Marantz PM4200 (2001)

The Marantz PM4200 is a pre-main (integrated) amplifier released in June 2001 at a discretionary price of around ¥25,000. It belongs to Marantz's Century series and is based on the PM4000 with a sound quality tune-up. The front panel has a hairline finish, and the unit came in black and gold. A system remote controller was included, and it can run other Marantz products at the same time.

The PM4200 has a phono equalizer amplifier (MM), a tone defeat circuit, and a Rec-out selector. Its inputs and outputs are unusual for its class: three line inputs (CD, Tuner, Aux, DVD), MD/tape input and output, a dedicated CD-R input and output, phono input, two speaker outputs, and a headphone jack. Speaker terminals are screw-type and take banana plugs. A remote control bus terminal connects to other Marantz components with the same bus.

Rated output is 30W + 30W into 8Ω, 40W + 40W into 6Ω, and 50W + 50W into 4Ω (20 Hz-20 kHz, both channels driven). Dynamic power reaches 50W into 8Ω, 60W into 6Ω, and 70W into 4Ω. THD is rated at 0.03% (8Ω). Frequency response (CD, Source Direct) spans 10 Hz-100 kHz +0/-3dB. S/N ratio is 86dB (Phono MM) and 96dB (High Level). Phono input sensitivity is 2.5mV/47kΩ, and high-level inputs accept 150mV/20kΩ. Power consumption is 100W. Dimensions are 440 × 116 × 345 mm (W×H×D), and weight is 6.0 kg.

A known failure point is the thermal fuse on the power transformer, which can open circuit. One documented repair traced an output stage failure to resistor R331 (100K), which had drifted high by 2.2K ohms. That caused over-bias in the driver and output stage. After repairs, the quiescent current must be reset with VR31, per the service manual. Variants exist with circuit suffixes - PM4200/N1M, /N2M, and /N2B - which may be revisions. One owner reported overheating in a PM4200/N2B. At least one unit turned up with aftermarket 22-ohm resistors where the schematic specified 10 ohms.

Owner reports are generally positive. A Russian user on archive.stereo.ru bought one used, in excellent condition, for 4000 (currency unspecified) and found it paired well with a NAD C542 source. Another called it a "gorgeous, musical amplifier for its price." One StereoNET forum query noted a new PM4200 selling at sub-$300. A service bulletin ("MZ02-009") exists for the model. The record is otherwise thin, with no production totals or further market context documented.