Marantz 10B Tuner — Half A Score

[hakka26]

Got home late in the evening yesterday and decided to take a look at CL. Scrolling through I saw "Marantz Stereo-$50," opened the ad and read "Marantz 1200 amplifier and 105 Tuner. Non-working but may be good for the person that knows how to repair. $50 or best offer." Posted at 1:45pm. Sent an email. Got an answer at 7:30pm tyhat they were still available. Replied and waited and waited then went out for the night. Returned late and saw answer with phone number and to call Sunday (today). Sent at 10:30 pm. Called noon today and left a message. Got a return call at 3:00. Seller told me he inherited them and they have sat. He told me he decided to check the tuner and plugged it in very early morn (2:00am) and it did seem to work. Had a little discussion and he told me he had a big Marantz amp years ago and everyone wanted it. He kept it until a friend talked him into a trade with lots of cash for a Sony and he wanted more inputs than just the one anyway. He said he was disappointed with the Sony sound in comparison but a deal was a deal. I told him I would take a look, it would be about an hour drive and I'd bring a DMM to check the amp. When I arrived the units were on heir sides by the door. They both had cases. Cool, at least they were worth the money. He said, "There they are," then grabbed the amp and took me in the kitchen to use the outlet. I did get a reading at the speaker outs but it wasn't steady. He told me again about the tuner testing and that he changed the ad but kept the price the same without "best offer." Told me that if he didn't get my call today(apparently I was the only one) he was going to get a repair estimate tomorrow. Said okay and gave him the fifty. I carried out the amp and he the tuner. As he put the tuner in the back I thought to myself, "that's awfully big for a 105." We had discussed his system (I saw it when I walked in) the Sony was a 60XX or 70XX hooked up to some homemade Altec A-7's! He made them to Altec specs because he wanted the horns inside. As I was leaving I told him if he ever decided to sell the Altecs.... Then he said there were a set of big speakers at a thrift down the street, not cheap, then gave me directions. I went and took a look. Bozaks were all I saw. Not too big, smaller than JBL L100s. $395, I passed. Then tried to take another look at the tuner before driving off but it was getting dark. Got home and lugged everything in and got out the magnifying glass. HOLY S#!T!!! I was looking at a Marantz 10B. . This is a quick crappy pic. More to follow. Dinner is late and guess where the 10B is sitting.

This post has been edited by hakka26 on November 16, 2008 09:53 pm

Attached Image (Click thumbnail to expand)

[hakka26]

Dinner is real late but I wanted to share.

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[bolly]

OH MY GAWD!!

[dingus]

dare i say score?

[bolly]

hakka, THAT has gott to be almost as good a score as my 1st PA-100 MK-1 for $325cdn... seriously though, it ranks up there with the top single piece scores of all time I'm sure!

[hifi_nut]

...

This post has been edited by hifi_nut on November 17, 2008 01:11 pm

[clint e.]

That's an incredible piece of audio history.
Congrats and enjoy.

http://zilla.li/All_Tubes/Marantz_10B.html

[stuwee]

with a working scope! Dude, that's nuts, crazy, cool, I have to go to my room now, schweeet!

[hakka26]

Thanks gentlemen. Alvaro, that is an awesome link . Sheer luck. I can't believe I was the only one to answer the ad. Even if it was the 105 tuner it could have been flipped and paid for the 1200 amp. I'm still a little shocked when I look at the 10B. It is an awe inspiring piece. The seller, Moss, is a much older gentleman. I think he never plugged this in after he inherited it, and I don't know when that was. He said he hasn't changed his system since he traded away his Marantz amp years ago. Now he mainly listens to an ipod as he bikes for hours on the beach. Hooks up a Walkman cdp to the stereo when at home. Going a little deaf. Nice guy. He called this morning to see if I looked at the thrift speakers. I don't think he had glasses on when he looked at the 10B and posted the ad. I didn't take any reading glasses with me when I went to pick it all up. When I first looked at the front and saw "Tune to Center" I thought it was a cat's eye tube . When I looked in and saw the scope tube I almost s**t my pants. Couldn't believe it works. I would have put it on the Variac but since Moss said he plugged it in that morning I figured any damage that was done was done. The "Stereo" light does work and now that I have the manuals, thanks to Alvaro, I now how to set it up. But, that won't be for awhile as I'm going on a trip. Honestly didn't know what it was when I first saw the model#, and the odd thing is, about four years ago when I got into this hobby I found and bought ($34.95) a Pioneer SX-1250 at the GW about the same time of year. Didn't know what it was either and I was leaving on a trip and didn't see it for a week. Buying a lottery ticket tomorrow.

BTW. Got the amp working tonight . Details are in the "Solid State" forum. Second best $50 I've ever spent.

This post has been edited by hakka26 on November 18, 2008 02:06 am

[socal sam]

Congrats Hakka! That could be the greatest single piece SCORE of all time!!

[hakka26]

Thanks getting the 1200 amp along with the 10B made it all the better. Can't get much sweeter now that I know the amp works. I'm fairly confident that the tuner works also. That is I will get output when hooked up to an amp.

[radioactive]

as others have stated already that is one hell of a score,congrats i dont think i would of been able to conceal my excitement at the sellers house if it were me.good thing you didnt realize what it was until you got home.enjoy that is one tuner i think even greg would give up his 2130 for

[crooner]

Hi Jerome,

That's an insane score!!!

I got mine almost a year ago, how time flies!

I have done extensive research on this model and have knowledge about its peculiarities, including the photocells.

Let me know if you need any assistance.

This post has been edited by crooner on November 20, 2008 12:35 am

[bolly]

I would in a heartbeat chris!!! BUT, I gotta keep my handles!

How's she workin hakka?? Getting good reception? Soundin good??

Who's gonna tune-er up for ya??

[hakka26]

Haven't found the time and space to do a full set up yet. What I did notice is that the walnut cases are switched. Have taken the one off the 1200 but not the 10B.