The Ultimate Marantz, Superscope, UNIX Boombox Thread

I've got a little collection of Marantz Full Sized Components as well, my tape decks are entry level,maybe 5000 series? One's Marantz, the other is next year's Philips Model, it interesting to see the cost-cutting measures on the newer model. I like having the tape decks and any other accessories because it makes the stack look complete, I was making complete systems back when people were giving away the accessories, they just wanted the amp and tuner.

 

Hopefully everyone is ok, I'm doing what I do best, solitary manual labor and a lot of paper-work. I've found parts of the Marantz Service Manuals posted on-line, only the specs but it gives you an idea of what they were selling. Marantz was really good at giving out true specs, some equipment was even under-spec'd with more speaker wattage measured than what was printed. I'm not sure if anybody else gave this much information for their boomboxes.

I'm listening to a CRS-4000 right now, it's in another room about 20' from me but it sounds wonderful at about 1/3 volume. It's sitting next to a Pioneer SK-31 that's been doing daily duty for awhile but the Marantz really sounds good.

Hope you enjoy!

 

I noticed that as well, I'm not versed in electronics but I figured it had something to do with peak power, where batteries strength goes down over time, it didn't matter that you started out overpowered, the built in safety factor would still be in effect and the batteries would drain. Or maybe it's just a misprint, maybe the EE guys can let us know.

Feel free to borrow the photos, I found them on the internet.

 

From Marantz's 1983 Audio Equipment Brochure, these are the only boomboxes and the only real difference is the tuning dial. While the brochure is in English I think it was meant for the European Market, the Marantz Offices listed on the back are all in Europe. The Marantz PH 32 and PH 52 seem to be pretty hefty models and the design is very similar to what Sanyo and JVC were selling for their compo and micro stereo lines.

 

From the ads I dug up they mostly sold in camera shops in the US; distribution world-wide was a different story but they are rare everywhere. 15 years ago, this equipment barely showed up for sale, over the last few years there's been more stable listings but I think I've only seen two or three of the PH Series for sale and they don't go cheap. I'm just taking a guess but they were probably made by Marantz Japan, the remnants of the Standard Radio Company, and not by Philips.

 

The good news is that after I started this thread a ton of boxes came out for sale, the bad news is there doesn't seem to many nice ones unless you want to pay silly money. The Superscope CRS-4000 is really nice and I'd put it in as a classic boombox, it does everything good for it's size and people tended to really use them, even now when they show up for sale they tend to have dust and paint specs on them. I wouldn't be afraid to detail one, the case seems to be pretty robust and I bet would be pretty easy to clean (once you take it all apart). After that generation, they're really nice but more refined, and tend to be in better condition since they probably lived on a shelf. I'd love to have a CRS-7000 or CRS-8000 but they don't come up for sale very often, the smaller metal-faced gold series are keepers and tend to show up once in a while.

 

A press release from May 1983 for the Marantz PH32 and PH52 from Electronics Australia Magazine. Pricing is in Australian Dollars. These may have been the last of the Marantz Boomboxes. It seems branding for the UNIX was stopped, probably after selling the highly valuable trademark.

 

An early US Press Release for the Marantz PMD 430 from September 1984. Marantz Ownership and Distribution is questionable at this point, I feel like these were still in the hands of Superscope USA but made by Marantz Japan. I don't think Philips had distribution for portable cassette players (Marantz Branded), at least in the US.

 

Here's a cool Australian Promotion for a Marantz PMS-7000 in 1980, this must be when the Gold Standard Line started shortly after Philips took over most distribution rights. Using the inflation calculator, this box was worth over $4000.00 USD in 1980, that seems to be a stretch, did anybody buy one of these new?

Xanadu was Olivia Newton-John's highly-marketed and anticipated follow-up to Grease, she was riding high in movies and music but Xanadu was kind of a dud although the soundtrack did ok.

 

Marantz PMS-3500 from the Kansas State Collegian 1982, $299.88 would have been the sell price without further discounting, check out the Marantz SR-5100 delivering a blistering 126 watts of power! I don't own any Marantz Philips Equipment (except one tape deck), I've seen it, touched it and didn't like any of it. Even the "gyro-touch tuning" was messed with and didn't have the same precision movement, it seems like they basically took the entry-level Superscope Component Line and rebadged that the Marantz Gold Line. The portables seem to be an exception.

 

Advertising for the Superscope CRS-152 in 1978, it was holding on pretty long, this is a Canadian Ad with Canadian Pricing.