Marantz PM8000 (circa 1999)
The Marantz PM8000 is a pre-main (integrated) amplifier from the late 1990s, part of the company's C series line that revisited Marantz's half-century of audio engineering. It sold for ¥65,000 in Japan (roughly 1,400 DM in Europe). It is remembered as the successor to the legendary PM80 (mkII), and it looks closely related to both the PM-7000 before it and the PM-7200 after it. One Dutch forum user noted the PM 8000 is "largely identical" to the PM 7200, and the PM-7000/PM-8000 share a single manual.
The PM8000 has a switchable output stage. A front-panel switch lets you choose between pure Class A operation (rated 25W + 25W into 8 ohms) and Class AB (rated 100W + 100W into 8 ohms). Class A mode drops the supply voltage from ±56V to ±26V, with separate rectification and 12,000µF/63V filter capacitors. In Class A it reportedly plays "simply superbly," per one owner. The design uses Marantz's HDAM (Hyper-Dynamic Amplifier Modules), a 4-row active volume control, a source direct switch, and an active-filter NFB-type tone control circuit. The front panel is gold-finished, hairline aluminum. A system remote control was included.
Known specifications are thin but consistent across sources. Frequency response is 10 Hz to 100 kHz (+0, -1 dB) in CD source-direct mode, phono MM input is 2.5mV/47kΩ, and the claimed damping factor is 130. One UK dealer lists the PM8000 at 95W per channel into 8 ohms (Class AB). That conflicts slightly with the 100W Japanese-market figure, likely a regional rating difference. The unit was produced for the Japanese market at 100V AC and exported to Europe at 240V AC. Power consumption is rated at 160W. Dimensions are 440 × 159 × 370.5 mm, and weight is 12.3 kg.
Vintage Audio Repair (a Dutch repair shop) describes the PM8000 as the successor to the PM80(mkII), noting its switchable Class-A/Class-AB output stage. No full period magazine reviews of the PM8000 have surfaced in the archive's sources.
Known Specs
- Class A: 25W + 25W (8Ω, 0.010% THD)
- Class AB: 100W + 100W (8Ω, 0.015% THD)
- Frequency response: 10 Hz – 100 kHz (+0, −1 dB, CD source direct)
- Phono MM: 2.5mV / 47kΩ; max input 150mV (1 kHz)
- RIAA deviation: 20 Hz −2 dB / 40 Hz – 20 kHz ±0.5 dB
- S/N (phono MM, IHF A): 85 dB
- Damping factor: 130
- Inputs: 4 line, 1 phono, 1 tape loop, 1 processor loop, CD-R/MD in/out
- Dimensions: 440 × 159 × 370.5 mm; 12.3 kg
eBay Listings
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.
Related Models
- Marantz 1200 (1972–1975; some sources say 1974–1976)
- Marantz Model-1030
- Marantz Model-1040
- Marantz Model-1122
- Marantz Model-1150mkII
- Eico 3150 (1967)
- Fisher CUSTOM-ELECTRA-I (K-14/K-15) (1957)
- Fisher CUSTOM-ELECTRA IV (E33/E44) (1960)
- Akai AM-2400 (1978)
- Akai AM-2600 (1977)