts sometimes. Far too complicated, too many places for faults and sometimes they almost work (like this one). Other brands could be just as much "fun".
Yes, checked all that. Thank you. Been down this road a few times over the years. Someone had chewed on this problem and had messed up the detector alignment so badly the FM didn't even work.
No, it also had problems with centre tune varying with signal strength as well (after alignment). Rebuilt the detector using some matched parts, problem gone. Now all the various mute signals are fine and I still don't have FM stereo. Shorting the HA1156 pin 6 to ground lights the lamp, osc runs and locks. Before I was getting excessive HF noise, and that killed the stereo. Shorted that to ground (H319 anode or C333) and it switched to stereo no problem before. I am sure the HA1156 is fine, it worked before and I haven't touched anything near it. It still detects the pilot and happily locks to it. H303 is now off as it should be for stereo. No trace problems found on this one - yet. I'm also not happy with the sensitivity, not awful but not normal either.
I'm just really tired of fixing all the problems it had. It had a dead left channel in the buffer amp, low bias out of range on one channel and a bunch of small stuff, bad relay of course.
It came in for lamps and noisy controls. Right.
These were only supposed to run 4R loads minimum, and maggies weren't what they had in mind. They will run my PSB Stratus Gold speakers just fine. Don't forget that Marantz employed delayed current limiting. The 300DC throws the PSBs around okay. A Yamaha PC2002 much better, a 2500 is like endless power and the Bryston 4B cubed is heaven on those.
The nightmare receivers to work on? Marantz 2500 and 2385 in the phono / function PCB. Once someone else has been inside you have your work cut out for you! I'll include MPX faults in these older Marantz receivers (like the 2325) tough nuts sometimes. Far too complicated, too many places for faults and sometimes they almost work (like this one). Other brands could be just as much "fun".
Hmm... I do have a pair of Gold-i in the HT. With the C9 center channel and four PSB coax in walls on the ceiling as side/rear surrounds.
Have you tried running the big PSBs bi amped? You don't need no stinking subwoofer with those babies. I had them with a pair of Acoustic Reality ICE amps... 200 wpc RMS top and bottom.
My own 2325 had a charmed life. I was the 2nd owner, given to me by my previous manager who had it in storage since the early 80s. It actually played quite well and then I stored it for another 16 years until I took it out of the closet. It still worked well, but I wanted it cleaned out.
Indeed, most of my stuff, I'm the original or 2nd owner. Very low usage. Museum pieces in many ways.
OH.. last night I bought another ounce of gold bullion from Costco.com. And another balanced cable for the P3. Turns out I forgot that balanced cables are sold singly... duh! So after two weeks waiting for my custom length 10 footer with Mogami/Neutrik... I grab the cable... hmm.. Oh ****... so I ordered another one. Now, I gotta wait two more weeks. Mind you, I got more balanced cables, but not 10 footers.
Have you tried running the big PSBs bi amped? You don't need no stinking subwoofer with those babies. I had them with a pair of Acoustic Reality ICE amps... 200 wpc RMS top and bottom.
My own 2325 had a charmed life. I was the 2nd owner, given to me by my previous manager who had it in storage since the early 80s. It actually played quite well and then I stored it for another 16 years until I took it out of the closet. It still worked well, but I wanted it cleaned out.
Indeed, most of my stuff, I'm the original or 2nd owner. Very low usage. Museum pieces in many ways.
OH.. last night I bought another ounce of gold bullion from Costco.com. And another balanced cable for the P3. Turns out I forgot that balanced cables are sold singly... duh! So after two weeks waiting for my custom length 10 footer with Mogami/Neutrik... I grab the cable... hmm.. Oh ****... so I ordered another one. Now, I gotta wait two more weeks. Mind you, I got more balanced cables, but not 10 footers.
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Hi Tony,
No, I will either run them with electronic crossovers and amplifiers in a two way setup or on a single amplifier. Bi-amping them doesn't bring any benefit over one really good, powerful amplifier. I would have to go in and modify the crossover to be bypassed to the woofer, and just the section between the mid and tweeter. The high pass to the mid would have to go.
I can see with some amplifiers, it would sound better bi-amped. That's more of a statement on those amplifiers than the setup. If your amp retains it's composure while dumping power, you don't need a bi-wire / bi-amp setup.
No, you don't need subs at all. I have those in my home music system, and another pair in my surround system with the larger matching center. I found some cool Mission wall mount speakers made for surround channels for the rears. That's just a Denon surround receiver, heavy stinker.
I am thinking of the Klipsch RP-7 III for the main system, but the darned PSBs have lower frequency response. I'd like something more efficient, mostly 'cause I turn it up a lot. WHat I really want are the Jubilee speakers. I have a friend with a pair. Just awesome!
