Considering Marantz (without Ken Ishiwata)

[Jimboo]

Good god , I hope the insides have more care and design than the outside. Absolutely vile.

 

[Hawkwind16]

I love my old Marantz cd52 ii's ..

I tried the Sa and Ki Ruby recently - I thought they were pretty poor to be honest

 

[Wil]

From what I gather, Ken continually tweaked the sound from year to year so as to particularly reflect present-day releases e.g. in Stereophile '16 interview "Every month, I listen to somewhere around 100 new albums, trying to find something I'm able to use for demonstration, which is very difficult! I have to really keep listening to everything that comes out. But unfortunately, I scrap the majority because of the quality."

I love my old Marantz cd52 ii's ..

I tried the Sa and Ki Ruby recently - I thought they were pretty poor to be honest

I'm thinking you would've likely preferred using Filter 2 of SA-KI Ruby i.e.:

An important feature I look for, dating back to my experience of their CD-7 from 1998, is whether the product has availability of this DSP filtering (which HD-AMP1 has):

How it works for me, simply, is that I change the Filter to focus on voice or instrumentation e.g. 2/3 of the time I'm watching TV, using FIL 2 for English and Cantonese content, then FIL 1 for the sharper tones of Mandarin, Japanese, Korean. Similarly, when playing back music I change filters to suit how I…

You can say default FIL 1 complements the modern…

 

[Deleted member 108165]

I tried the Sa and Ki Ruby recently - I thought they were pretty poor to be honest

I didn't I think the Ruby's are great.

 

[Wil]

Festina lente, so not all at once today, saving a second part for readers to look forward to, here's 2 scanned pages regarding their Evolution of the Digital Filter & DAC, my placing page 102 above 101 so you will see the chart first…:


N.b. page 103 will be shared next time, the following is previous page, 101:


Some time next week will be 4 scanned pages, including Evolution of [their] Drive Mechanism (98-100).

They're from celebratory, 2003, Stereo Sound issue.

 

[Wil]

Publicly inciting resentment? Grate-work, though your discernment is evidently lacking, I'll stop contributing, leave.

Farewell.

Mods , can we have a " fan boy " section of the forum for stuff like this ?
I am grateful for Ken's contribution towards hi fi products but the " products" are the interest on here rather than a seemingly unhealthy ramblings of an obsessive. The minutae of his involvement in the development of marantz is strictly a niche market.
I fear we are providing an outlet for an unread blog.

Fear not, have fun making these fora in-your-own-image.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Don't leave, Wil. I think you might be a little obsessive, but life would be dull if we were all the same.

 

[Wil]

Thanks… I'll disclose what I had privately said to you… Jimboo's objections were hilariously inept and an easy excuse for me to go focus awhile on other things.

Don't leave, Wil. I think you might be a little obsessive, but life would be dull if we were all the same.

Now, this vid has interview with core 3 members of present Marantz management team, promoting "Modern Musical Luxury" approach:

Obviously, for them, music matters somewhat less than before.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks… I'll disclose what I had privately said to you… Jimboo's objections were hilariously inept and an easy excuse for me to go focus awhile on other things.




Now, this vid has interview with core 3 members of present Marantz management team, promoting "Modern Musical Luxury" approach:

Obviously, for them, music matters somewhat less than before.

Please remove the foreign language from your signature, thank you.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Publicly inciting resentment? Grate-work, though your discernment is evidently lacking, I'll stop contributing, leave.

Farewell.



Fear not, have fun making these fora in-your-own-image.

i found your posts / thread interesting.

 

[Wil]

Please remove the foreign language from your signature, thank you.

Done. As explained in that other thread…

I do know a good English approximation to Gracián's quote. However, I'm going to respect its original Spanish…

So, replacing with Russell.

As stated in another thread would you please remove your signature for, at least, translate it into English. Many thanks.

And Happy:

 

[Al ears]

Done. As explain in that other thread…

Much obliged.

 

[Wil]

Well, your puerile "fears" are putrid reflections of your own psyche. Brazenly brandishing the word "genuine" won't ever be enough to make yourself so.

Riveting , I do hope that your obsessive love affair with marantz products will be more than an introduction to your personal obsession and a genuine bonus to the forum .
I fear that somewhere else told you to shove it and you fancy you have an audience here.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Hi Wil.

Alas their aesthetic hasn't gone down well here - see other post.

