Marantz
Encyclopedia
Marantz is a company that develops and sells upper-mid range to high-end audio
products.
The first Marantz audio product was designed and built by Saul B. Marantz in his home in Kew Gardens, New York
. The company had a major influence in the development of high fidelity audio systems, and reached the high point of their success in the mid to late 1970s.
During the 1980s, while owned by Philips
, a pioneer in compact disc
technology, Marantz built some very well received CD players, but other products in the line were not as successful as in the past. As of the early 1990s, Marantz has focused on higher-end components. In 2001, Marantz Japan acquired the brand from Philips and owned all overseas sales subsidiaries.
High-end audio
High-end audio is a term used to describe a class of consumer home audio equipment marketed to audio enthusiasts on the basis of high price or quality, and esoteric or novel sound reproduction technologies. High-end audio can refer simply to the price, to the build quality of the components, or to...
products.
The first Marantz audio product was designed and built by Saul B. Marantz in his home in Kew Gardens, New York
Kew Gardens, Queens
Kew Gardens is a triangular-shaped neighborhood in central Queens bounded to the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway , to the east by Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to the south by Hillside Avenue, and to the west by Park Lane, Abingdon Road and 118th Street...
. The company had a major influence in the development of high fidelity audio systems, and reached the high point of their success in the mid to late 1970s.
During the 1980s, while owned by Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, a pioneer in compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
technology, Marantz built some very well received CD players, but other products in the line were not as successful as in the past. As of the early 1990s, Marantz has focused on higher-end components. In 2001, Marantz Japan acquired the brand from Philips and owned all overseas sales subsidiaries.
History
- 1952 Saul Marantz sells his first audio product, the "Consolette" pre-amp
- 1964 Marantz acquired by Superscope
- 1966 Beginning with the Model 25, and then 22 and 28, Marantz started manufacturing their products in Japan through a partnership with Standard Radio Corp.
- 1975 Standard Radio Corp. changes its name to Marantz Japan Inc.
- 1980 Superscope sold the Marantz brand, dealer network, and all overseas assets (except U.S. and Canada) to Philips Electronics
- 1992 Philips acquires U.S. and Canada trademarks and dealer network
- 1997 Saul Marantz passes away aged 86.
- 2001 Marantz Japan Inc. acquired the brand and all overseas sales subsidiaries
- 2002 Marantz Japan and DenonDenonis a Japanese electronics company that was involved in the early stages of development of digital audio technology, while specializing in the manufacture of high-fidelity professional and consumer audio equipment. For many decades, Denon was a brand name of Nippon-Columbia, including the Nippon...
merge to form D&M HoldingsD&M HoldingsD&M Holdings is a Japanese corporation that owns several audio and video brands. It was formed in 2002 from the merger of Denon and Marantz. It has acquired several other companies since that time. In 2008 it was acquired by K. K. BCJ-2, a Tokyo corporation owned by investment funds advised...
, to later be joined by other elite audio equipment brands, most famously McIntosh Labs and Boston AcousticsBoston AcousticsFounded in 1979 by Advent veterans Andy Kotsatos and Frank Reed, Boston Acoustics is a manufacturer of home and mobile audio equipment operated out of Peabody, Massachusetts. Boston Acoustics entered the mobile audio category in 1983... - 2008 Philips sells its remaining stake in D&M Holdings, ending a 28-year relationship between Philips and Marantz.
Products
Selected products:- Marantz 2235 – receiver/amplifier
- Marantz HD77Marantz HD77HD77 is a model name of Marantz 4-way high-fidelity loudspeakers which were produced during the mid-1970s. They were bass reflex speakers, but came with a cylindrical piece of foam which fit into the bass-reflex port of the enclosure if the listener preferred the more accurate bass response...
– 4-way, high-fidelity loudspeaker system - Marantz 2600Marantz 2600The Model 2600 was the most powerful radio receiver ever made by Marantz, and the second most powerful receiver of the "monster receiver" era of the 1970s, the first being the Technics SA-1000 rated at 330 watts per channel and tied with the Sansui G-33000. The 2600 was rated at 300 watts RMS per...
– Marantz's most powerful receiver - M-CR502
- Marantz PMD-660Marantz PMD-660Manufactured by Marantz, the Marantz PMD-660 is a portable, solid-state, compact flash audio field recorder. It has 2 XLR inputs, 2 line-in inputs, 2 internal microphones and can record in raw WAV or MP3 formats...
– solid-state recorder
External links
- Marantz Global
- Marantz America
- Marantz and Superscope Museums at The High Fidelity Museum
- Classic Marantz Gear (1980 and earlier)
- Saul B. Marantz
- Marantz HiFi classics and history 1960 ~ 1985 (german)