Vintage hi -fi. Marantz 2238 BL. receiver review (part 1)

[@8472fan]

I just wanted to thank you for your detailed audio reviews. I reallly appreciate the effort you put in to each video. The vintage stuff is so informative and it has helped me to expand my new found hobby.

[@leszekalbin4097]

I bought a 2238B black in beautiful condition from the first owner today at auction. I can't wait for the shipment. I also have a Rotel Rx-604 and the sound is fantastic. Interesting channel, lots of valuable information. Regards🙂👍🏻

[@groundhoglife]

I have a pioneer receiver from 1973 and the sound is amazing from it. They certainly built things to last back in the day.

[@jimdestefano6387]

Love your channel, best information on KZbin, recently took your receiver wattage advice and bought a 12 watt realistic receiver sta 52 with vintage nova 6b speakers what a beautiful sound, thanks Jim

[@gewamser]

I think your description of the sound characteristics of the 2238 is perfect. Good ear.

[@greymurdock2]

You nailed this Reciever.. New Details in the midrange is spot on, that was my first impression besides the hefty low end.. I noticed i was hearing subtle intricate Guitar palm mutes in a song I was familiar with but hadn’t heard before . Thanks for reviewing

[@inmatejason]

What do you think about the 2238….’no B version? Seems like theres not a lot of them out there for some reason.

[@MR-dv6ms]

I love your channel, and appreciate the uploads

[@markswinford354]

I think the sound you get from the Marantz 2238 is a tube-like quality, but with solid-state punch. It's more dramatic, and less sterile/clinical than what solid state has evolved into. Of course, it does matter what pair of speakers you're using too -- as they can affect the sound, either good or bad. Advent speakers were very popular back in the 70's for use with Marantz.

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes I like Your description

[@Zhorellski]

Between Marantz, Pioneer and Sansui!! I prefer Sansui’s tone!! Clarity, presence and detail plus 3d’ish sound!

[@stereoreviewx]

I’m with you brother

[@gilesjazzguitar64]

What speakers would you recommend with a smaller watt Marantz 2215 ? Thanks

[@stereoreviewx]

All I will say is big ones probably vintage because you don’t have a ton of power little modern speakers would not be a good match I think

[@gilesjazzguitar64]

@@stereoreviewx thanks !

[@tuantrd]

Jbl 4301b or Boston acoustic vrm60 you be very happy

[@chais1111]

Good day Sir, i've got my eye on a reconditioned Sansui 6060, i would appreciate you opinion on it since you seemed to be a Sansui fan. Cheers from Canada

[@stereoreviewx]

That model exactly I have an experience but my guess is it’s going to be better than any pioneer Marantz or Sony of the same time period

[@chais1111]

@@stereoreviewx i ended getting it, it's got a great sound but it hasn't got the quality feel that the Marantz and Pioneers have. A lot of plastic and not as esthetically pleasing

[@socksumi]

My buddy has the Marantz 2252b and the 2226 from the same series as yours. The 2252b (52 watts/ch) sounds clean, detailed and explicit with pin sharp transients. It's also somewhat brighter than many vintage amps including older Marantz receivers. The down side is it can sound a bit lean, lacking sweetness and warmth. The 2226 (26 watts/ch) looks almost identical but sounds warmer and smoother without the clinical brightness. Phono stage is adequate, not great. A bit soft in the bass but at least it has bass. He's using it to drive Tangent RS4s and the combo sounds wonderful. Sometimes the lower powered models sound best.

[@stereoreviewx]

The lower power sansui receivers sound best to They are simpler and decay less I think K

[@SS-hs5gk]

This unit is from 1978 I have the 2338B model

[@davidsharp3675]

Take an older amp and the rating is based on a set level, the dynamic power rating is roughly double that. Modern amps give you the dynamic range as the basic wattage. Your right! Theyre playing with numbers to sell amps. Old amps tend to have bigger, better transformers

[@hannibal9412]

Hi, my name is Laura, and i have a question, my father has bought a Marantz model No. MS 53 St 53, but he dont know how to connect it, could you help us, please.

[@curtriesberg9666]

I've heard of vintage Marantz described as spacious but never "upped" in the midrange... I dunno...

[@isacv2182]

It’s a beaut compared to many too practical (trendy) square tin boxes they make this days,and I had more then few. After recording in studios and see how much they do tweak the sound to make it more listening approachable,ya they do that a lot,especially on classical stuff and when recording done with more then one instrument on the same channel, to cancel harmonic and modulation between instruments. Why would any want an amp without any fun good looking dials to tweak some of it better to his acoustic environment and hearing preferences. Or nice glowing VU meters to show the actual (+-) watts in use to tell the tale of how much one speaker need. The wheel is very old...but they got that ok,ain’t it so? At times it’s look like Hi Fi Manufacturers are overly trying to reinvent the old wheel to their benefit I must say. Paper cone 3 ways Class A with headroom and involving sound. I would say forget the data and enjoy The music,we got the wheel right in the 70’s (mostly). And it took 3-4 decades to start round robin....??? Cheers wish you a most pleasant day.

[@stereoreviewx]

Thanks for the info good stuff

[@KingGene]

Like the content but why did the video end abruptly?

[@stereoreviewx]

There is a part two of this I didn’t know how to make long videos of the time

[@girishkukadia9916]

Could you suggest a vintage hifi setup to listen to Bollywood music.

