Marantz PM-94 (1986–1988)

The PM-94 was Marantz's flagship integrated amplifier of the late 1980s. The company was consciously trying to recapture the prestige of its Saul Marantz-era classics. Audio (December 1988, p.119) opened its review by noting that one look at the gold front panel (black was also available) brought to mind the components that built Marantz's high-end reputation in the 1950s and 1960s - down to the solid feel and, yes, the high price.

It is a dual-mono, direct-coupled design with four separate power supplies on one chassis. Each channel gets its own supply for the low-level voltage amplifying circuitry and a second, independent supply for the output stage. Each one is fed by its own winding from an oversized toroidal transformer. The filtering capacitors are high-capacity (20,000 µF ×2). Speaker protection is relay-based, and natural convection cooling through large heat sinks rounds out the build. A copper-plated inner chassis was part of the package as well.

The phono stage has separate MM and MC inputs (2.5 mV / 47 kΩ for MM; 2.0 mV / 100 Ω for MC; 100 pF capacitance). Line-level inputs cover CD, Tuner, Aux, and two tape loops, and pre-out/main-in jacks are present. The front panel has a headphone jack, tone defeat, and muting. Audio (December 1988, p.122) described the latter two among the switches in its tour of the control layout.

On the bench, Audio (December 1988, p.128) found RIAA equalization accuracy within 0.2 dB at 20 kHz and −0.1 dB at 30 Hz. It praised the clarity on quiet passages as confirming the advantages of Class-A operation. In listening tests, the PM-94 handled the sound effects on Telarc's CD sampler - pistol shots, cannons, aerial explosions - with as much aplomb as the musical selections.

Documented specifications are otherwise thin and slightly conflicted. The most commonly cited figures are 2 x 130W continuous into 8 ohms and 2 x 200W into 4 ohms, though one source lists 2 x 96W RMS at 8 ohms. THD is rated below 0.003% at 50W (8Ω, 1 kHz), signal-to-noise above 110 dB (CD, direct), frequency response 10 Hz-50 kHz (±1 dB), and damping factor 100. Original price was approximately 1,500 DM in Germany. No dimensions, weight, or US pricing are documented in the archive's sources.