Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Saul at his drafting table. Photo taken in the early 1930s. Jean and Saul Marantz. Photo taken immediately
(Photographer unknown.) following the wedding. (Professional photographer
unknown.)
where Jean lived had issued the invi- Saul joined the Army Transportation
tation. Saul and Jean were engaged on Service in the spring of 1943 as a
Valentine’s Day, 1940, and married in civilian employee. (During this time,
October of the same year in Basking Jean Marantz stayed with her family
Ridge, NJ. in Minnesota.) He was sent to San
Francisco in August, then to New
Jean was to play a pivotal role in Orleans where he began service on a
bringing the name Marantz to the chartered oil tanker. From New
public’s attention. She had graduated Orleans, he went through the Panama
from Vassar College with a liberal arts Canal to the Pacific theater. During
degree. After Vassar, she returned to this initial journey, he was awarded a
her family’s home to attend graduate “Shellback Certificate,” a document
school in architecture at the given to everyone crossing the
University of Minnesota. She left one Equator for the first time. The certifi-
semester short of her degree after the cate states his nickname as “King
Department Chairman suggested that, Kong,” a reference to his hirsute
as a woman, she would not be taken physique.
seriously in her chosen field. After
working for a Persian art dealer, she Although Marantz did not partake in
This photo was taken on the day Saul
moved once again to NYC in 1938, any battles, he spent time in New
returned from the Pacific theater. His
where she worked in the accounting Guinea, where an Australian pilot,
daughter, June, is behind the stroller.
office of Macy’s. (Although this seems much against regulations, flew him
(Photo most likely taken by Jean
an unlikely preparation, her proficien- over the Owen Stanley Mountains for
Marantz.)
cy with math, particularly calculus, a reunion with his brother, Charles,
proved invaluable to Saul as he read- who was stationed there as a member
ied the “Audio Consolette,” his first of the military. First Mate were “under the influence.”
product, for sale many years later. Marantz confined both to their quarters
Jean’s ability at solving complex Things were not entirely calm for the and assumed temporary command. No
equations allowed her to calculate the young Marantz, however. While taking the mutiny charges were filed, however, as
proper values for many of its internal tanker through the Great Barrier Reef, he the Captain later admitted that Marantz’s
circuit components.) discovered that both the Captain and actions were “correct.”
2
This four-disc set from MCA is now a
collector’s item.
One of Saul’s photos, this one from The Segovia Technique, by Vladimir Bobri. This edition published by The Bold
page 45 of The Segovia Technique. Strummer, Ltd., Westport, CT
During his employment with the Army tro, Andres Segovia. (Their daughter, hours in the darkroom experimenting
Transportation Service, Saul earned his June, remembers sitting on Segovia’s with prints to achieve a maximum of
GED (Graduate Equivalency Diploma) knee when Segovia visited her parents, brilliance and clarity.”
and, though he was technically a civil- probably at the Woodside home. She
ian, rose to nominal rank of Major. also remembers a large empty speaker Marantz’s Segovia photos also appear in
enclosure in the house which she used the booklet accompanying the 4 CD set
After his return, Saul and Jean lived in as hiding place when she was 3 or 4 called “Andres Segovia – A Centenary
Woodside, a suburb in the Borough of years old and suggests that this is evi- Celebration” released on the MCA label
Queens, New York City, and later moved dence of her father’s co-developing (MCAD4: 11124).
to Kew Gardens, another Queens neigh- interest in music and electronics.)
borhood.
Vladimir Bobritzski, also a member of
The “Classic
Saul Marantz’s musical interests blos- the Guitar Society, later authored Marantz” Period:
somed in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s (under the shortened name “Bobri”) a 1951 to 1964
when friends Karl and Ginny Noell book entitled The Segovia Technique,
invited Saul and Jean to a meeting of originally published in 1972. The arrival of the monaural LP record
the New York Society of Classical in 1948 and general post-war pros-
Guitar. The couple soon joined the Saul took many photographs of perity contributed to the rising inter-
Guitar Society, as it was called by Segovia’s fingering style for this book est in high fidelity equipment.
members, and Saul began guitar les- and received the following acknowl- Among many other companies,
sons shortly thereafter. During this edgement for his work in the book’s McIntosh Laboratories, Fisher Radio,
period, the couple met and developed Preface: “SAUL MARANTZ who took and H.H. Scott began to manufacture
a strong friendship with guitar maes- most of the photographs and spent components.