I have Fred Hammond's 2325. That's why I sold the one I had that was rebuilt. These are just really wonderful looking receivers and they sound really good. All that and they do have a lot of power on tap. Not nuts power, but certainly competent. I also have some 2nd owner and things I bought new. Much from the 1980's, it was so well designed and built back then.
Equipment ages and degrades slowly. Even the stuff I bought new! lol! So while it works, it doesn't work like it did when new. So I test my stuff occasionally, and sometimes I improve performance and it makes a huge difference in sound quality (subtle, but you really notice over time). I upgraded my 300DC amps, now crystal clear and smooth on the highs. They sounded okay before and met specs. Today they are still Marantz 300DC amps, but they sound far better. Why not? Same for the 2325's and everything else. These are measured improvements as well as subjective.
Yes, you have to watch the ads for everything carefully. It's an easy way to double the price on an item you need two of. Sorry the error forced you to wait.
No, I will either run them with electronic crossovers and amplifiers in a two way setup or on a single amplifier. Bi-amping them doesn't bring any benefit over one really good, powerful amplifier. I would have to go in and modify the crossover to be bypassed to the woofer, and just the section between the mid and tweeter. The high pass to the mid would have to go.
I can see with some amplifiers, it would sound better bi-amped. That's more of a statement on those amplifiers than the setup. If your amp retains it's composure while dumping power, you don't need a bi-wire / bi-amp setup.
No, you don't need subs at all. I have those in my home music system, and another pair in my surround system with the larger matching center. I found some cool Mission wall mount speakers made for surround channels for the rears. That's just a Denon surround receiver, heavy stinker.
I am thinking of the Klipsch RP-7 III for the main system, but the darned PSBs have lower frequency response. I'd like something more efficient, mostly 'cause I turn it up a lot. WHat I really want are the Jubilee speakers. I have a friend with a pair. Just awesome!
I have Fred Hammond's 2325. That's why I sold the one I had that was rebuilt. These are just really wonderful looking receivers and they sound really good. All that and they do have a lot of power on tap. Not nuts power, but certainly competent. I also have some 2nd owner and things I bought new. Much from the 1980's, it was so well designed and built back then.
Equipment ages and degrades slowly. Even the stuff I bought new! lol! So while it works, it doesn't work like it did when new. So I test my stuff occasionally, and sometimes I improve performance and it makes a huge difference in sound quality (subtle, but you really notice over time). I upgraded my 300DC amps, now crystal clear and smooth on the highs. They sounded okay before and met specs. Today they are still Marantz 300DC amps, but they sound far better. Why not? Same for the 2325's and everything else. These are measured improvements as well as subjective.
Yes, you have to watch the ads for everything carefully. It's an easy way to double the price on an item you need two of. Sorry the error forced you to wait.
I had two identical Acoustic Reality amps, still do, unused in the closet, so I figured I'd use them in the Gold-i... just took out the jumper between the posts at the speaker. They did sound very good. Currently I have them on a Nuforce MCA-20 multichannel and it does very well... better treble and midrange than the Acoustic Reality amps and that awesome bass from a good class D design.
I do have an extra pair of Maggies... the 12s... I've thought about buying the maggie center channel and set them up in the HT. Hmm... But those big PSBs up front are a very good sounding, very dynamic configuration. The Maggies in HT will require a woofer.
I recently got an Outlaw OAW4 Wireless Audio System. The idea is to install a four channel surround in my office and use this to avoid having to run wires to the back wall. But I could also use it to move the woofers I had in the main 2ch rig to the HT and install them along the back wall. Hmm... who knows? My wife is OK with that. I got the power on/off solved with a Parasound SCAMP that triggers when it sees an audio signal.
What did I buy... well on Black Friday at Costco Online I bough an LG Ultra Wide 49" display, curved and all of that. Supposedly Plug and Play. Well, got it yesterday, plugged it in, and it is NOT plug and play.
I got three PCs hooked via a HDMI-2 KVM switch. Currently using an LG 35" wiiiide, cuuurved screen... it works great. The 49" is not plug and play. Ships with no documentation to speak of. Turns out it needs a driver installed. ( Running i7s and i9, all pretty recent, from '23 and '24, win10 and win11). Since the work laptop, the i9, is managed by IT, I don't have the admin rights so I'm not gonna waste my time with it... so I'm returning the big monitor... Sad really because it's almost four feet wide!! I paid $750 plus sales tax. Bye, bye.... which pisses me off because I had been researching for this same monitor for over a year... just waiting for it to come on sale.... the comparable Samsung is too curved and too deep. Three inches so.
I do have an extra pair of Maggies... the 12s... I've thought about buying the maggie center channel and set them up in the HT. Hmm... But those big PSBs up front are a very good sounding, very dynamic configuration. The Maggies in HT will require a woofer.