New Marantz pairing might divide opinion

Seeing the new Marantz Model 30 for the first time made me think the revised look might seriously divide opinions. What do you think? Me, I sort of like it but would have to see them ' in the flesh'. https://www.stereonet.co.uk/news/marantz-model-30-and-sacd-30n-unveiled

forums.whathifi.com

If you need to know how the forum's 'ignore' facility, just ask!

 

[Wil]

Hi Wil.

Alas their aesthetic hasn't gone down well here - see other post.

New Marantz pairing might divide opinion

Seeing the new Marantz Model 30 for the first time made me think the revised look might seriously divide opinions. What do you think? Me, I sort of like it but would have to see them ' in the flesh'. https://www.stereonet.co.uk/news/marantz-model-30-and-sacd-30n-unveiled

forums.whathifi.com

Over at your Thread, my 1st Post said all I wanted to say (reproduced further below).

And proof to existence of regional sound-performance tastes, especially "European" here's a 2018 reply from Ken:


Model 30 & 30n are said to be sold globally, did they properly tune…

Consumers, be careful.

This 30 & 30n, I'll especially caution those interested to audition first and not buy blind based on brand-reputation.

From the following interview, Joel Sietsema who "leads Marantz" directed the set's goals, thus, 30n's Jack of All Trades capacity:

Previously, in its Because Music Matters era, Ken championed simplicity:

Brand's present slogan is Modern Musical Luxury, and this reviewer opined about some feature's subpar performance:

Master of None may become the quip…

The Jack of All Trades nature will surely get the attention of those that relied on the likes of Oppo to do the job, it certainly got mine.

 

[Wil]

Power our Hi-Fi On some time before listening? Advice from their PM-14mkII User Manual:

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Power our Hi-Fi On some time before listening? Advice from their PM-14mkII User Manual:
View attachment 1569

thats a class looking amplifier and some interesting information. i wonder if it applies to other manufacturers amplifiers ?

 

[nopiano]

does anybody know the actual reason why he parted with marantz ?

I’ve never seen a believable reason other than the usual corporate stuff quoted a few posts back. As he sadly died so relatively soon afterwards, I wonder if he was already poorly, and agreed to leave for that reason.
He seemed to enjoy cigarettes, so may have had cancer, for example.

On another angle, I’m surprised Marantz never reverted to their roots, much as McIntosh has, by releasing some retro models. There was a fabulous tuner many years ago, and the Class A integrated (PM-4 was it?) which might appeal today.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

I’ve never seen a believable reason other than the usual corporate stuff quoted a few posts back. As he sadly died so relatively soon afterwards, I wonder if he was already poorly, and agreed to leave for that reason.
He seemed to enjoy cigarettes, so may have had cancer, for example.

On another angle, I’m surprised Marantz never reverted to their roots, much as McIntosh has, by releasing some retro models. There was a fabulous tuner many years ago, and the Class A integrated (PM-4 was it?) which might appeal today.

thanks for answering the question.
i often wonder why classic / retro designs are never re-released (?).

 

[Wil]

Right now, I've only time to reply briefly to previous Posts by you and plus 1.

Take a glimpse into interview with the new-leader that Ken, if he stayed, would've had to submit to:

I’ve never seen a believable reason other than the usual corporate stuff quoted a few posts back. As he sadly died so relatively soon afterwards, I wonder if he was already poorly, and agreed to leave for that reason.
He seemed to enjoy cigarettes, so may have had cancer, for example.

On another angle, I’m surprised Marantz never reverted to their roots, much as McIntosh has, by releasing some retro models. There was a fabulous tuner many years ago, and the Class A integrated (PM-4 was it?) which might appeal today.

I try to turn my Hi-Fi at least 10 minutes before listening. It was evident, especially from another amplifier I own, that sound-performance do stabilise after warming-up. Perhaps it's an inconvenient truth to communicate to average consumers i.e. good sound isn't instantly…

thats a class looking amplifier and some interesting information. i wonder if it applies to other manufacturers amplifiers ?

 

[Wil]

i wonder if it applies to other manufacturers amplifiers ?

PS Audio has an extreme position:

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Good Lord, he's boring to listen to!

 

[Deleted member 188516]

Good Lord, he's boring to listen to!

he takes to long to answer a question and does waffle on...

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

He certainly does.

 

[Deleted member 188516]

He certainly does.

i have watched a few of his videos...that may not surprise you !