3
The house that started it all. In the
basement of his Kew Gardens home at
81st Avenue and Austin Street, Saul
Marantz began to hand assemble the
“Audio Consolette,” the first in a series
of products that now spans over 50 The Marantz Model 1 Preamplifier: The first product of the newly formed Marantz
years. (Photo from http://www.oldkew- Company (1954)
gardens.com/)
Saul Marantz, however, was not satisfied The Model 2 power amplifier followed in
with the commercially available compo- 1956. Largely completed by Sidney
nents of his day and he began to build Smith, it was a very successful tube
his own. One of the major problems fac- design using EL34s in “ultra-linear”
ing music enthusiasts at the time was (push-pull) configuration.
the large number of different equaliza-
tion characteristics used by record com- Although some sources cite the Model
panies. These disparate “EQ” curves 2 as the beginning of Smith’s exclusive
made it difficult to fully enjoy records concentration on power amplifiers
from different labels as most record The Model 2 power amplifier, the first while Saul focused his attention on pre-
companies adhered to their own in- of Sidney Smith’s designs. amplifiers, the truth is that Sidney
house standards. Smith was intimately involved in the
early units, he stayed to become chief development of many products, even
To solve the problem, Saul Marantz engineer. the vaunted Model 10 and 10B tuners.
designed a preamplifier (the original Although Marantz was a talented
“Audio Consolette”) that incorporated The first 100 units of the Audio designer, his formal education was in
many equalization curves. It created a Consolette sold quickly through Harvey the graphic arts. Consequently, his
sensation among his friends and he was Radio’s (now Harvey Electronics) main understanding of electronics, while
advised to start mass production. Jean store, then on 6th Avenue in Manhattan. extensive for a non-professional, was
encouraged him by suggesting “How However, because of an ever-increasing largely self-taught. Smith, on the other
about making 100 sets by way of trial?” reputation and a large backlog of orders hand, benefited from the disciplined
Production, or, more accurately, hand (estimates vary from 400 to 800 units), knowledge resulting from his military
assembly, began in 1952 in the base- Saul established the Marantz Company training in electrical engineering.
ment of the Marantz home in Kew in 1953 and opened a factory in
Gardens (Queens), New York. Woodside. The Model 1, the successor Other products followed soon after the
to the “Audio Consolette,” appeared in Model 2 as the company evolved: the
1954. Model 3 electronic crossover and the
Enter Sidney Smith Model 5 power amplifier, a revised and
The Model 1 was ground-breaking in more attractive version of the Model 2.
Interestingly, it was during this period several respects. Although it greatly However, it wasn’t until 1958 that the
that the now-legendary Sidney Smith resembled the “Audio Consolette,” it Marantz Company and the entire indus-
appeared at Saul’s home. A trained was the first preamplifier to include try was inspired by the appearance of the
electrical engineer and ardent vocal the brand-new RIAA (Recording stereo LP record.
student, he had seen an ad for the Industry Association of America)
Model 1 and was looking for work standard equalization curve in addi- As all previous Marantz components
after moving to New York from tion to a large number of older and were designed for monaural systems, the
Chicago. After demonstrating his abil- non-standard curves. The Model 1 company knew that new products were
ity by modifying the Consolette’s cir- also had a tape monitor switch and a needed. Later in 1958, Marantz intro-
cuitry to solve some noise problems in “TV” input. duced the Model 6 stereo adaptor.
4
Designed to unite two Model 1s for
stereo use, the Model 6 featured a 2-
channel input selector and volume con-
trol. The Model 6 connected to two
Model 1s through their tape monitor
inputs and was cosmetically designed to
flank a stacked pair of Model 1s.