I recently got an Outlaw OAW4 Wireless Audio System. The idea is to install a four channel surround in my office and use this to avoid having to run wires to the back wall. But I could also use it to move the woofers I had in the main 2ch rig to the HT and install them along the back wall. Hmm... who knows? My wife is OK with that. I got the power on/off solved with a Parasound SCAMP that triggers when it sees an audio signal.
What did I buy... well on Black Friday at Costco Online I bough an LG Ultra Wide 49" display, curved and all of that. Supposedly Plug and Play. Well, got it yesterday, plugged it in, and it is NOT plug and play.
I got three PCs hooked via a HDMI-2 KVM switch. Currently using an LG 35" wiiiide, cuuurved screen... it works great. The 49" is not plug and play. Ships with no documentation to speak of. Turns out it needs a driver installed. ( Running i7s and i9, all pretty recent, from '23 and '24, win10 and win11). Since the work laptop, the i9, is managed by IT, I don't have the admin rights so I'm not gonna waste my time with it... so I'm returning the big monitor... Sad really because it's almost four feet wide!! I paid $750 plus sales tax. Bye, bye.... which pisses me off because I had been researching for this same monitor for over a year... just waiting for it to come on sale.... the comparable Samsung is too curved and too deep. Three inches so.
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Hi Tony,
Maggies are kinda position sensitive. More for a stereo system than a surround deal. How are the Acoustic Reality amps on the Maggies? Which amplifiers do you have?
My experience with class D is that they are okay, but not to the level to consider them for a very good system. They will probably get there some day.
You're running your monitor off a computer then? Nothing is plug and play on a computer. A real surround receiver tends to be easier, and something like a Firestick is pretty much plug and play. Given your great deal on the set, you might try a Firestick or Roku before returning it.
I use PCs for work and other tasks like controlling test equipment. I use my phone to control audio streamers (but not pay for anything, thank you very much!) and streamers of course. Connecting a computer to a surround system for watching TV, naw. I'd rather keep it simple.
Maggies are kinda position sensitive. More for a stereo system than a surround deal. How are the Acoustic Reality amps on the Maggies? Which amplifiers do you have?
My experience with class D is that they are okay, but not to the level to consider them for a very good system. They will probably get there some day.
You're running your monitor off a computer then? Nothing is plug and play on a computer. A real surround receiver tends to be easier, and something like a Firestick is pretty much plug and play. Given your great deal on the set, you might try a Firestick or Roku before returning it.
I use PCs for work and other tasks like controlling test equipment. I use my phone to control audio streamers (but not pay for anything, thank you very much!) and streamers of course. Connecting a computer to a surround system for watching TV, naw. I'd rather keep it simple.
The Acoustic Reality amps are very good on the bottom end and quite nice in the midrange but they are dark on the top end. The treble "lacks energy"... as if a low pass filter was in place.
They drive the Maggie 12 and 1.7s quite well, otherwise. Lots of power. Great bass slam.
Currently the 12 are in a box. But if I put them in the HT I can easily give them 2 feet behind them... maybe 3. The 1.7 are now hooked up to the bridged F4s, normally they run off the A2s. I figure 200 wpc is the minimum amount of power they need. The bridged F4s are run all balanced from an Iron Pre... the A2 are SE. I don't know if what I hear is the result of the preamp or the amps... but the bridged F4 configuration has a very robust bass. I should try running the Iron Pre to BA3 in SE and see what happens. The A2s sound sweeter, but softer bass. Same Iron Pre.
Many things are plug and play nowadays when you use up to date hardware and software.... our LG 34 and 35 displays for example, at 3440x1440 are plug and play. The PC figures out the required display from the display and configures itself for you. The LG 49 has an issue communicating with the PC.. Searching the Internet we found that it has a problem with HDMI, specially if you use a DP to HDMI interface -which I do to route through the KVM switch. So it needs a driver installation. A non starter for my work laptop.
I figure they'll eventually get it working but for the time being I'm not gonna mess with my set up, specially as I use it for work.
OH, I do pay for the Tidal HiFi Family and Neftflix subscriptions. I like the audio quality, they're up to 192K now.... and my wife and kids really enjoy Netflix. On my android phone i have an SD card with like 400++ downloaded albums, all at minimum Redbook, most at 24/96. It makes long drives pleasurable with Android Auto on the car. It charges the phone while I can play music even if we don't have an Internet connection.
I did my first PC based media streamer back in the mid 90s and haven't looked back. All of our systems have a PC as one of the sources. Some of those "PC"s are Android tablets or Chromebooks. I prefer the latter as you avoid the dilemma of getting "power over OTG" to work. The Chromebooks have several USB ports... so you can use USB OTG on one and draw power over another one... Heck, I just bought another one from Costco... it was under 300 bucks with a 1.5TB SDCard...
