Power Amplifier - Marantz 240

Picked up a rare, black-faced Marantz 240 power amplifier about six months ago, and my back hasn’t been the same since. But seriously, beyond its weight, this was a nice-sounding amplifier. At 120 watts per channel, it wasn’t a monster, but still packed enough power to impress the neighbors.

How did it sound? To me, and again, no opportunity for a side-by-side listening test, it sounded just fine. I was using a newer Adcom preamp with it, and those together worked quite well, sonically-speaking.

Have any stories or photos of your Marantz 240? Please leave a comment or send me an email.

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BONUS - Here's a first-hand HiFiCollector.com reader's story about the Marantz 240. Thanks to Paul for sending this in!

Hi,

I saw your little posting from 2009 (!) about your Marantz 240.  Do you still own it?  

I worked at Superscope/Marantz in the 1970's, when the 240 was still part of the product line.  As an employee, I had the privilege of buying any Superscope/Marantz product at a 50% discount, but instead, I put together a 240 out of parts -- leftovers from the engineering department, replacement stuff from the parts department, and some parts (e.g., giant electrolytic capacitors) I found at the local electronics surplus place (Apex) near the old Marantz factory in Sun Valley.  The old thing has been working for the past 40+ years, but I have never really pushed it very hard.  What a shame, heh?  

These amplifiers had a sort of checkered reputation in the Marantz engineering department.  After the product was designed and shipped, the service department discovered that the "protection" circuit could fail in a way that would do more harm than good.  Also, in order to meet the specifications for distortion, etc. (which Marantz was very conscientious and forthright about), the output transistors needed to be matched for beta and something like Vbe.  So, at the factory, each transistor was tested on a curve tracer and color coded with drops of paint.  This added some hand work and expense to the assembly process.  The target retail price at that time was $1 per watt, and I think they met that target.  

The 240 was the only product that so blatantly displayed the "marantz" brand name on the front panel.  I like that, actually.  There wasn't a lot else to do with the space meant for the meters on the 250.  They added a little blue jewel light in the star.  Does your jewel light still work?  Adding level meters (on the 250) never made much sense to me.  If the amplifier were operated such that the meters would register anything but minimum levels, the speakers would be practically flaming. 

With my employee discount, I bought the official walnut veneer case for my Frankenstein 240.  Those boxes were elegant, but they, like the amplifier, had weaknesses.  In the owner's manual, the company sternly warned customers not to ship the amplifier inside its wooden case.  The reason was that the amplifier was so heavy (because of the massive power transformer) that the usual jostling by UPS would break the particle board pieces of the case that supported the amp.  I just recently applied another coat of Watco oil to the walnut veneer on my wooden case, and it really does clean up nicely!

Paul, Nevada City, California