Marantz 2230

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Introduced in 1972 this Marantz 2230 receiver retailed for $349.95.  It has all the classic Marantz attributes such as the brushed silver face plate, blue and red lights and gyro-touch tuner. The 2230 was a nice entry level model from Marantz and it put out 30 watts per channel. Production of the 2230 ended in 1974.

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As you can see the Marantz 2230 has all the basic features a receiver needs including a mid range tone control which many other lower end units did not have. Here is what the Marantz catalog had to say about the 2230…

Best in its class. With impressive specifications and Marantz-exclusive features, the Model 2230 offers more value and performance than any other receiver in its class. We’ve known that for years. But just recently, one of the nation’s most respected independent consumer testing organizations verified it. In not one, but two separate categories — features and performance. It delivers 60 Watts continuous power, both channels driven, from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with total harmonic and inter-modulation distortion well under 0.5%. Stepped, three-zone tone controls for BASS, MID, TREBLE. Provisions for tape decks, phones, record changers and 4-channel adaptors. Ultra low-distortion FET, RF and IF circuitry. Massive heat sinks; automatic protection for internal circuitry and associated speakers, plus the famous Marantz gold-anodized front panel. Looking for a moderately priced receiver? The Marantz 2230 out-does them all.

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Of course a WC-22 wood case was optional with the receiver which does enhance its looks quite a bit. It you want a wood case for your 22XX series Marantz they can be found but they aren’t cheap. In really nice condition original WC-22 wood cases routinely sell for $200 and up.

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The 2230 weighs around 36 pounds and measures 17-1/4 W x 5 H x 14 D. The feet add another 5/8 inch.  These units are very well built and the phono circuit is highly regarded in the 2230 for magnetic coil cartridges. One thing to keep in mind when contemplating the purchase of lower wattage receivers is that many of them have been pushed to their limits which can result in over heating of some of the components. If you want to see a detailed breakdown of the 2230 check out this site cdkands.com. All the 22XX series receivers from Marantz are known to have a nice warm, smooth sound about them. So, if you prefer warm and smooth over shrill and harsh then the 2230 may be for you.

Marantz 2230

You can see from this picture that the WC-22 wood case is pretty heavy duty. Of course it not only was used on the 2230 but the larger Marantz receivers in the 22XX series as well, some of which are over 50 pounds.

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I’m sure you already know that Marantz gear is extremely popular. Anything produced in the 70’s is highly sought after. For those needing a simple lower wattage receiver for a small room or just for lower volume detailed music listening the 2230 will definitely do the job. They are well worth the investment as values only continue to climb.

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44 thoughts on “Marantz 2230

  1. I love my 2230. Using Klipsch speakers…. I feel that im getting the most from 30watts per channel. This Marantz can play loud and clean with efficient speakers in a medium sized room. Awesome warm tube like sound.

    1. Excellent, thank you for the input! I just won a Marantz 2230 on an eBay bid & was wondering what speakers to pair with it? I do like Klipsch a lot do i think im going with them.

      1. B&Ws 6 series or 7 series are absolutely amazing, I have a pair of klipsch 6 series and they are good and loud but don’t have that nice warm sound or deep end bass like the BDubs do they are clean crisp and deep for days , In my front room I have the JBL SVA1800 and they are just a beast on all sides .. they are my go to speaker for metal ,or most rock n roll ,classic music .. I have mine paired with Marantz 2230 receiver, a Marantz 7005 pre amp going to a Bob Carver Magnetic Amp 1.5t and wow absolutely unbelievable quality all around ..

    1. I ran a 2230 on ess amt 10b’s for over 20 years.
      No drone issues, the amp will clip when you push the volume. The amp did have a great phono circuit.
      Good luck

  2. I love my fully restored Marantz 2230. It sounds wonderful paired with Infinity Kappa 7.1 speakers. I would like to note that production of the 2230 lasted well beyond 1974. My unit has a production date of February 23, 1976 stamped inside on the chassis. Also the plate on the back indicates Chatsworth instead of Sun Valley, California, again indicating later production.

