Marantz PM-44SE (1995)
The PM-44SE is a stereo integrated amplifier that Marantz released in 1995. It was priced at ¥35,000 on the Japanese market and around £200 in the UK. hifi-review.com called the UK price a genuine bargain, in a period when sterling weakness had pushed many importers' prices up by 10-15 percent. Marantz positioned it as a "Special Edition," a stripped-down audiophile design tweaked for the UK market. hifi-review.com called it "a little gem."
What made it special, according to the record, was mostly internal. The power amplifier section used a symmetrical independent monoblock configuration. The chassis was copper-plated to cut high-frequency noise, and a noise killer in the power supply circuit addressed rectification noise. A hefty mains transformer fed a Linear Drive Power Supply. The front panel kept conventional switches but added a source direct bypass button that took the balance control and tape monitor out of the signal path. hifi-review.com reported this produced noticeably crisper, cleaner sound. Two sets of speaker terminals were offered for bi-wiring, but there was no conventional A/B switching. Both pairs stayed live. The review also noted that using the lower set of terminals with single cable runs gave a slightly shorter signal path to the circuit board and consequently better sound.
Rated output was 50W + 50W into 8Ω (60W into 6Ω, 70W into 4Ω) per audio-database.com. hifi-review.com and YouTube say 43W per channel into 8Ω, so the sources conflict. Total harmonic distortion was listed at 0.03% per audio-database.com and 0.015% per an Avito listing, which also conflict. Frequency response ran from 10 Hz to 100 kHz (+0/-3 dB) per audio-database.com, but YouTube says 20 Hz - 20 kHz. Signal-to-noise ratio at high level was 106 dB. The unit measured 420 × 130 × 320 mm (W×H×D) and weighed 6.5 kg. Power consumption was rated at 120W.
hifi-review.com was enthusiastic about the sound: clean, forward, lively and pleasantly assertive, with excellent dynamics and superb stereo imagery. Its greatest virtue was transparency and naturalness. Tonally it was bright and open, sharp and articulate rather than rich or warm, with firm, tight bass and clean, precise treble. The review compared it directly with the Technics SU-A600 (then selling for just under £200) and found the Marantz brighter and leaner, with greater treble presence. The Technics sounded slightly darker, warmer and fuller in the bass. The Marantz won on openness, but the Technics had a touch more solidity and depth around voices and instruments. The PM-44SE also had a slight tendency to harden when pushed hard. The review noted the mains transformer made a slight buzzing sound, though less than the Technics' - and that the amplifier ran cool in normal use.
The review's context suggests it was written in late 1992 or early 1993, since it references the post-Black Wednesday devaluation of sterling. audio-database.com gives 1995 as the production year. Most units that surface today are 220V European-market examples. The fact sheet notes one Japanese-market 100V unit appearing in listings. A known quirk, reported on diyAudio forums, is an intermittent distortion fault traced to the input selector. Rotating the knob slightly usually restores normal operation. The MC phono input was dropped on this model, according to Ters Audio. It described the SE as bridging a gap in the PM-44 line, while noting "there remains little that is 'special' about this edition" beyond the circuitry changes.
Service documentation survives. A 4-page schematic is available via ManualMachine, and a service manual PDF (Marantz PM-44se_service.pdf, ~3 MB) has been circulating since 2014.
Known specifications
- Rated output: 50W + 50W (8Ω) per audio-database.com; 43W per channel into 8Ω per hifi-review.com and YouTube (conflicting sources)
- Total harmonic distortion: 0.03% per audio-database.com; 0.015% per Avito listing (conflicting sources)
- Frequency response: 10 Hz – 100 kHz (+0/-3 dB) per audio-database.com; 20 Hz – 20 kHz per YouTube (conflicting sources)
- Signal-to-noise ratio (high level): 106 dB
- Power consumption: 120W
- Dimensions: 420 × 130 × 320 mm (W×H×D)
- Weight: 6.5 kg
- Original price (Japan): ¥35,000 (1995)
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