So you ask what in the world are a pair of 70's vintage Marantz

receivers doing in a collection of golden age tube hi fi?

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Well, there are a lot of people out there who have found out that a lot of the higher quality early

solid state hi-fi can sound quite good too. I will admit that the vintage tube hi fi generally has a bit

better sound, but there are certain solid state receiver and amplifier manufacturers worth serious

consideration. H.H. Scott made some fine solid state gear in the 60's and early 70's. Fisher was

another manufacturer who made some nice solid state gear as well. Companies like Sansui,

Pioneer, Dynaco, SAE, also made nice sounding solid state amps, but the undisputed king

of early solid state hi fi was Marantz. Marantz not only made nice sounding receivers and amps, but

their late 60's to mid 70's receivers with the gyro tuning wheel and dark tuning face which lit up

a gorgeous deep blue were among the most attractive as well as best sounding receivers of

the era. Another little known fact is that a Marantz receiver would put out it's rated power

with both channels driven all day long. Most other makes of solid state hi-fi would go up

in a cloud of smoke if asked to deliver their rated power for several hours with both

channels driven. That is why there are "Watts" and there are "Marantz Watts" in solid state hi-fi.

Don't believe me? Then just do a side by side comparison of a Marantz 2270 against

any 70 watt per channel amp or receiver. If you ever watch Ebay auctions and check out

Marantz receivers and amps of the 70's era, the universal comment is "This unit is rated at

xxxx watts but sounds a lot more powerful" The reason is Marantz's real world ratings and the

fact that their power amps use real complimentary circuitry and discrete transistors. No IC's

here. Anyway, these early solid state units are rapidly becoming the collectibles of

the near future as original vintage tube audio skyrockets out of sight in price.

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