Figured I'd try here first...

[Alaric]

Update on the replacement amps. The SR20 receiver is much more likely to show flaws in your equipment chain or (especially) source material. It's been so long since I had any gear at home to do a comparison that I forgot one of my favorite music genres is rife with bad recordings, bad production, bad mixing, and worst of all D) All of the above. The 100 watter will make those issues very evident, where the 25 watt AM5 is much more forgiving. It doesn't seem to lack detail, but you do have to work a little harder to hear that last few percent. It makes a lot of low SQ music fun to listen to for the music's sake while the SR20 seems more willing to criticize your choices. I could happily live with both and split critical listening and fun time between them. The Marantz will be back, though. It combines the best traits of both the CA amps for me. More than enough raw power, detailed, and lets marginal recordings sound their best.

[Alaric]

Old thread, but I have new info. Jon nailed it-the speaker protection board had 3 of 4 bad caps. The PCB was thin and way too delicate and my junk soldering iron and skills were not up to the task. So I made a hash of the board, which is long since made unavailable from Marantz. So the PM 7200 is dead.
Being a fan of the Marantz "house sound" I went looking for an affordable replacement. I didn't exactly hit "affordable" but I pulled the trigger on a used PM-KI Pearl. Big and heavy beast of an amp, but it provides everything I loved about the PM 7200 and none of the things I....didn't love as much. LOL Paired with a Schiit Modi 3 it has me going through music I haven't listened to in a long time. The big Cambridge receiver about soured me on music. It worked great, plenty of power, but it had an almost Bryston like quality. Dry, emotionless, but lots of detail. It was just a poor match with my speakers and my preferences. It just sounded two dimensional. The new (to me) Marantz sounds alive, happy to be playing music. It doesn't want to critically examine every note, even though it outshines the Cambridge by a wide margin in detail and clarity.
So, until I can find a solution to the PM 7200 issue it's in a box in my closet. RIP, buddy. We had a lot of good times together.

[JonMarsh]

Old thread, but I have new info. Jon nailed it-the speaker protection board had 3 of 4 bad caps. The PCB was thin and way too delicate and my junk soldering iron and skills were not up to the task. So I made a hash of the board, which is long since made unavailable from Marantz. So the PM 7200 is dead.
Being a fan of the Marantz "house sound" I went looking for an affordable replacement. I didn't exactly hit "affordable" but I pulled the trigger on a used PM-KI Pearl. Big and heavy beast of an amp, but it provides everything I loved about the PM 7200 and none of the things I....didn't love as much. LOL Paired with a Schiit Modi 3 it has me going through music I haven't listened to in a long time. The big Cambridge receiver about soured me on music. It worked great, plenty of power, but it had an almost Bryston like quality. Dry, emotionless, but lots of detail. It was just a poor match with my speakers and my preferences. It just sounded two dimensional. The new (to me) Marantz sounds alive, happy to be playing music. It doesn't want to critically examine every note, even though it outshines the Cambridge by a wide margin in detail and clarity.
So, until I can find a solution to the PM 7200 issue it's in a box in my closet. RIP, buddy. We had a lot of good times together.

Well, that's very good news Alaric, that you have a new performer that is making you happy!
Isn't it funny how electronics can have such an impact on dimensionality and engagement in playback? I've been wrestling with that since the mid 70's, but many folks still haven't heard a system that does some of that stuff "right".

I've got a lot of stuff to sort through and figure out how I want to setup, and it's looking like I'll be putting together three systems, of a sort- one for the living room with a minimal visual footprint to keep Liubov happy, one for a music learning/rehearsal room to handle monitoring and playback chores, and a higher end one for evaluating components and speakers. Where that is going to go I haven't quite figured out yet- probably won't until we get around to buying a house, not in the rental we've got now.

I've got a Marantz SACD player I need to dust off and listen to with components I'm familiar with to see how it fits in the pantheon of performance.

Oh, and probably both the living room system and rehearsal system will be line arrays- two way. Sensitivity and power handling being the marquee features, as well as LF extension (this array design will likely have a crossover frequency of about 300Hz).

[Alaric]

Ah, my Marantz SACD player! Also in a closet. It has the dreaded "no disc" syndrome. I think I read the fix is a simple resistor across two pins of a ribbon cable connector. Considering the mess I made of the amp, I'm more than a little reluctant to dive in to it. The SA8260 was such a wonderful sounding little unit, too. With a shockingly good headphone section with volume control.
My daughter was supposed to get my PM 7200, so I'm pretty disappointed about that. In the interim I got her a Marantz PM5005. She may have to settle for inheriting the Pearl someday. Although, if my tinnitus continues current trends she may get it sooner. The noise floor is starting to intrude on my regular hearing instead of just keeping me awake at night. Old age is not for the weak.

Line arrays-oooooh. Power handling and sensitivity? Now I'm curious as to what you'll be driving them with. SET? Parasound JC5? Just those two little descriptors make for extremely versatile speakers.

It's good to see retirement hasn't made you too sedentary. I think the only dust in your vicinity will be the cloud kicked up behind you. :alol: