Marantz History

Saul Marantz founded the company that bore his name in the early 1950s to build high fidelity components. Working with such audio engineers as Sidney Smith and Richard Sequerra, Marantz constructed a series of vacuum-tube components that became yardsticks for the hi-fi industry. With the advent of transistor technology in the early 1960s, Marantz and his associates developed the landmark Model 18 receiver, the first example of a receiver combined with a preamplifier, power amplifier and tuner in one box. In 1964, he sold the company to Superscope, but remained with Marantz as president until 1968.

To continue the story, it is necessary to back track a bit, as it relates to Marantz' acquisition by Superscope. The Standard Radio Corporation was established in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan in 1953 manufacturing portable radios. In 1959 the company started manufacturing tape recorders. A new factory was built in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan in 1959 and this became the company's headquarters. In 1962 the company started manufacturing phonographs. With the acquisition of Marantz by Superscope in 1964, manufacturing of Marantz components gradually shifted to Japan, but design engineering remained in America for the time being.

In 1971, Standard Radio Corporation received third-party capitalization from Superscope of the U.S.A. In March of 1975, SRC changed its name to Marantz Japan, Inc. Superscope of the U.S.A. sold its shares of Marantz Japan to Philips of the Netherlands in 1980. Marantz manufactured its first Compact Disc player starting in 1982. Much if the Philips European design engineering made its way into the Marantz line of products, and the Marantz compact disc was one of the first proofs of this. Numerous improvements were made to the Sagamihara factory in the late 1980s. The magnificent PM-94 and PM-84 were manufactured at this time. These were a distinct break with the Philips-influenced integrated amplifiers of the mid-1980s, and a successful attempt at recapturing the legendary design and engineering that Marantz had become famous for.

In the late 1990s, Marantz reissued the legendary Model 7, 8 and 9 tube components and these were eagerly scooped up by audiophile collectors. These components were, in fact, engineered and manufactured by hand by the Valve Amplification Company of Durham, North Carolina. ( VAC is now located in Florida).

Then, in May of 2001, Marantz Japan, Inc. acquired the Marantz brand and its business in Europe and the USA from Philips. The company established Marantz divisions in the Netherlands, Germany, France and England. Marantz America, Inc. was organized in Los Angeles; the American division of Marantz had been headquartered in California for years. However, the offices were later moved to Itasca, Illinois. In 2002, Marantz merged with Denon and established a joint holding company, D & M Holdings, Inc. The Marantz and Denon product lines will remain separate and distinct.