Let the party begin with this ultra rare beast from the East

I was getting the shakes and my guy finally showed up with his cargo that was hand-carried from a far away land. This was a find to satisfy my urge to know more about the off-shoot brand that Marantz Japan created when the company was split up three ways. The UNIX name is usually associated with computers but before that, somehow, Marantz Japan had the rights to it and claimed they had been using it since the early 60's. Legend has it that they sold it for a boatload of cash in the 80's but not before releasing a line of personal cassette players and boomboxes that seemed to be JDM only, or just for Japan. I think this had to do with the split and who could sell what and where.

These units were made in Japan by Miyako Audio, a company set up by Marantz to build electronics. You can find out more in my "Ultimate Marantz, UNIX, Standard" Thread. If there are AKA's of these units I believe Miyako made them.

I do own the UNIX Micro-System so technically this isn't my first but that unit also has a Marantz Version. My new UNIX CRS-52 W seems to be the only version.

I had know idea what to expect but it was fun unwrapping it. Superscope/Marantz/UNIX Units are always robust and this one is no exception, my first impression is it's heavy and wide. My unit is a little crusty but it should clean up good. This one looks like it was sitting in a dirty warehouse for years and didn't get much love but turning it on and finding a station was easy. It has a full band FM tuner and like most of my Marantz's, it picks up stations great. The single tone control might be a turn-off for some but the speakers aren't that big. Both tape decks are not working so it will need belts and that will give me an opportunity to give it a deep clean.

The FM sounds great on this, in fact it's pretty loud. I turned it up 3/4 with the Left and Right sliders before it started distorting and it might be the loudest small-mid box I have. The sound is all Marantz, crisp and clear with a touch of bass. We all know that most double tape boxes aren't that great, this is an exception. I think there is a single deck version of this but the nice thing is you get more stereo separation. These also have a feature that seems to be on all Marantz, Superscope Unix Products, the mixing function to add some home-made vocals to your music.

This will be a fun one to play with, hope you enjoy.

 

Very cool, I like minis and even better a really unusual one, great score

 

Thanks Jorge, I usually get more grief than congratulations. There is a lot of satisfaction seeing brand new pre-recorded cassettes at Urban Outfitters and the price of old units skyrocketing after years of being told tapes were a dead end. In the old days of the forum there were guys like HIFI Tom and Arkay, they had two of every rare box and a ton more, look up their old threads and check out some the amazing units they were finding back then. TPR or Jens, the brain-trust of the forum seemed to know every boombox made, he had a CD, that I'd love to get my hands on, called the Boombox Data Base, he had compiled a lot of that information. Back then I just drooled over their finds and collections. Unfortunately a lot of them disappeared and their knowledge was lost.

 

Thanks for checking out the box nickelindimer, as a student of design and engineering I love the attention they gave the audio industry in the 70's and 80's. UNIX might be a forgotten brand but they had some really unique and quality units, even the tiny ones feel like a brick, which is much different than the lighter weight boxes the other companies were putting out. Longman, I always wonder what happens with some of these storied companies records after they close up. With the internet it would be cool to "rebuild" the file cabinets and basically have a diary of their day to day activities. Check out the old videos on the Corgi Company on YouTube, it's really cool watching them assemble all those tiny cars.

Jorge, space is an issue especially with some of the bigger boxes, I've got an eye on that UNIX but I hate to make my mule work too much, it get's heavy lugging those across the ocean. I think that unit doesn't have a Marantz Version, they already had a Marantz 6300 Turntable and it might have been confusing. My Marantz 6000 is branded Marantz and basically the same unit but with a turntable instead of a speaker.

 

nickelindimer, I kept my first Beta Machine, I got a great deal on it at Highland Applience when it was new, Sony was throwing in the towel. It's a big heavy brick but I've opened it up several times and it's just packed with stuff. I've also got a very high end medical grade Sony VHS Player, it also weighs a ton. I hate parting with them, they still work, look kinda cool and no bigger than a mid-grade stereo component. Sometimes when I'm out working on the car I fire up an old 80's video, now those are funny.

 

I didn't look it up but it looks like that cool unit Techmoan has on his YouTube Channel. Atari was the Apple of the 70s and early 80's, so much cool stuff, this makes me want to play Atari Lunar Lander, what a great video game.

I came from Michigan so I loved ABC Appliance, Highland Appliance, Fretter, etc. I got my first Technics Speakers when they were half price, even before I had a good stereo just cuz I knew they were kind of nice. I got a great deal on a Quaser TV when I priced shopped all of them to get the lowest price.

 

Welcome to the forum Firebird2, we now have enough members in MN for a Midwest Meet! The interesting thing about the UNIX CRS-6000 is that it is one of the rarest boxes made but one of the only UNIX's that comes up for sale regularly. I think the shear size of it made it a keeper for most people while the other models disappeared. Even this model is over in Russia and shipping is a nut-cracker but it does have the inner strap that seems to hold a 45 record or something like that, I don't think anyone knows. As soon as I get more time I'll start updating the Ultimate Marantz Thread and maybe I can get my hands on another one of these rarities.

 

The CRS-6000 seems to be the only Marantz Unit that crossed all the branding nickelindimer. UNIX, Marantz, and maybe Universal, Standard and Superscope. I don't think it was built in large quantities under any of the branding but our old member ARKAY always seemed to find all of the version in the legendary Hong Kong used audio markets and they were not all Marantz Gold.

 

Which Marantz Gold Deck are you thinking about?