Marantz Model 8B Tube Amplifier - A True Classic - FULL RESTORATION

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This is the venerable Marantz 8B, from the 1960's (about mid-60's), and a fierce competitor to the vintage McIntosh MC240 and Harman Kardon Citation amplifiers.

This Marantz 8B hailing from the late 1960's has received one of the most detailed and thorough restorations you'll ever find. No expense was spared in both time and materials, and is therefore priced accordingly.

A quick look inside reveals German Mundorf and British Clarity Cap capacitors used throughout, along with metal film precision resistors.

Besides the internals, cosmetically it doesn't get much better than this. The paintwork is near mint with only the slightest signs of use. Even the potentiometer covers are in place (!) which are almost always lost over the years.



This amplifier originally retailed for about $275 back in the 1960's ($2,400 in today's dollars), and since their collectability is super high they're quite expensive nowadays and there are not many left. A lot of these suffered chassis rust, and because they are heavy and hard to handle many were also dropped, dented, and dinged.

Many of our clients end up purchasing two of these and running them as monoblocks. If you're looking to replicate this sweet setup, please just let us know and we'll convert two amplifiers for this use. We will install mono switches, plus matched tubes across both amps for perfect symmetry and gain.

It's very well built weighing in at about 56 pounds which is pretty amazing for a compact amplifier.

Output tubes are new Russian Electro Harmonix EL34's which we've found to sound warm and detailed. Driver tubes are mostly vintage.

All of this results in a wonderful sounding amplifier that's perfect for powering your vintage or modern efficient speakers.

Check out this video from our YouTube channel from a previous 8B that we had for sale for more information on this piece of history:

This 8B came to us from its original owner along with its original box. It's very clean overall with only a couple of small cosmetic blemishes (scratch on one side, broken terminal block fin on the left channel). Please see our photos for more details.

This example tested well in all original condition as received into our shop, but the power supply caps were overdue for replacement. So we went ahead with our standard 8B preservative restoration on this example.

Tubes include NOS GE 6BH6 and 6CG7s, along with two matched pairs of National EL34. All tubes were tested on our modern and professional Amplitrex AT1000 vacuum tube tester.

If you're interested in having the signal path capacitors upgraded to a brand of your choosing for an additional fee, please contact us for more details.

Restoration Notes:
- High voltage power supply capacitors replaced with discrete components cleanly mounted underneath the chassis.
- Main power supply diodes replaced with modern fast recovery equivalents.
- NTC Thermistor added for soft start.
- Negative bias supply selenium rectifier and capacitors replaced.
- Axial electrolytics replaced in the signal circuitry.
- Original Sprague Black Beauty Difilm and Bumble mylar caps left in place to preserve the original sonic character of the amplifier.
- Bias and AC balance adjusted to service manual spec.
- Bench tested to approximately 40 WPC into 8 ohms before clipping.

Lastly, we found this fantastic website that has over a dozen documents available for download related to this tuner. Manuals, Service Manuals, Vintage Reviews, you name it and it's there. Click here to check it out.

Click here to view all Vintage Marantz pieces currently available for purchase on SkyFi.

Please click here for detailed specifics regarding our specialized packing process that separates us from the rest.