1 Among other qualities, the Model 9 was exceptionally stable. In fact, the young Marantz Company was startled when it
began receiving orders from NASA contractors for a slightly modified version called the 9120. To its amazement, the
company found that multiple Model 9120s were specified as the amplifiers of choice to drive precision arrays of tracking
antennas for the then-embryonic space program.
5
after a meeting of the Board of Directors
of the Institute of High Fidelity, a trade
organization both men belonged to.
6
California, an immediate change was a
more modest relocation from the old
5,000 square foot factory in Woodside,
NY to a new 35,000 square foot facility
in the same neighborhood. The cash
infusion also helped the Marantz
Company grow from approximately 60
employees to well over 150.
The Superscope
Period (1965 to 1980)
Based on R&D projects prompted by
the rapid rise of transistor technology,
the company moved successfully from
its previous tube-based product line.
The Model 7T preamplifier and Model
15 power amplifier (actually two Model The Marantz 2270 Receiver. The model numbers of the “2200” series receivers
14 monoblocks united by a common included power ratings. In this case, power output was 70 watts per channel.
faceplate) appeared. But the most
important product during this “transi-
tion period” was the Model 18 receiver, Saul’s departure. In fact, some have nel) and the last Marantz product with a
a collaborative effort featuring Saul called this period (1965 to 1980) sequential model number. The more pow-
Marantz’s cosmetic design, Sid Smith’s Marantz’s “Second Golden Age” as the erful – 125 watts/channel – Models 240
audio circuitry, and Dick Sequerra’s Marantz brand appeared on far more and 250 (the 250 with power meters)
tuner expertise. products than it had ever done before. soon followed. In 1973 the company
released the Model 500, a power amplifi-
The Model 18 was the last product to In 1966, Superscope began exploring er with output capability of 250
benefit from Saul Marantz’s direct manufacturing possibilities with several watts/channel and forced air cooling.
input. Towards the end of the transition Japanese manufacturers with a view to Marantz followed that with the slightly
period from ownership by Saul Marantz producing these lower cost Marantz more powerful Model 510 two years later.
to ownership by Superscope, the new products. Eventually, Standard Radio Matching preamplifiers included the
management’s desire to broaden the Corporation was chosen as a partner and Models 33, 3300, and 3600, all pro-
brand’s appeal exacerbated the already- production began. Superscope eventual- duced under the guidance of Chief
existing friction within the company. ly purchased a 50% interest in Standard Engineer Dawson Hadley (the founder of
Given the differences between the Radio and, with the exception of the Hadley Labs and recruited by Saul before
visionary/entrepreneurial spirit that high-end separates manufactured in the company moved to CA), James
gave birth to the Marantz Company in California, more and more Marantz Bongiorno (later head of GAS and Sumo),
the first place and the new owners’ branded components were manufac- and other engineers.
hard-nosed pragmatism and a strong tured in Japan.
desire for more affordable products,
this friction, however unfortunate, was The most successful expansion of the
The Loudspeaker
inevitable. After being offered the Marantz brand was the receiver line. Challenge
largely ceremonial position of In fact, the “2200” receivers became
“President Emeritus” in the fall of one of the most successful product Joseph Tushinsky’s interest in expanding
1967, Saul Marantz resigned in offerings in the history of consumer the Marantz brand did not stop with
December of that year and had no fur- electronics. Ranging from a mere 10 electronics. Under Tushinsky’s urging,
ther direct relationship with the organi- watts of power per channel to well over Superscope began to push loudspeaker
zation he founded. His last project was 70, the new receivers brought the development with the aim of becoming a
securing a new engineering team to Marantz mystique to tens of thousands major player in the this business.
continue product development for new of consumers. Although company records are some-
Marantz-branded components as what clouded here, it appears that sever-
Sidney Smith, Dick Sequerra, and the From its U.S. manufacturing facility in al Japanese-designed speakers had
rest of the “old guard” left with him. CA came many new separate components already reached the Japanese domestic
Even though Marantz the person had – the so-called “A” line. 1970 saw the market via a distribution arrangement
left, Marantz the company grew substan- introduction of the Model 32, a modestly with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
tially in the years immediately following powered stereo amplifier (60 watts/chan- before U.S. design began.
