Excellent FM section. Very Good Pre-amp and features. Nice styling, Conservative Power Rating... Warm, Clean sound. Compared to my previous 2330Bs (3 of them) this thing ROCKS! The FM does not drift, the amps do not clip and the headroom is beyond belief! Bought Used, but appears to have a LOT FEWER HOURS OF USE than my first 2500! The scope on my first was dim and it need a major re-cap. I bought it used for $500, used it for almost 10 years and resold for over $1200. Nice when you can use and make money on equipment! This current unit cost me more, but included the DLB-1 Dolby Decoder! I have replaced a few fuse lamps and it's my main Livingroom Machine and I love it! Ironically, I picked-up another 2500 a week later for $2000 as the buyer used "Reciever" vs. "Receiver". eBay didn't pick-it-up. I was the only bidder. And, Voi-La, it also came with a DLB-1! It has fewer hours than this one and it's sitting in-reserve. I plan to ship both out for FULL RESTORATION as I've decide that these will be the units I will use till I die! I run BIC Venturi Formula 5 and 6 (Spec II)... a bit bass heavy, but when I want to challenge the windows in my home the BICs are a great match for the 2500, even-though they are getting 40% more power than they're rated for! Oh well! Clean Power works. Unlike my old 2330Bs, these don't clip at levels that will drive you out of the room. The 2330B was my first powerful receiver... and I've had 3 total. ALL shared the same issue: Drifting FM as the unit warmed, clipping and on 2/3 unstable power outputs. The 2500s, on the other hand, can take abuse and not whimper! The 2330B was a whiny little Bitch compared to the 2500. The FM on the 2330B was good (as long as you were willing to re-tune with time), but the 2500 is drift-free, captures weaker adjacent channels better than the 2330B and has better separation.

Chassis is crowded so any servicing requires three hands, not two!

I bought my 2500 as part of mint condtion complete used system way back in 1988 for the paltry sum of $600.
It came with a basic Marantz tape deck, a Techniques turntable and a Huge pair of 130lb per enclosure Infinity RSII loudspeakers. At the time I thought I had hit the jackpot. Not so much for the Receiver but for those Big, solid Oak, Infinities. The entire system sold new for around 5 grand which was ton of money for a stereo back then and still is today. The Infinitiy RSII turned out to be a disappointment for me since compared to my much less expensive Klipsch Forte's the RSII's sounded pretty lousy. They were all show and no go. I eventually put them up for sale and a guy from San Francisco happily bought them for $750. He though they sounded great. I didn't let him listen to my other speakers since even my small Celestions sounded better than the Infinities. Now for the real payoff. The Marantz Model 2500 was at the time the most powerful "all in one" receiver ever made and it sounded great. It had enough guts to drive my Klipsch's to subsonic levels that would literally make your guts rumble. It was warm and smooth and clean. I used it for almost 15 years until it was finally replaced by a newer and much higher end Stasis system. in 2002 I saw one go for over a grand on ebay and since at that point it had been just sitting for over a year, I put it up ebay and it went for just under $1300 bucks. Today, I wish I would have kept it. The 2500 has continued to rise in value and although it didn't have the transparency or soundstaging of my better gear, it had excellent bass, great flexibilty with the semi parametric tone controls and the tuner section in the 2500 is as good as anything I've ever had. To top it off, the build quality was second to none in it's class. It has a massive torroidal transformer thats about 8" in diameter and must weigh 50lbs by itself. It had the cool looking and actually useful Occiloscope and the with all those heavy, solid, machined aluminum knobs,buttons, and faceplate. And of course, that unmistakable blue Marantz glow. Unlike most of the monster receivers of the time, it requried very little maintenance to keep it sounding clean and quiet. At the time that I sold it, more than twenty years after it was built, I could still turn it to full volume with the player on pause and all you would hear from the speakers across the room was a very slight hiss. In actual listening use, I never turned it up passed the halfway point. Most components suffer from an crease in noise as they get older due to leaky capacitors and oxidation of control contacts but the Marantz never showed any sign of this. I imagine it still sounds good at more than Thirty years of age. This appears to be typical of the Marantz of that Era. I still own a 1980 vintage Marantz Esotec, SM-6 Class A- A/B amplifier and it too sounds just amazing. Although it only puts out 30 watts in Class A mode, at moderate volume levels, it beats my 100 watt Nakamichi Stasis amp in clarity and soundstage and actually compares very well to my 200 watt per channel Sunfire. Marantz equipment was originally designed and built in America. It would appear that when the company was bought out by the Japanese, the spirit of Saul Marantz continued on for some time. While there was a transitional period during the later 80's when the owners of Marantz were putting out some real junk, the name eventually found it's way back to the high end of audio, Today, Marantz continues to produce high end audio gear that is of reference quality and considering that my model 2500 sold new for over $1500 in 1980, a good value for the money. Just to make the point, The Absolute Sound said that the $4000 Marantz PM-11S2 integrated amplifier is one of the best of its kind in the sub $5000 price range. In todays dollars The Marantz 2500 would cost around $6000. In 1988 I did hit the jackpot. I had many years of musical enjoyment and in the end I turned a neat $1400 dollar profit. Given the improvements in materials and technology and performance, I wonder what the PM-11S2 will be worth in thirty years???

Power like a Chrysler hemi. Musicality, warmth, and soundstage. Beautiful, elegant, unique Marantz look. Nothing cheap about it.

Big and heavy, don't count on it to fit in standard audio rack. If you're reading this, you probably don't care anyway!

