Anybody heard of a Marantz PH22 phono stage?


I bought one on eBay last night on an impulse, and have not been able to find any information on it with searches. I did find a couple of high end Internet audio stores that have this item on their permanent want list.

I am running two turntables right now, and the fact that this has two turntable inputs was an huge positive to me.

It has a switch for high and low output MC's and also high and ?low? output MM's. It also has a 4 position equalization switch, and a back panel output level control.

There is no manual with this, so if anybody has any information, or hints as to using this phono preamp, I would appreciate it.

The eBay link is below.

Be as brutally honest as you want, as I have already paid for it. :-)

Thanks,

Dick Schneiders

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5850484113&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1
dick_schneiders
It one of the components of their early 1990's Music Link series of electronics. Are they, in general, decent quality?

Dick Schneiders
Yes, I recall them and they were generally highly regarded at the time. IIRC, Ken Kessler reviewed some of the series (amps, at least) for HFN&RR.

Kal
I had one of these for many years. It has adjustability to match with all but the very lowest output cartridges, is built like a warship, and has that rich sound that was always the hallmark of Marantz equipment. I sold mine to a guy in San Francisco last year and replaced it with a rather pricey 'high-end' phono stage and wish that I had the Marantz back.

The only faults with the one that I had was paint coming off of the footers and the outer adjustment knobs slipping on the posts, both of which can be fixed. If you email Marantz you should be able to get a user manual and a service manual.
halfway down are some specs: http://www.rcm.com.pl/hobby/bartek/bart_maran_mlink.php

I am guessing but could the equalization settings be pre-RIAA
curves?
That was a bargain, congratulations! Marantz seem to go through phases of every now and then producing some outstanding gear and I think that was in one of those phases. I have a late 90's SC-5 DC battery Preamp with what I suspect is essentially the same phono stage in it. The phono section in my pre is clearly superior to a Mac C22 reissue I had and better than a DACT with custom transformers I A to B'ed with it. I think you could spend a lot more money and be dissappointed. As for the manual, contact Marantz. If they are as helpful in the States as they are here in Japan you will get sorted immediately.