Marantz PM-15S2 Limited Integrated Amplifier Preview

[admin]

The Limited Edition PM-15S2 may have very few substantive improvements over the standard PM-15S2 Integrated Amplifier other than the switch to a black chassis and an upgraded power supply, but Marantz did it without raising the price. If you were thinking of investing in a PM-15S2 and the color was holding you back, rejoice. For the rest of us, we now have two top tier Marantz products to drool over.


Discuss "Marantz PM-15S2 Limited Integrated Amplifier Preview" here. Read the article.

[bikemig]

"At 90 watts per channel into 8-ohms and 140 watts into 4-ohms, this nearly 41 pound behemoth isn't for the faint of heart." That's a lot of dough for those specs. I'm sure it's a nice unit but I'm much more interested in the new Onkyo A-9070: Onkyo A-9070 - Integrated Stereo Amplifier | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products. It too does 140 watts at 4 ohms and weighs 40 lbs. But the suggested manufacter's retail is $1300; the street price will be less. And it has 3 digital inputs (Wolfson 192 kHz/24-Bit DACs ). I don't know why more amp manufacturers don't take computer based playback seriously. This is a unit I'm keeping my eye on; I'd love to see Audioholics do a review on it.

[jdjaye]

Just unpacked and hooked up my Marantz PM-15S2-Ltd (what a mouthful!)

While my back is recovering from hauling the 40 odd pounds of audio-iron around my house, I'll share my first thoughts:

Pros:
Burn in underway, but sounds good so far.
Definitely a hefty piece of equipment - build like a tank.
No one will ever steal this - its too heavy to carry out!

Cons:
Clear plasic molding around speak terminals obscures bannana plug inputs a bit.
Remote control does everything but turn off the unit. Why the heck doesnt the remote control turn off the unit? For $2500, why do I have to walk over and turn it on in the am and turn it off at night. Bad marks for ergo/eco on this idea.

Unknown:
Jury is still out on total volume output.
Havent tried out the phono pre-amp yet.

Tentative conclusions:
Waiting for burn-in to finish, but my take on it is that for a few 3-4-5 inputs, this Integrated Amp does a few things very well indeed.

[Joseph1975]

I commend Marantz for producing products of quality at a price many can afford.
Marantz realized the 'baby boomers' (we are from the music age, music a big part of our past) are a large percentage of the population and entering retirement. Not everyone desires a fishing rod or golf clubs to spend their remaining years. Marantz produced a product with Us in mind knowing we would appreciate a fine product when we see it to enjoy our music. Knowing we are sitting on collections of LPs as well as CDs and identify with STEREO. What a great thought (and marketing decision) to think positively of the senior Folk that devoted their lives in the workplace rewarding them with a product of quality and at a great price.
These units were made to look and last to hand down to others.
Many of you kids do not seem to get 'less is more'.
When we went to concerts the musicians were in front of us not behind or to the side - surround sound makes no sense to us.
If you want 'bells & whistles' go where you feel comfortable...to the big box stores.
"People are different"!!!

The comments here by others do not say much of value.
Being, as many state, there is a close similarity between the PM15S2 and the PM15S2LE - there it is - you have a choice. Not much to fret about. Frankly one would not expect such an 'emotional' flavored statement about the color of a product.

A "mouthful" - how about a "handful".
Pros -
'going through a burn-in' ??? - would you come back and explain to Us where this could be classified as a Pro. And while I'm at it - 'build (built) like a tank' ??? therefore it being difficult to steal it. I can really see how important this statement would be to the Folks seeking REAL information on this product.

Another poster - used this forum to steer Folks away to another product , the competition, does an injustice to Folk desiring information on the Marantz PM15S2LE.

Marantz DID consider computer based playback seriously - the reason they left it out! Does every component released need to be designed with the computer in mind? You 'kids' think the world is all about you?
I'm not a dinosaur...I build my own computers - enjoying both worlds.

Wonder how many Folk do not understand the tube products out there - merely having an 'on' 'off' button and a volume control.