THIS REVIEW IS FOR A MARANTZ 2385 I have arrived! And for less than $300! I'm driving a pair of Klipsch KG4's (check the reviews!) and this "400lb gorilla" never has to breathe hard! Controlled, disciplined, powerful bass like nothing I've heard from a receiver before, yet still musical and warm with more than sufficient detail. The pairup with Klipsch is nothing short of magic. I've never had it more than halfway opened up, though, don't want to set the speakers on fire! Already had a neighbour show up at the door in hysterics! Think they moved out later.... Slap on the Scorpions and listen to "Winds of Change" stand your hair on end! On the other hand spin up Brilliant Classic's Bach Cantatas played on period instruments and you'll think they're playing in your living room. The 2385 can do it all! Okay, so you've heard other amps do it better. I'd dare say, "Not at this price!" Strange coincidence: my gorgeous 25yo fiancee is a part-time fashion model and full-time graduate student in music. She proposed to me less than a week after hearing passages of Beethoven's 9th on my system. Maybe the cool blue backlights did it. Did I tell you the 2385 is built like a battleship (again like the KG4s)? You can spend a hell of a lot more cash and get a lot less music than a pre-1980 Marantz receiver paired with Klipsch speakers. This setup NEVER fails to impress visitors. $280 for the Marantz + $255 for the KG4s = $535. Best money I've spent in my 53 year life.

Similar Products Used:

Fisher 400, 400T. Marantz 2220. Lafayette tube receiver. Dynaco ST70. Various mediocre setups.

250(wpc) @ 8ohm 330(wpc) @ 4 ohm the fan is also a good feature

the size, its hard to find a stereo cabinent for it to fit in. its very heavy, but thats agood thing to some people

the model 2500 is a very strong and responsive reciever. the cord alone made me fall in love with this reciever, its huge. the biggset ive seen on a reciever

Similar Products Used:

model 2600 it is the same in every way but the wattage. 300(wpc)@8 ohm 400 (wpc)@ 4 ohm, I think.

Review for 2385 Receiver: Sound so dynamic, musical, detailed and forceful that I've never heard before.

You might have a hard time finding one, or paying the price. I really wanted it though, and it was worth every penny.

REVIEW FOR THE MARANTZ 2385:

This receiver is insane. To begin with, it outputs 185 watts/channel, weighs between 60 and 70 pounds, and has capacitors that are the size of a 12-oz. beer can. I play it against my other equipment that may cost more now-a-days, and it beats the stuffing out of them. It's no contest. I have this receiver hooked up to some 40-year-old Acoustic Research speakers that I have had re-foamed and the crossovers rebuilt, and it sounds absolutlely sick. It can really make you forget where you are. I'm a really big fan of the Pioneer SX receiver line, as well as McIntosh's big amps, but this receiver is just crazy-good: a freak of the audio world.

The AR's really like lots of power to sound good, and this receiver is able to drive them like they were stock cars on nitro. There is a lot of dynamic quality in the music, fast punches in the gut of very big sound when the orchestra kicks up its heels, followed by sweet, delicately handled interludes. It really delivers the punch with dynamic force, clarity and control, and softer moments with delicacy, excellent tone and detail. The tonal quality is extremely nice and accurate, and sound stage is superior. The space between the instruments is definitely more defined in the music than in any one of my other amplifiers or receivers.

When you have warm sound though, you compromise a little bit of precision. But this give-and-take situation of warmth vs. detail is very well balanced in this receiver. The loss is not really noticable, but the benefit certainly is. The absolutely un-rivaled, superior quality of sound really identifies this receiver. You've got to try it. God in heaven, try it. 5 stars all the way.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 2226B and 2285B, McIntosh amps, Sansui receivers, Pioneer SX receivers. Tube amps, etc.....

High Power, Much greater than rated. Warm Tonal characteristics. Produces a deep and wide sound stage. Excellent Fm tuner and solid am reception

None

This review is for the Marantz 2385 black faced reciever. Conservatively rated at 185 watts per channel. This reciever has a t.h.d. of 0.05%. It sold between 1977-1980 for $1095.00. This reciever is awesome. The tonal characteristics and sound stage capabilities are top flight. The tone is warm. The sound stage is deep and wide. This is good as it gets for solid state. I was compelled to get this after auditioning the current crop of available stereo recievers[which is a very limited selection] and home theatre. What they have out there for $750.00 or less is shocking. Incredibly poor sound for stereo. One word-raspy. I could not believe it. My assumption was that things had gotten better not worse. The reality is that the companies have put the money into the home theatre capabilities and not into the musical reproduction aspects. All of them are extremely light. The 2385 weighs close to 80 lbs. The FM tuner section is excellent. Very good capture ratio and excellent sonics. The gyro touch tuning is super smooth and in my opinion superior to any digital set-up. In closing they don't make them like they used to. If you are in the market for music and don't give a damn about home theatre like I do. I would highly recommend one of these.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz 2245, Pioneer xs-1280

Super, clean sound love the blue glow, pushed the 901 series 2 great

Not sure at this time see review summary but I have had 3 marantz's 2245,2270, 2500 all failed to produce sound at lowest volume level, any thoughts.

Even though I had my marantz 2270 since the mid seventies I traded it in for a 2500 model used, I had trouble getting the 2270 repaired and when I picked up a pair of Bose 901 series 2 I needed more power so I traded in the 2270 for a 2500 rated at 300 watts per. After 6 days it went kaputt except the ocilliscope, pardon my spelling, I wonder if this model is a lemon, I love marantz especially the blue glow, nothing like it anywhere. I need input from anyone out there. Its under warranty but it bums me out I cona't use it at this time.

Similar Products Used:

marantz 2270