[@isaiasrodrigues9471]

Já tive desse, não achei o som dele grande coisa. Já o 1030 e 1060 tem um som interessante

[@gewamser]

Have you ever heard a Kyrocera??

[@stereoreviewx]

Never it sounds like a disease

[@justmike2944]

I got a Marantz 2226b the only diff i see is 12 more watts and the your hi filter button on mine is some kind of fm 25 us . thing

[@GeirRssaak]

You really should listen to the Tandberg receivers!

[@stereoreviewx]

I want to

[@madmantronixx7998]

Hi Kelvin what is your opinion on the Harman Kardon range 930? Thank you

[@gordthor5351]

Higher end new amps still measure watts properly (max clean power before clipping). Really good companies also give distortion rating at full power, not a measly 1 watt. The mass market receiver wars started the ridiculous "watts" ratings. They measure output power at a whopping 10% distortion with only 1 channel driven. Who listens to one channel at such ridiculous distortion levels? I have several quality amps and all of them bench test higher (clean) watts than advertised. For instance a 125 watt/ch Parasound amp will deliver a clean 150 watts/ch. "100 watt/ch" mass market receivers are lucky to put out 20/30 watts/ch when measured properly. A vintage 40 watts/ch amp likely puts out at least 45 clean watts and over 100 new fake watts (10% distortion and only one channel driven). When companies are being honest with their ratings, they will typically underrate the power, because voltage varies (at least in North America) at least 10 volts, and power (watts) equal amps x volts. Thus, an amp's power supply will have higher DC voltage on the + and - rails if plugged into an outlet with 123 volts (like lucky me, haha!), rather than the bare minimum of 110 volts. When an amp "clips", it's because the power supply can't keep up to the load. If a power supply can handle a 5 amp draw, then 110 volts would supply 550 watts. Where as 123 volts (x 5 amps) would output 615 watts.

[@stereoreviewx]

Thanks for that now I’m starting to think does 240 power supply is there an improvement over 110 is that possible

[@gordthor5351]

@@stereoreviewx There is no difference between a 240v and a 110v input, because both will go through a step down transformer in the amp to meet the designed DC rail voltage of the power supply. A dual voltage amp has two sets of windings on the transformer, of which both put out the same DC rail voltage because the windings are proportional. So basically, the only thing you would gain with a little higher voltage (240 instead of 230) would be the same as in my own example (123V vs 110V). The only time your amp would sound better is when pushed to the limit, because the clipping point would be raised up a few watts when feeding it a bit higher voltage.

[@jjcalvillo]

2238B is from '78/'79. If you tested it, you'd probably find it put out 42+ watts.

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes wouldn’t surprise me still has the same sound though

[@ITatic-nf4wr]

Hi. Would you give me your opinion on Sansui Z-7000 please?

[@stereoreviewx]

Hi there so I did have once the smaller less powerful version of this I can’t remember the code number. This is not really from the heyday of Sansui this is early 80s I guess almost all goods sansuis are 1970to say 77 most of it. The one I had didn’t sound half bad I couldn’t say it was a great thing kind of depends how much it is. What can I say I’m pretty sure it’s not great as sansui go . It’s probably better than almost all pioneer or Yamaha stuff though.

[@ITatic-nf4wr]

@@stereoreviewx Thank you Sir, I think I know what you ment. I was the owner of Sansui TA 3000, and God, that was stg. extraordinary... just paired with some 3 way AR tower speakers (still got these in mint state, but there are no labels at all so I can not identify them at all, I believe these are AR, so I like to say these speakers were made in heavens...), ahh these were the days. Now I have some decent Loewe SA 200 to roll my ATL HD 307 speakers in one smaller room, and these two heavenly beautiful "AR" beasts I need to put in performance again (in my bigger room) with stg. adequate, and there's the rub... Maybe some Aurus line of Toshiba SB - A65, or Dual CV 6065 RC + CT 7065, or Scott Receiver R327, or Akai AM 2200 + AT 2200, or Loewe TA 12000, or Sansui 800, Sansui 5050, or Sansui 350A, Philips 604 or Philips 22AH793 or 22AH684, or... I just do not have a clue... any suggestion please? I search for the best, just a bit warmer, sound for classical music, jazz, blues, and "Yes" rock bend type of music...

[@DG-uw6wx]

Great Review...You Know...innit .

[@edgarallanbro9624]

38 watts per channel ! It’s a 150 watt amp in modern terms!

[@stereoreviewx]

Yeah sounds right

[@stevenherd9799]

It's 38 watts RMSIT's not giving you the peak wattage I think

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes rms

[@tuantrd]

38 watt all frequency

[@MrJason9142002]

Any “vintage” Marantz receiver on eBay that is working goes for $450 or more.

[@tuantrd]

It’s not the receiver, you just have to find the right speakers for it, I paired it with Jbl 4301b and it’s very good bass is low not one note mid and treble all there and clear that’s goes against everything you review. I also paired jbl 4312a and it’s sound like 💩 harsh, yours gear have to match.

[@audiofilbih1234]

Again me....And again, why don't you let us hear the sound of those integrated amps, speakers etc....I mean, your reviews are OK, I know that since I am a vintage fun and I have or used to have lots of vintage hifi that you reviewed. But I think that you should play it so that those who follow your youtube channel are able to hear it and make their own impression of sound.

[@stereoreviewx]

well I have tried it and it is not very good at all so it won't happen so don't keep asking for it

[@davidsharp3675]

Wh