Marantz Model 2500
The Marantz Model 2500 is an AM/FM stereo receiver from the late 1970s, when the company sat under the Superscope umbrella and leaned hard on its engineering reputation. The record is thin. The Hi-Fi Archive listing gives a partial spec sheet but no production years, no original price, and no design narrative. What it does confirm is a high-power receiver: 100 watts per channel minimum RMS into 8 ohms, with total harmonic distortion rated under 0.05%. The phono stage was specified at 2.0 mV input sensitivity with a frequency response of 30 to 20,000 Hz ±0.5 dB, hum and noise at 75 dB, and a damping factor of 40. Aux input sensitivity was 150 mV.
Marantz advertising of the period ran in Audio (November 1977, p.137) and elsewhere. It billed the 2500 as "The World's Most Powerful Receiver," but that claim was attached to a figure of 250 watts per channel, which doesn't match the 100-watt spec in the archive listing. The ad copy also promoted plug-in optional Dolby FM noise reduction circuitry and an 18 dB-per-octave Bessel-derived high filter. The spec sheet doesn't corroborate either one, so treat them as marketing claims, not verified specifications.
Beyond that, documentation is scarce. There are no tuner sensitivity figures, no dimensions or weight, no service history, and no owner recollections. The 2500 appears to have been a flagship-class receiver in the Marantz lineup of its era, but the surviving paper trail is mostly advertising and a partial spec entry.
Known specifications, as recorded:
- Power output: 100/100 W min RMS, both channels, 8 Ω
- THD: under 0.05%
- Phono frequency response: 30–20,000 Hz ±0.5 dB
- Phono input sensitivity: 2.0 mV
- Aux input sensitivity: 150 mV
- Hum and noise (phono): 75 dB
- Damping factor: 40
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