7
The Marantz Imperial Seven
Loudspeaker with Vari-Q and the dia-
mond pattern foam grille designed by
Patrick Hart.
2 Marantz Imperial speakers designed in the U.S. had model numbers spelled out (i.e., Imperial Six). Marantz speakers
designed in the Far East used Roman numerals (i.e., Imperial IV).
8
Marantz Model 7700 Tape Deck
(1978), a three speed auto reverse
The CD-63 used a top loading mechanism for convenience and featured “over-
unit. (Photo courtesy of http://www.
sampling,” an advanced digital technique that resulted in less analog filtering
classic-audio.com)
and thus improved sound.
customers as there was virtually no way stage for a somewhat schizophrenic per- As with most new technologies, prices
to ensure the turntable’s continued oper- ception of Marantz around the world. of CD players dropped substantially in
ation. Other less-than-successful intro- the following years. For example, the
ductions included Marantz-branded CD-34, released in 1985, sold for one-
open reel and cassette tape decks 1980 – 2001: third the price of the original CD-63
intended to ameliorate Superscope’s loss The Philips but used many of the same internal
of distribution rights for Sony’s tape Experience components.
recorders.
Philips saw the acquisition of the 1985 also saw the introduction of the
On the positive side, receiver sales con- Marantz brand in a very positive light. LV-1CD, a laser disc player, and the
tinued to be strong and products devel- Despite considerable R&D and manu- DPM-7, an all-digital amplifier that
oped primarily for the Asian and facturing capabilities in almost all eventually saw the light of day in 1991
European markets did well. Integrated areas of consumer electronics, Philips as the AX1000 “audio computer” along
amplifiers (combining preamp and had little success in addressing the with the first Marantz CD-R (recordable
power amp in a single chassis) were high end audio market. It viewed the CD) player/recorder.
particularly successful. The compara- Marantz name as the most practical
tively little-known SM1000 power way to broaden its appeal to quality- On the analog front, Marantz’s “Quarter A”
amplifier, in fact, won the prestigious conscious consumers. Marantz benefit- amplifier technology became known for
“State of the Art” award from Stereo ed also as the affiliation with Philips exceptionally smooth sound quality at any
Sound magazine in 1979. Marantz also put Marantz squarely in the loop of volume level. Quarter A, which premiered
introduced power amplifiers with a Philips’ extensive knowledge of digital in the PM-6A integrated amp, used auto-
switch to allow users to select Class A audio, which had begun to appear in matic switching to move the power ampli-
or Class AB operation, depending on professional circles about 1970. fier section from Class A to Class AB oper-
power needs. ation when power output exceeded one
As the co-developer (with Sony) of the fourth of its maximum rating.
By 1980, Superscope’s financial condi- CD, Philips had proprietary knowledge of
tion had become so tenuous that it what was soon to become the fastest HDAM,3 an important technology for
decided to sell rights to the Marantz growing product categories in the field – Marantz, first appeared in 1992 and was
name for the Asian and European mar- the CD player. In 1982, Philips released used in the PM-99SE (“Special
kets as well as the Japanese manufactur- its first unit – the CD-63 – under the Edition”) and the CD-15. Current
ing facilities to Philips, the Netherlands- Marantz banner. Although Sony was tech- Feedback power amplifier technology, a
based mega-manufacturer. However, nically first to market with its CDP-101, sonic advance over less sophisticated
Superscope retained the name for the the Marantz CD-63 was the first publicly voltage feedback designs, also appeared.
North American market, thus setting the announced CD player. 1994 saw the SC-5 peamplifier and SM-
3 This proprietary Marantz technology replaced conventional operational amplifier ICs (integrated circuits) with discrete low-
noise components housed in a single module optimized with short signal paths. HDAM modules were specifically designed
to amplify and buffer line-level signals and preserve music’s subtle details and wide dynamic structure so that even minute
high frequency details are reproduced accurately.
9
6 power amplifier as co-winners of
Stereo Sound’s top honors, the first such
awards given to Marantz since the
SM1000.