    1. Hal, do you still have the 2230? I just bought one from a seller in Ann Arbor and it also has a 2/23/76 production date. I suppose they could have made more than one on that day, but it’s quite a coincidence!

  3. I recently bought a 2230B, for my small summer house.
    – Does anybody know what “B” stands for?
    – In the 22-series, do the higher numbers in the end mean higher segment, or vice versa?
    I am grateful if you tell me what you know about it.

    1. The B is usually just signifies a later version of the model with some aesthetic or circuit revisions. Sometimes the revisions are minimal. On the 2230B they changed some of the front panel around and used a slider instead of a button for the balance control. The last two numbers of the model number usually relate to the power output. The 2230 produces 30 watts per channel into 8 ohms. The 2270 produces 70 wpc etc. The 2230B is a great receiver.

  4. Does the 2230 have any problem with a 6 ohm load? Looking to pair one with 6 ohm 90 dB efficient speakers.

    1. I have run for years some Polk outdoor speakers that are 6 ohm, and the 2230 have never had a problem. In fact, I occasionally drove both the Polks as well as some 8-ohm indoor speakers simultaneously, high as I understand it cuts both loads in half. Probably not good practice, but no apparent problems. I realize this answer is late, but thought I’d respond when I saw it. Enjoy!

    2. It is fine with a 6 ohm load but no lower than a 4 ohm load. (I won’t bore you with how I learned this the hard way.)
      If you are going to run 2 sets of speakers at the same time, then they must be 8 ohm speakers as the main and remote speaker selector buttons are wired in parallel and this will create a 4 ohm load.
      This is common of so many receivers of this era that it’s annoying that so many speaker manufacturers only make 6 ohm speakers now. When I had my 2230B rebuilt in 2019, I spent a lot of time looking for 8 ohm bookshelf speakers.
      I went with Polk Audio Monitor 40 series II in the front and an old pair of Radio Shack Minimus 7’s for the rear for several months, which sounded OK for music but not so good for discerning dialog when watching a movie.
      I ended up changing out the Polk’s for Yamaha NS-6490’s (Great bargain speakers!) and kept the Minimus 7’s for the rear and am mostly happy with them, though am considering replacing the rear speakers with NHT Super Zero’s…

  5. I started my career in design around the time that the 2230 came out. I never owned a stereo as a youth much less this one — but it’s taken me a long time to understand what I loved about this design whenever I saw it. The gyro-touch wheel is only one beautiful thing. The warm typography on the panel, the gentle detents and clicks on the switches, the gyro-touch tuner, the warm blue lighting with accents of red, the warm sound, all speak to warmth of analog that this design fully captured.

  6. I have a 35 year old pair of Klipsch La Scalas and looking for a vintage receiver. Is the Marantz 2230 a good match?

    1. La Scalas are very efficient so a 2230 would probably work fine with most music genres. I’d probably go with a few more watts per channel if you could find it. A 2270 would be perfect but the 2230 should work just fine.

    2. The 2230 will drive them easily. La Scalas are 8-ohm, 105 dB speakers. You could drive them to damaging sound levels with a 2-watt tube amp.

  7. Such an amazing receiver. Just recently got mine serviced. It sounds outstanding with my JBL L36s. Marantz receivers and JBL speakers are a perfect match. The sound is so crisp and it feels like you’re being serenaded by the artist in the room with you.

  8. I just bought a 2230. Its absolute mint condition, except a busted bulb. I paid about 225 dollars for this lovely machine. One hell of a good deal. I live in Denmark??

  9. I run a pair of cs-63dx pioneers with my 2230 low volume small apartment. No problems. I run a abellarius phono pre amp. between Technics SL 1300. do you see any problems

  10. I just found this site. I’ve been using my 2230 since I purchased it new in 1974, along with a set of AR speakers and subwoofer. Other than the blue signal strength bulb burning out circa 1985 or so, the whole set-up still works just fine, and I have never seen any reason to upgrade or change.

  11. This has been a fun read! I bought my 2230 in 1973 and it all still works including the lights. It’s my garage amp now because that is where I listen to most of my music. I’ve bought and sold a lot of other high priced receivers and amps for my home theater but but never ever contemplated selling the Marantz.

