I bet those speakers sound great!. I would like to hear them.
Efficiency: your speakers are very low efficiency. 83 db/1w/1m means they ONLY make 83db sound volume when given 1 watt measured 1 meter away, They need far more power than your Marantz, your Crown is plenty.
Happily, your Crown has gain controls on the back. like volume controls would be if on the front.
https://rocknrollvintage.com/listing/crown-power-base-2-power-amplifier/14177109
1. Hear your speakers with enough juice, your Crown Amp, your existing speaker cables.
a. First, turn Crown’s rear gain controls down to zero. spin them full turn several times to ’clean’ the internal contacts, then down to zero.
b. One Favorite CD with highs/mids/lows (see h below)
c. CD player direct to the Crown as a test.
d. Crown direct to speakers using existing speaker wire.
e. ON, hit play on CD player, wait till it’s into a track first.
f. Now, you can increase the rear gain controls bit by bit until you get a satisfactory volume.
g. turn the gain down low, some but not a lot of sound: listen to each driver to verify they are good.
h. DO NOT try another CD, without first turning the Crown’s rear gain controls back down. Some CD’s have significantly higher output that others.
2. TEST the MARANTZ as a Preamp to the Crown.
Marantz’s controls might be dirty, it might have an unknown problem, that is why it is the 2nd test, after you have determined the speakers are fine with the Crown.
a. Unplugged: turn all volume/tone/selector controls several full turns to ’clean’ them. Good enough for this test.
b. Crown Gain in the middle of it’s range to start
c. Marantz volume down.
d. Same CD
e. CD player to Marantz; Marantz to Crown, Crown to Speakers using same existing speaker wires.
f. Marantz Volume up half way IF not too loud.
g. Adjust Crown rear gain for good normal listening volume.
h. Marantz Volume, fully up too loud? Crown down. Not enough, Crown Up.
Note: Marantz controls might need further cleaning. If you hear static, or they seem inconsistent, if you know how, take the bottom off, front plate off, spray them/work them with contact cleaner/lubricant. Clean all the rear jacks while you are at it.
Efficiency: your speakers are very low efficiency. 83 db/1w/1m means they ONLY make 83db sound volume when given 1 watt measured 1 meter away, They need far more power than your Marantz, your Crown is plenty.
Happily, your Crown has gain controls on the back. like volume controls would be if on the front.
https://rocknrollvintage.com/listing/crown-power-base-2-power-amplifier/14177109
1. Hear your speakers with enough juice, your Crown Amp, your existing speaker cables.
a. First, turn Crown’s rear gain controls down to zero. spin them full turn several times to ’clean’ the internal contacts, then down to zero.
b. One Favorite CD with highs/mids/lows (see h below)
c. CD player direct to the Crown as a test.
d. Crown direct to speakers using existing speaker wire.
e. ON, hit play on CD player, wait till it’s into a track first.
f. Now, you can increase the rear gain controls bit by bit until you get a satisfactory volume.
g. turn the gain down low, some but not a lot of sound: listen to each driver to verify they are good.
h. DO NOT try another CD, without first turning the Crown’s rear gain controls back down. Some CD’s have significantly higher output that others.
2. TEST the MARANTZ as a Preamp to the Crown.
Marantz’s controls might be dirty, it might have an unknown problem, that is why it is the 2nd test, after you have determined the speakers are fine with the Crown.
a. Unplugged: turn all volume/tone/selector controls several full turns to ’clean’ them. Good enough for this test.
b. Crown Gain in the middle of it’s range to start
c. Marantz volume down.
d. Same CD
e. CD player to Marantz; Marantz to Crown, Crown to Speakers using same existing speaker wires.
f. Marantz Volume up half way IF not too loud.
g. Adjust Crown rear gain for good normal listening volume.
h. Marantz Volume, fully up too loud? Crown down. Not enough, Crown Up.
Note: Marantz controls might need further cleaning. If you hear static, or they seem inconsistent, if you know how, take the bottom off, front plate off, spray them/work them with contact cleaner/lubricant. Clean all the rear jacks while you are at it.