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In Reply to: Modding my Marantz 8B or MC240, effect on value? posted by jazz251 on April 18, 2012 at 12:20:38:
I agree with what's been written so far. Changing from stock will deter the collectors who will buy your unit at the highest prices. Many of these so called collectors like nice stock vintage gear sitting on a shelf (hanger queens).
I was given an original 240 from a friend 20 years ago after he got tired of it. It was in poor shape, pitted chrome, dented trannies and all original electronics. It played, but poorly. Bass during any sort of dynamic passages was totally distorted. My other friends into single ended amps driving hi-eff speakers told me to dump it. It wasn't worth fixing up. I was wasting my time.
So it sat on my shelf for 8 years. Upon getting a new house with a big garage, it became my project to work on this amp. First thing to do is replace the selenium rectifier (which can spew poison if it flames out). The biggest impact on the dynamics of this amp is to redo the power supply with new caps. Older caps dry out and this is most likely your main issue. IMHO, 50 year old electrolytics are never to be trusted. I kept the same values. Also make sure all your tubes are good or try new ones to see what improvements can be had.
Over time I did the power supply and got much more solid bass without distortion. The sound was still a bit thin so then did both signal paths with upgraded caps since my intention was to see how good it could get and my cosmetics sucked anyway. Overtime, all electronic parts were replaced, the power cord was upgraded, I added a power switch and bypassed the input volume pots. I even found a beautifully chromed remanufactured chassis with all the writng and swapped it out. The trannies are still original, dents and all, but they're potted and can't be reworked easily.
I am confident many will say I ruined a classic vintage piece with my work. But it gave me confidence to build many amps since and fully explore DIY stuff. What I was left with is a totally unique piece that I'll never sell. It sounds fantastic to me and I was extremely happy I went through that process. I had the privilege to have the late Terry Cain visit and hear it on a pair of his speakers and I still remember his smile of delight.
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Follow Ups
- Mc240 experience - tommytube 04/19/1210:24:05 04/19/12 (3)
- RE: Mc240 experience - jazz251 20:54:49 04/19/12 (2)
- RE: Mc240 experience - tommytube 22:17:24 04/20/12 (1)
- RE: Mc240 experience - jazz251 15:52:30 05/8/12 (0)
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