  12. I have a Marantz 2230 and am curious about hooking up 4 speakers 2 Heresy 2s and 2 Klipsch KG 5.2. Is this too much?

  13. Interesting site. I bought my 2230 in 73 just before we got married. It’s all original and everything works as it should. It drives a pair of CV D9’s.

  14. I have a 2230 with wood case in excellent condition for sail. Can send pics/videos.
    Looking for local pickup only. Too heavy/expensive to ship. I’m in Northampton, PA

  15. Listening to my 2230 right now. I run it through a pair of Klipsch KG4 speakers, and it sounds wonderful. I had to replace the light bulbs after I bought it and give it a good cleaning, but it works flawlessly. Great receiver!

  16. My first high end stereo system was the Marantz 2230 with two AR2ax speakers and a Dual turntable. That was in 1972. Still have it. Just recently replaced all the lights and cleaned all the switches, tested the caps and it still sounds great. Rewoofed the AR’s, cleaned the level switches and refinished the cabinet with material from Vintage-AR. I am in heaven now listening to my lp collection once again, to the annoyance of my wife:-) Love the Marantz!

  17. Had mine since 1976 had it refurbished once, love it I did buy the cabinet back then also, I was in the service ,they don’t build them like they used too that’s for sure

  18. Hi, I have 2230B like a second stereo set and I enjoy every time I listen it . I have a question, did someone try to use it like a preamplifier?

  19. As a professional producer, people think I am crazy to use a restored 2230. Tuff. When I listen to the 2230 through Yammie NS-10M’s, and correcting 3 dB for bass, I have virtually the same transfer function as listening directly from the board with GRADO RS2E headphones. There are no higher frequency transients. Can’t say that for most modern IC based amplifiers/stereos.

  20. I’m running my Marantz 2230 with a pair of RTR Series lll E speakers. Nice sound but, I feel it’s a bit under powered for the speakers I have. Wondering if adding a Marantz EQ-10 or 20 graphic equalizer into the mix would help? Any thoughts???

  21. Can someone help me…with information
    regarding a Marantz 2230 model SN 70189 which I recently purchased.
    The tuner wavebands are only for SW and FM ..I am trying to find out when manufactured and why SW was
    incorporated and not Am?
    Thanks

  22. Hi, I’m happy to have found this excellent site for quality Vintage Receivers! I’m hoping that someone may have some insight on a situation I have: I have a Marantz 2230B that I’ve been looking forward to teaming up with my Technics SL-1200MK2 turntable and Thiel CS-2 speakers.
    I didn’t anticipate until I was hooking it up that the Technics plug with its “modern” plug with the “fatter” neutral prong simply would not go into either of the AC outlets on the back of the 2230B.
    What is the best way to deal with this? I’ve seen some recommendations of “shearing” off the fatter prong so it’ll fit in the outlet. I’ve seen a recommendation for cutting off the head of the plug and splicing on a new plug that doesn’t have a “fat” neutral prong.
    What I haven’t seen is whether an adapter could be plugged into the AC outlet of the 2230B which would then accommodate the Technics plug as is. If this is a possibility, I would imagine it might be the best solution because that way the vintage Technics equipment is left unaltered. If this is the widely accepted solution, could I get a product recommend? I’d appreciate it if someone could give me some insight into this. Thanx very much!!!

  23. …and as a PS to my inquiry above, I’ll also ask: is there any sonic advantage, pros or cons to not using the AC outlets at all and just plugging the Technics turntable into a power strip and only plugging the RCAs into the 2230B?

    1. That’s what I do with my Technics turntable. I just plug it into a surge protected power strip. Haven’t noticed any problems doing that.

  24. Have had my Marantz 2230 since purchased new in the summer of 1975. At the time the receiver had been recenty discontinued and was sold as new old stock. These are very well made
    pieces of HiFi gear. Replacement value taking inflation into account would be about $2500 today.

  25. I have a Marantz 2230 b for sale. It is all original and works fine. I can send a picture so just contact me if you are interested. I also have the original manual for this receiver. You can message my phone at 860-328-3330. I live in Connecticut. Tom

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