Well...I guess it finally had to happen!!

My last great tuner was a McIntosh MR67 back in 2004. Had it for a little over a year. I never realized its full potential on the crappy amplified RS antenna I was using.

Before that, I had an MR78 which I had bought on eBay from a seller in Washington State and taken all the way down to Caracas, Venezuela where I was living at the time. This was 1999.

Given the difficulty of erecting a proper outdoor yagi antenna FM, I always ended up selling my top quality tuners when I lived in condominiums. Just couldn't afford having an expensive tuner, sitting there underutilized.

While the McIntosh tuners were excellent, I had always lusted in my heart for the classic Marantz 10B from 1964. The tuner that started it all. The first one with true phase linear IF filters and a scope for tuning. The timeless styling and the aura of excellence surrounding it made it the ultimate tuner to own, at least in my book...

I had read plenty of magazine articles and reviews about the 10B, as well as the advertisements of the period. I learned that it was already a coveted item as early as 1980, selling for at least the original retail price ($600 in 1964, and climbing to $750 when it was discontinued in 1970).

The Marantz 10B was the most expensive piece of stereo electronics ever offered to the public back in the 1960s. By way of comparison, a McIntosh MC275 was $444. A Marantz 8B was $225. Most tuners from Scott or Fisher were $200.

It has been said that Marantz wanted to develop the "holy grail" among tuners, and spared no expense in doing so. It pretty much depleted the company's working capital and nearly bankrupted it!

The tuner's development cost was $250,000 back in the early 1960s! The computer plots for the IF filter design was a mere $22,000!

By the time the model 10B was released in 1964, Marantz had already agreed to be acquired by Superscope which was run by the brothers Tushinsky and had the exclusive rights to distribute the Sony tape recorder line in the US.

Luckily Superscope made no changes to the original 10B production plans. The company continued to operate under the guidance of Saul Marantz until 1968.

The model 10B uses very expensive pot core toroidal phase linear IF filters that require no alignment. Total tube complement is 21 tubes plus the CRT for the scope.

It has a dual stage front end with silver plated Invar insulated 8 gang tuning cap, reportedly the most expensive part in the tuner.

The MPX decoder section uses a special design that reduces phase distortion. FM stereo switching and muting action is accomplished by light dependent resistor (LDR) opto-switches.

The front panel is pale gold anodized aluminum with engraved lettering. The knobs are machined out of solid aluminum. The tuning mechanism uses a high precision machined flywheel and its super smooth. Dial is a full 10 inch in length with linear spacing.

The oscilloscope is a 2.5 inch miniature device that shows signal strength, modulation/deviation, multipath and the phase/separation characteristics of the audio signal.

In all, this thing is the stuff that dreams are made of. I, myself, thought I'd never be able to afford it. They routinely go for $2000 and more on eBay. $3000 for a unit in mint condition with paperwork and wooden case is not unusual.

After I upgraded my system a year ago, I was left without a radio source. I gave priority to other components and didn't consider a tuner. That was actually a pity since there are some very nice stations in the area. And I'm a sucker for a good tuner. I have a little of a DX'ing soul in me, from my days with shortwave radios when I was a kid.

So.......

Came late September 2007, and a 10B is being auctioned on eBay. It is not in mint condition, it's got some scratches and rust here and there. I figure, it may go cheap.

I put my bid in and won!

I was lucky to find a unmolested example in good working order. Actually sounded pretty darn good! It also cleaned up very good with most of the rust easily buffed out.

The sound I was getting from the tuner was so good, that I decided to invest in an outdoor antenna and rotor. I was lucky to be able to erect such an antenna in my house. No condo problems this time!

I settled for an APS-9B 9 element yagi antenna with remote control Channel Master rotor. Cabling is quad shield RG-6. Total height above ground is around 35 feet.

With this setup I can routinely receive stations from nearby Los Angeles with full quieting. I can go as far north as Santa Barbara with full stereo reception!

To aid reception even more, I bought a Magnum Dynalab MD-205 Signal Sleuth FM amplifier. It works as a preselector, amplifier and attenuator to condition the signal being received. It cuts interference from strong local stations and boosts the weak ones. Way recommended!

Finally, to aid identifying DX stations, I added a little box called the RDS Manager from a German firm called Conrad Electronic. The unit has a small LCD display that shows the station ID call sign if its transmitting with RDS. Quite a few US stations have RDS, so it's quite useful.

The Conrad connects to the detector output on the 10B tuner.

To be continued...

That looks too cool.

Thanks Jerome!

Here's another shot of the unit.

Great write up, Nestor, very detailed and informative, thank you.

I can hardly wait for your follow-up.

The 10B, along with the Thorens Reference TT, Audio Note Ongaku amp and Tannoy Westminster Royal speakers are my "Dream" system.

We are lucky to still have very decent quality FM station broadcasts here in Portugal. With a tuner like the 10B, I´d probably listen to nothing else.

I agree with you regarding the antenna. A bad or insufficient "signal catcher" will destroy the best tuner´s sound.

Is remember that tuner very well, and remember when the name "Marantz" was exclusively for products designed by Saul Marantz, and not Superscope, or any other Oriental manufacturer. Almost all of the original Marantz items are classics.

One you don't see, or hear about much these days, was the linear-tracking turntable. I don't recall the model number, but it was the first linear tracker made by anyone, and while quite good, the owner was relegated to a Shure cartrdige similar to the original V-15, and could never change it to anything else. At $300 in 1967, it was also hugely expensive, just as the $750 price tag for the 10B was then.

Nice nudie but a far cry from the superb job you did with the Sui 1000A.

i bet he hasnt even got warmed up yet!

Yeah, the Sui looked like the inside of my vintage Omega watch.

Yeah, Scott you are right!

The pics don't do the 10B justice.
Looks much better in person.

Actually, I recently got another 10B, so here are some more pics side by side:

Another shot of the rear apron of the units...

Another shot of the front...

I lucked out on that Sansui, since it looked pretty much brand new.
Didn't have to buff it out too much.

The Marantzes were labor intensive jobs. Lots of elbow grease going on. But the results are much more rewarding!

That turntable was really ahead of its time. One of the first true linear trackers ever offered to the general public. It was even ahead of the Rabco for a few years.

What! Oh well, "Greed is good."

They look just gorgeous, Nestor.
You gotta be the only person in the world owning two of those.

Do you still have access to any other decent tuners for a shoot out? That would be something.

Jorge