Meanwhile,
Back In The USA
Superscope continued to market
Marantz components in North America
but the similarity between its list of
products and those offered in Asia and
Europe continued to diverge. With the
exception of some separates pur- Marantz’s SA-1 player brings new life to conventional CDs and plays the new
chased from Marantz Japan, Inc. high resolution SA-CD discs as well.
(MJI), Marantz in North America
offered little that could be described in the same position that had hobbled Marantz worldwide, there was still a
as inspired – or inspiring. it under the Superscope banner. minor disconnect between it and
Product offerings and marketing Philips marketing efforts for the
Instead, Marantz drifted more and direction suffered the same lack of Marantz brand. Although this situa-
more towards “rack systems” of com- focus as before. A new equipment tion was far better than what had pro-
paratively inexpensive components line called the Century Series includ- ceeded it, senior management at MJI,
housed in glass-door furniture style ed receivers manufactured by Sansui, many of whom personally knew Saul
equipment racks. The components a once-respected Japanese manufac- Marantz, felt very strongly that total
themselves were manufactured for turer that, like Marantz in North integration was needed. In short, they
Superscope by a variety of OEMs (orig- America, had fallen on hard times saw the advantage of uniting design,
inal equipment manufacturers) and and was struggling for survival itself. manufacturing, marketing, and sales
the quality varied widely. Dealer response was lukewarm at under MJI’s control. Until then, they
Consequently, these systems depend- best. felt, Marantz would not be fully
ed far more on cosmetics than on per- reborn.
formance for their appeal and were In late 1990, two Dynascan senior
offered primarily through various executives, Jerry Kalov and Fred
department stores and credit card Hackendahl, flew to Philips’ head-
Home Theater,
companies (notably American quarters in Eindhoven, the Saul’s Death, and
Express). Their impact on the brand Netherlands, and signed a contract the Birth of the
was nothing short of devastating as that reunited Marantz’s North
Marantz became known in North America marketing efforts with those Super Audio CD
America as a “has-been.” Car stereo of the Philips/Marantz network in the
components, another failed experi- rest of the world. Dynascan’s interest The appearance of laser disc players in
ment, further diffused the brand’s rep- in the Marantz brand ceased and its 1985 eventually began to transform
utation. only further involvement with Marantz the idea of home theater into reality. In
was to sell off its remaining inventory Japan, initial enthusiasm for the con-
By 1987, even these modest efforts of Marantz branded components. cept declined rapidly after early excite-
proved too much for Superscope’s Philips would wait until this was ment but grew substantially in the
declining stamina. It sold the North accomplished before starting to revive U.S. where high powered A/V receivers
American rights to Dynascan the brand. But there was reason to became more and more popular.
Corporation, a Chicago-based company celebrate: For the first time in ten
best known in consumer circles for its years, the Marantz brand was under a Marantz entered this exciting field with
Cobra brand of CB radios and radar single management and the destruc- the energy and dedication that came
detectors. Marantz’s North American tively schizophrenic existence was from restored corporate unity. The
headquarters was moved from Sun ended. company introduced the SM-80, its
Valley, CA to Aurora, IL, a Chicago sub- first THX-certified amplifier in 1992
urb, and the company started to regroup. One area was left somewhat divided, followed that with the critically-
however. MJI, or Marantz Japan, Inc., acclaimed SR96 THX-certified receiv-
Unfortunately, Dynascan’s lack of was still a largely autonomous unit in er four years later. The ‘90s also saw
internal engineering and manufactur- the Philips empire. As MJI was the the VP8770, Marantz’s first LCD video
ing resources put the Marantz brand design and production arm for front projector, and the PD4280, the
10
first of its highly-praised flat-screen
plasma TV monitors.
A Fully Unified
Marantz
The Marantz Reference Series MA-9S1 Monaural Power Amplifier draws
2001 marked a momentous time for cosmetic inspiration directly from the classic Model 9 power amplifier.
Marantz Japan, Inc. It acquired the
trademark and distribution rights
from Philips and so became solely
responsible for everything related to
Marantz from initial product develop-
ment through marketing. All Marantz
sales subsidiaries, originally estab-
lished by Philips throughout the
world, came under the control of MJI
also, thus paving the way for a truly
unified brand expansion.
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