Gladding Mark 200

[thekid]

Thought I would post here and in vintage audio in hopes someone has heard of this or knows something about this unit I picked up today. What I do know is it was probably manufactured between 77-82. The serial number #1171 so I am thinking that puts it pretty early into the production run. It says Gladding Audio, Elizabeth NJ on the back but it also says manufactured in Japan so I am thinking Gladding may have been only the US distributor. I would like to use it on some 8ohm speakers possibly the RTR's but I want to make sure the unit will work on 8ohm speakers. Nothing on the back tells me anything and quite frankly there are alot of things on the back I just have not seen before such as the red switch that has 3 positions-Hi, Mag and Lo. Have no idea what the heck that is for and don't want to touch it till I find out. Did I find another thrift shop treasure??? Need help!!!!

[Feanor]

... I would like to use it on some 8ohm speakers possibly the RTR's but I want to make sure the unit will work on 8ohm speakers. Nothing on the back tells me anything and quite frankly there are alot of things on the back I just have not seen before such as the red switch that has 3 positions-Hi, Mag and Lo. Have no idea what the heck that is for and don't want to touch it till I find out. Did I find another thrift shop treasure??? Need help!!!!

I don't know anything about Gladding in particular, however various U.S. distributors offered their own house brands back in that era, e.g. Sears, J.C.Penny, Realistic (Radio Shack). They didn't manufacture their own goods, instead they contracted them in Japan; (today it's China).

Don't worry about 8 ohms. All solid state equipment of that era would work fine with 8 ohms which was considered the optimum, or at least benchmark, load as it is today.

[thekid]

I don't know anything about Gladding in particular, however various U.S. distributors offered their own house brands back in that era, e.g. Sears, J.C.Penny, Realistic (Radio Shack). They didn't manufacture their own goods, instead they contracted them in Japan; (today it's China).

Don't worry about 8 ohms. All solid state equipment of that era would work fine with 8 ohms which was considered the optimum, or at least benchmark, load as it is today.

That is what I was thinking since it had that boxy/console appearance. It weighs a ton and as I said has some interesting connections etc in the back. I set it up and it works okay but I get some static for example when I turn the volume knob. Tuner is okay but not as strong as the Kenwood/Pioneer set up. The fuse on left side of the 4-channel is blown and when I switched it out and it blew the new one. I don't know enough about the electronics of these things to know what could be the cause.

[thekid]

Well I took the top off to see if I saw anything obvious. One loose wire which I glued back and a lot of dust. No idea what I am looking here so maybe the experts can look at this layout and tell me if this means anything. Nothing I could see inside thaat would indicate who made this.

[Feanor]

Well I took the top off to see if I saw anything obvious. One loose wire which I glued back and a lot of dust. No idea what I am looking here so maybe the experts can look at this layout and tell me if this means anything. Nothing I could see inside thaat would indicate who made this.

I'm no expert. I don't see anything that would indicate a manufacturer -- in any case all makers used parts from diverse suppliers. I do notice that mostly discrete components are use which you'd expect from that era; I see one integrated circuit chip with a Texas Instruments label. Of course, TI chips were use by everybody.

I'm curious when you say you "glued" back the wire, what you mean. All current carrying wires are either soldered or secured to screw terminals.

[thekid]

I'm curious when you say you "glued" back the wire, what you mean. All current carrying wires are either soldered or secured to screw terminals.[/QUOTE]

Feanor

If you look at photo 1 in the upper right corner you can see a series of 4 wires attached to the perforated black bar. The last one on the right was loose. All the others were glued (at least it looked like glue) to metal plates on the black bar. It does not look like they were supposed to be sodered to the bar I think it was a way of connecting the wires to each other and then they were glued to the bar to keep them out of the way. Interestingly after securing that wire I used a couple of cans of dust/corrosion spray on the boards, replaced all four of the fuses and the one that was blowing seems to be fine so keep your fingers crossed. I am getting ready to hook it back up and we will see what happens.

BTW- I posted over on AudioKarma (it would seem they have a more active vintage group over there) and got several responses. The one which interests me the most shows an add for a Lafeytte LR-5000 which looks extremely similar to my unit. After surfing for Lafayette I found some info that seems to confirm that this unit and the LR series from the early-mid seventies were probably manufactured in Japan by the same manufacturer.

Thanks F for responding to this post and my others as well.