Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
Veering even further off topic (or maybe back on topic), how easy is it to find parts for your 2270? I'm about to start refurbing my parents' old Marantz 2275 (from 1976) and have no idea on how much it will cost or whether the parts are even available. I've heard conflicting things about how easy it is to fix up vintage Marantzes. On that 2275, some of the indicator bulbs have gone out, and some of the switches periodically short out. I'm not sure if some simple cleaning will do the trick, or if replacement's in order.

On whether or not it's as well built as today's receivers, I'm not sure if you can really compare given that you had so many manual switches and controls on those vintage receivers whose functions are now consolidated into a single processor board. And a lot of those older switches are prone to shorting out. Whether or not the digital circuitry of today will last longer than those older analog controls, we'll see. Digital circuits just seem to fail without warning, while some analog components audibly age before failing. My parents' Marantz delivers 75 watts into only two channels, yet it weighs 10 lbs. more than my Yamaha AV receiver and it has a higher power consumption. Another thing with those older receivers is that the tuner components (with the manual dial, all those analog tuning gauges, and the analog circuitry) alone could weigh quite a bit. When the tuner on my friends' old Sansui receiver was shorting out and causing interference with the other components, he just ripped the tuner and all the supporting components out, like the dials and indicators. It opened up a LOT of room inside that receiver and those parts must have weighed at least 2-3 lbs. Nowadays, the tuner circuitry's about the size of a matchbook.
On refurbing your 2275 you may be able to find out some info here. As I know it you'll have to clean the pots. Be careful what you use to clean them because certain spray cleaners will destroy the plastic inside and the only way to replace them is to find a junker (and those aren't easy to find). The bulbs, albeit a bit pricey, are easy to find.

Technology has come along way but unfortunately a good portion of that tech research has gone into building everything cheaper and cheaper. Using smaller curcuit boards, processors, cheaper pots, etc. The big problem with such consolidation is that if something shorts out you end up having to replace the board if not the whole unit, whereas with the older gear if something shorted out (switch, pot etc) all you had to do was replace the offending part and you were up and running again (granted if the PC board went you were SOL but that wasn't very common). Case in point. I also have an Onkyo TX V940 100 wpc reciever. It's actually the second one I've had because the first one shorted out the display panel and the whole unit had to be replaced under warranty.
This past weekend I went into the repair shop to measure the output of my receivers (class project for adult ed). We hooked up the Onkyo first. At about 50% power another cutomer came in and Dennis had to leave the bench for less than 5 minutes, but told me to leave my hand on top of the unit. Let me tell you she got hot fast and started to smell real funky. He came back and said "A Sony, Pioneer or (new) Marantz would have blown by now." We managed to get 91 watts out of the Onkyo before the onset of distortion with a THD a .9%. We then rigged up the Marantz 2220B and pulled out a meager 18 watts (which isn't that bad considering its age and that the filter caps and carbon resistors need changing) without breaking into a sweat. Dennis then showed me an early '70's 30 watt receiver that he in fact helped build (I didn't get the brand but he was able to name off the initials listed on the inspection slip). Overbuilt? Two heatsinks, huge caps, formidable transformer and heavy as lead. No modern reciever I have seen diplays such quality. Also remember when the feds put up the rules for measuring receivers and the like in '74, they were to be measured rms PER HOUR (unfortunately nobody seems to measure by that standard anymore). The Onkyo wouldn't have lasted 15 minutes under those conditions.
A good portion of the gear made in the 60's and 70's was overbuilt and made to last a long time. The gear coming out now sadly displays the throw away/Wal-Mart society we have become. The general public wants the very most for the very least and if something goes wrong after a couple years, throw it away and get another one just like it.
What would be nice to see is a marriage of modern tech to built like a tank quality but until that day happens (don't hold your breath), I'll just stick with old faithful or just go bucks up component.