Marantz HD880 (1978–1981)
The Marantz HD880 was the top model in the company's HD series of loudspeakers. It was introduced at the 1978 CES and produced into the early 1980s. It was a large bass-reflex floorstander, roughly 28¾ inches tall and 59.5 lbs, with a front-firing port and a walnut veneer cabinet. The driver complement is where the documentation starts to disagree. Most sources describe a 12-inch woofer, a 5-inch upper-midrange and a 1-inch dome tweeter, but some listings claim a four-driver arrangement with two upper-mid drivers. The crossover points are just as muddled, with figures of 2 kHz and 900 Hz/3.5 kHz both appearing.
What the sources agree on: the HD880 was a 3-way, 8-ohm design rated at 90 dB sensitivity (one source says 89 dB), with a frequency response of 35 Hz to 21 kHz and a recommended amplifier range of 15-100 watts. It sold for $299.99 each in 1978. It was part of a line that included the HD660, HD440, and HD220. Marantz was pushing seriously into the high-end speaker market in the late 1970s, and the HD880 went up against the Advent, KLH, and AR offerings of the era.
Enthusiast accounts are generally positive. Owners describe a big, open soundstage with deep, tight bass and a smooth treble. The upper midrange is sometimes called forward, and the cabinets aren't as heavily braced as some competitors. A pair today will need work. The woofer foam surrounds deteriorate and need replacing (kits are widely available). The dome tweeters are known to fail or drift out of spec, and Marantz has no original replacements. Recapping the crossovers is also commonly advised. Clean pairs tend to trade in the $300-$500 range, with original working drivers commanding a premium.
HiFi-Stereo (1981) listed the HD880 among current speaker offerings, noting its 12-inch butyl-rubber-surround woofer, 1-inch textile dome tweeter, and samarium-cobalt ribbon super-tweeter arrangement — a description that doesn't quite match the other driver configurations cited elsewhere, which only adds to the model's documentation fog.
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