This is my trio of much-loved Marantz MA-24 monoamps. The ‘24s are the premium members of Marantz’s line of premium audio components introduced in 1981, called the MusicLink series in the US and the Esotec line in the rest of the world. Marantz designed the MusicLink-series equipment “To provide absolutely state-of-the-art-sonic performance in a rarely seen design package noted for both its advanced construction and its understated beauty.” More info is available here...
http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/Marantz_MA-22_Music_Link_power_amplifier/.
The MA-24s are the lower-power, 30watts-into-8 monoamps built on larger chassis and are biased higer Class-A than the 50-Watt MA-22s. Their continuous-power ratings of 30 Watts into 8 and 60 Watts into 4 Ohms do not accurately reflect their ability to drive fairly inefficient speakers, altho they were challenged by my 87dB-sensitive Vandersteen 5As at high levels. This trio of VERY-high-quality amps is perfect for a serious multichannel system with an emphasis on HIGH audio quality and with speakers of at least 90dB sensitivity.
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The amplifier has separate powersupplies for the front-end (Voltage-gain) and output sections. My improvements include replacing, in each amp, both bridge rectifiers with Fairchild Stealth diodes, replacing ALL the electrolytic caps in the frontend supply with the best-sounding ‘lytics ever made, BlackGates, and adding a serious amount (500uF) of BlackGate caps in bypass of the output-stage (ELNA) PS caps. I replaced 3 ‘lytics on the circuitboard with BlackGates and a couple more small caps with MultiCap RTX ‘styrenes. I replaced much powersupply and speaker wiring with Neotec-brand higher-gage stranded UPOCC-copper wire. The prior owner had replaced the speaker-bindingposts with expensive Cardas rhodium-over-copper versions, and I replaced the RCA inputjacks of 2 amps with very-high-quality Furutech 901s; their short cables to the circuit board are a twisted pair of Neotec solid-silver-conductor wire. These 2 amps also have Furutech IEC power inlets and input-level controls added on the back panel; each of these level controls cost $40! The third amp has its original 2-wire hard-wired powercable and no added level control.
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The amps are at least very good cosmetically except for one scratch in the side of one face, pictured. Of course the rear panels have a few small scratches and marks. I’ll include my allegedly official copy of the Service Manual that includes schematic diagrams and offset and biasing instructions. Cartons are not original, but the amps will be carefully double packed. If you’ve EVER considered amps of this quality level, grab these–they don’t become available often, and I understand there were only 1,000 pairs manufactured. These are 120V. USA versions and, I believe, are NOT convertible to 220/230/240V.
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I prefer PayPal for speed of transaction and safety for both buyer and seller and absorb those fees; CCs and MOs also accepted. Buyer will pay only the actual cost of shipping (that means NO ‘packing’ fees) using the carrier of his/her choice. I'm in Phoenix, zip 85021. Price is $3200 for the trio or $2200 for the pair with level controls and Furutech RCAs. Pls e-mail me directly at jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net if you're interested or have questions or wish more pics.