HPIB, man... HPIB paid my mortgage for many years...
What I'm I buying today? Well, I gotta go to Costco to return the monitor... so I think I'll buy some Bacardi. It's 16 bucks for a 1.75L bottle.
They drive the Maggie 12 and 1.7s quite well, otherwise. Lots of power. Great bass slam.
Currently the 12 are in a box. But if I put them in the HT I can easily give them 2 feet behind them... maybe 3. The 1.7 are now hooked up to the bridged F4s, normally they run off the A2s. I figure 200 wpc is the minimum amount of power they need. The bridged F4s are run all balanced from an Iron Pre... the A2 are SE. I don't know if what I hear is the result of the preamp or the amps... but the bridged F4 configuration has a very robust bass. I should try running the Iron Pre to BA3 in SE and see what happens. The A2s sound sweeter, but softer bass. Same Iron Pre.
Many things are plug and play nowadays when you use up to date hardware and software.... our LG 34 and 35 displays for example, at 3440x1440 are plug and play. The PC figures out the required display from the display and configures itself for you. The LG 49 has an issue communicating with the PC.. Searching the Internet we found that it has a problem with HDMI, specially if you use a DP to HDMI interface -which I do to route through the KVM switch. So it needs a driver installation. A non starter for my work laptop.
I figure they'll eventually get it working but for the time being I'm not gonna mess with my set up, specially as I use it for work.
OH, I do pay for the Tidal HiFi Family and Neftflix subscriptions. I like the audio quality, they're up to 192K now.... and my wife and kids really enjoy Netflix. On my android phone i have an SD card with like 400++ downloaded albums, all at minimum Redbook, most at 24/96. It makes long drives pleasurable with Android Auto on the car. It charges the phone while I can play music even if we don't have an Internet connection.
I did my first PC based media streamer back in the mid 90s and haven't looked back. All of our systems have a PC as one of the sources. Some of those "PC"s are Android tablets or Chromebooks. I prefer the latter as you avoid the dilemma of getting "power over OTG" to work. The Chromebooks have several USB ports... so you can use USB OTG on one and draw power over another one... Heck, I just bought another one from Costco... it was under 300 bucks with a 1.5TB SDCard...
HPIB, man... HPIB paid my mortgage for many years...
What I'm I buying today? Well, I gotta go to Costco to return the monitor... so I think I'll buy some Bacardi. It's 16 bucks for a 1.75L bottle.
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Yeah, HPIB on my bench, USB adapter to the PC. I prefer the newer LAN connections, I have a full 16 port switch on my bench, full 24 port switch in the rack. 1 GB.
Having a fiber connection to the internet makes everything a pleasure. All my streamers and firesticks are wired, makes a difference. I'm trying to figure out how to set up a music server using Linux. I haven't got the time needed yet.
Having a fiber connection to the internet makes everything a pleasure. All my streamers and firesticks are wired, makes a difference. I'm trying to figure out how to set up a music server using Linux. I haven't got the time needed yet.
We get hosed by our government here. Taxes on alcohol are silly high, have been since I could drink. Enjoy and think of your poor Canadian cousins!
My poor Canadian cousins have had good beer forever.
I used to live in Washington State in the bad old days of 3.2 beer. Yuck.
So on December 26 1980 I drove up from Tacoma to Vancouver BC to get some cases of Canadian for our New Year's Party.
Boxer Day? WTF?
Anyhow, the guy at the bar was nice enough when he heard my story so he sold me ten cases of Canadian at store price.
Taxes, incredible. Must be a Northern thing... I understand the Lutherans pulling such stunts ( Washington St ) but not Canadiens.
I used to design and build entire ATE test sets... using the HP computers 200/300 etc...
I might buy some more IPA today. I seldom get out of the house nowadays, working from home, nice deck to smoke cigars.... gonna be COLD today... a high of 70F.... brrrr....
I used to live in Washington State in the bad old days of 3.2 beer. Yuck.
So on December 26 1980 I drove up from Tacoma to Vancouver BC to get some cases of Canadian for our New Year's Party.
Boxer Day? WTF?
Anyhow, the guy at the bar was nice enough when he heard my story so he sold me ten cases of Canadian at store price.
Taxes, incredible. Must be a Northern thing... I understand the Lutherans pulling such stunts ( Washington St ) but not Canadiens.
I used to design and build entire ATE test sets... using the HP computers 200/300 etc...
I might buy some more IPA today. I seldom get out of the house nowadays, working from home, nice deck to smoke cigars.... gonna be COLD today... a high of 70F.... brrrr....
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