Marantz 27 receiver.

[SansuiPhoto]

I just acquired one of these today (sorry no pics yet, I am cameraless at the moment). Other than the fact that it was produced from about 1970 to about 1973 and is rated at 30 wpc, I know little about this receiver. This one is not working, it comes on, hums a little, and then sends up smoke signals. However, winter is coming on so I plan to add this to my winter project list and will try to keep this thread updated with pics of progress.

Right now I am thinking it is a good candidate for my planned "small" system for the bedroom. (By "small" I mean something 35 wpc or less and suited to a room with smaller dimensions than the living room and much lower ceiling height.) I have also acquired a set of KLH BTF220 speakers that might become part of that system. I am still giving them a good test and evaluation but they seem like good candidates for a small room system.

I would like to hear from the Marantz crowd about this receiver if any have had one. Also any other bits of info would be nice.

[DaveInVA]

I was still working at Musicraft when those came out. There was a 27 and a 27B. It was released when its design was not quite ready for prime time. There was an engineering bulletin that came out with mods that we were supposed to do whenever a 27 came it as the output stage and power supply had a tendency to release its magic smoke at inopportune times. The mod involved cutting traces and adding resistors etc. The 27B supposedly already had these mods. If yours has never been modded you might want to find a copy of the service bulletin and do them to make it more reliable.

Dave

[SansuiPhoto]

Thanks for the information. When I get the chance I'll do some pics of the inside and hopefully you can tell me from those if you think the mods were done. I think I can find the right areas to do some closeup shots.

Since I still don't have my camera back, here is something a little different a video of the 27. You can see one of my other yardsale finds in the background in parts of the video, it is a Fisher 80R tuner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wU789tbOoc

I see a couple places in the video where it looks like something might have been hot but not sure if those could have sent the smoke signal yesterday. Some trained eyes and people with the technical background will get to probe this soon and find the problem(s).

[stereorob]

i have one of those. it sounds really sweet with a pair of klh model 17s. -just a suggestion.

[Audiomayvin]

Hi Guys!
One point I always try screaming from the rooftops is: Any older transistor amplifier from the 70's and 80's must absolutely be checked for crossover distortion. If any is found, it is very easy to adjust the bias to virtually(or completely) eliminate this crossover distortion. And let me tell you-it's very audible. You should check your amp. It might be fine. But too many amps that have passed my bench for other issues and have been tested for crossover distortion have come up with this problem.
All the best,
Leon(The Audiomayvin, Montreal(514)739-5403)

[ke4mcl]

audiomayvin,

out of curiosity, how does one fix crossover distortion issues on amps that dont have the pots? is it a matter of finding out of spec resistors?

[Audiomayvin]

Hi!
Ninety nine point nine percent of amps have bias adjust pots. Perhaps Class A don't. Current Dumping don't. The only amps that I've seen that have fixed resistors are the British Exposures and interestingly the Exposures almost always have the very worst crossover distortion. I usually take out the resistor in question and put in a trimpot and voila! crossover distortion easily eliminated.
All the best,
Leon(The Audiomayvin, Montreal(514)739-5403)

[SansuiPhoto]

Well the 27 is in for service as of yesterday morning. I won't be hearing anything for a few weeks. They are busy and backed up about 3 weeks or more right now. Keeping *hope*

[SansuiPhoto]

The bedroom is rockin now since the 27 came home today. Well it will be as soon as I run down the problem and get that tweeter on the right side Polk 5a going. It could be the tweeter, everything seems ok with the rest of the speaker. Oh well can't complain too much on a $35 speaker score.

The 27 is the heart of the bedroom system and the Polks will stay. Later I will add a tape deck, probably my Onkyo when I find a 3 head deck for the main system. The cd player will change too, the Denon is just not going to be a long term keeper. Most likely I will get a high end cd player for the main system and then move the Marantz CD-53 to the bedroom.

Pics will be coming in a day or so. My dresser is completely covered in stereo equipment and speakers. *eyepop*

[SansuiPhoto]

Here is the much promised picture of the Marantz 27 with the Polk 5a's, and
my old Denon cd player. Yes that's a Bose setting on the Denon.

Oh and yes the 27 uses green lit face not the most notable Marantz blue.

[ke4mcl]

its a neat looking oddball receiver. you've got a unique one there! *bigthumbup*

[SansuiPhoto]

It's one heavy little oddball too.*hypnot*

The first time I saw it as small as it is, I thought it might be a tuner until I read the faceplace and saw the markings saying it was a 30x30 receiver. Whoa, nelly then I picked it up and what a weighty little thing it was. Believe it or not the guy gave it to me along with a Fisher R80 tuner just to get them out of his garage. I traded the tuner to my tech guys for some service on this little guy. And it did need quite a bit of work. Short list, left channel was out, new power switch, several caps, tuner alignment, transistors, and the list went on. But it has proven to be worth the work already.

Oh and it has one tape deck input/output set, one aux input, and a phono input. Plus it can drive two sets of speakers as long as they are rated 8ohms or higher.

[Rat44]

That's one nice little unit.
Those older lower power units had a good sound to them.
I had a SX-650 that just sounded way too nice for its size.

[stereorob]

nice resto job! but na na na-na na i have the wood case for mine and you dont bwahahahaha!

[DaveInVA]

Nice unit, reminds of working on that stuff at Musicraft where I worked as a tech in the early 70's back in my college days.


Dave

[SansuiPhoto]

Thanks for the comments. It does have a nice sound. Will be even better when I get the tweeter fixed (replaced) on the right side and get the speakers set where I really want them in the room. They are a bit too close together for my listening taste.

Hey Rob, I am looking for the case, I think one would look great on this little guy but they are quite rare. May be time to head down to home depot and do a little work in the woodshop one weekend.

BTW, this is the first Marantz receiver I have ever owned. Not my first Marantz equipment though, I have a cd-53 hooked up to my main system in the living room. Yes the one with the Sansui receiver and they have been getting along pretty well.

[stereorob]

.

Hey Rob, I am looking for the case, I think one would look great on this little guy but they are quite rare. May be time to head down to home depot and do a little work in the woodshop one weekend.

BTW, this is the first Marantz receiver I have ever owned. Not my first Marantz equipment though, I have a cd-53 hooked up to my main system in the living room. Yes the one with the Sansui receiver and they have been getting along pretty well.

well, mine is a basket case in my restoration cue in storage, i have the wood case, but its pretty ugly so it would probubly stink up yours anyway. this vintage marantz stuff is the greatest, i have 18 diffrent marantz receivers right now (including the MODEL18 *grin*) and im totally in love with them. nothing beats a marantz! the one you have is a earlier one, (pre superscope standard radio corp transitional period) stuff, ive had a 22, 27, 28 and 26 all of this type, with the champmagne face, etched lettering and green dials, its obscure and not many people are firmilier with this era. its nice stuff and sounds diffrent than the superscope era stuff. great find great restore, great receiver! enjoy it!!