# Walnut cases for 1960's Marantz Pre-Amp



## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

I made these for a customer for some very rare Marantz Pre-amps.


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## Sgt BOMBULOUS (Oct 9, 2014)

Nice use of box joints! What kind of jig did you use to cut them?


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## Chamfer (Sep 6, 2014)

Being a musician, audio engineer and woodworker I can very much appreciate your project.

What kind of finish did your use on that Walnut? I really like the simplicity and robustness of the box joints.


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## Bob in St. Louis (Feb 11, 2015)

As an audiophile and woodworker, I appreciated them as well! Very cool.
Definitely "audiophile approved".


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Marantz equipment was the top of the line in it's day. Worth a lot of money today.

George


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## Travico (Dec 25, 2012)

Nice Box Joints and the two stacked on each other show the wood grain lined up!!


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

Sgt BOMBULOUS said:


> Nice use of box joints! What kind of jig did you use to cut them?


I use the Incra ibox for most of my box joints, very easy to use and accurate box joints!


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

Chamfer said:


> Being a musician, audio engineer and woodworker I can very much appreciate your project.
> 
> What kind of finish did your use on that Walnut? I really like the simplicity and robustness of the box joints.


Thank you for your kind words! I actually used the Festool suffix finish system on these pieces. I really like the results. I may be wrong but I think it's linseed oil.


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## DeanK (Jun 21, 2013)

Beautiful work! And box joints were a good choice. Bold clean lines on beautiful wood. Love working with walnut.


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

DeanK said:


> Beautiful work! And box joints were a good choice. Bold clean lines on beautiful wood. Love working with walnut.


Walnut is my favorite wood! Whenever a customer doesn't know which species to use I always suggest walnut


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

Nice cases for sure, :thumbsup:. Beautiful joinery.

I have to assume the only ventilation on that particular model is from the backside given it looks like the case is fully enclosed top and bottom, unless the angle has concealed the vents somehow.

Marantz is still one of the leaders in quality equipment. In fact I was just drooling over some nice Marantz amps this week at the Audio Ark.

http://audioark.com/audio-ark-collection/high-fi-audio/components/

http://www.ca.marantz.com/ca/Produc...Id=HiFiComponents&SubCatId=0&ProductId=SA8005


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

Carvel Loafer said:


> Nice cases for sure,
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The customer is a high end audio store and they had the original boxes so I based the design off of that. You are correct, the only ventilation in on the back which is where the tubes are. Look up Marantz 1 and I you can see how the amps are sitting in the back.


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## gomez11811 (Jul 29, 2012)

Fantastic! I was a "tube nut" from the start (I used ( and constantly had repaired) Fender and Mesa-Boogie amps for playing music), but could only afford the Dynaco stuff ( sounded great) for listening... Now with the Killer look you`ve given those amps, somebody`s gonna be real happy....


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

gomez11811 said:


> Fantastic! I was a "tube nut" from the start (I used ( and constantly had repaired) Fender and Mesa-Boogie amps for playing music), but could only afford the Dynaco stuff ( sounded great) for listening... Now with the Killer look you`ve given those amps, somebody`s gonna be real happy....


Tube sounds amazing, I cannot wait to own a tube amp some day but for now I will continue to make cases for them. Thank you for the compliment!


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

GeorgeC said:


> Marantz equipment was the top of the line in it's day. Worth a lot of money today.
> 
> George


They have kind of gone down into regular consumer stuff now unfortunately. Good thing about old amps is that they are like old tools...they don't get outdated like processors.


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

Beautiful cases by the way.


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

was2ndlast said:


> Beautiful cases by the way.


Thank you! I am currently working 6 more: 2 Marantz, 2 McIntosh, 2 Audio Research. I will post pictures of the finished product this weekend. For some reason I can upload the pictures from my app onto the forum...


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

I was wondering if heat dissipation becomes a problem? I see a lot of designs with the heatsinks integrated into the sides of the chassis. Wood having higher insulation values than metal do you loss some of the radiant efficiency?


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

was2ndlast said:


> I was wondering if heat dissipation becomes a problem? I see a lot of designs with the heatsinks integrated into the sides of the chassis. Wood having higher insulation values than metal do you loss some of the radiant efficiency?


All the amps I have been making cases for originally came with wood cases but have either been lost or ruined. I would make a case for an amp that didn't originally have one because I wouldn't want to have issues with the heat. 

I delivered a couple more boxes today, here's a few pictures:


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

The above looks like a piece of McIntosh equipment I used to have.

George


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## Carvel Loafer (Dec 31, 2011)

Real nice, keep them coming.

I'm no audiophile but I love those old amps, especially with the wood cases. One of mine an older Technics with an original walnut case, not a tube amp but still nice. It's nice to see them come back to life.


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

GeorgeC said:


> The above looks like a piece of McIntosh equipment I used to have.
> 
> George


It's a McIntosh 1500 integrated tube amp, the sound very good.


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## Lennyk (Jan 18, 2014)

Marantz 7c
A true classic piece of equipment


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

Carvel Loafer said:


> Real nice, keep them coming.
> 
> I'm no audiophile but I love those old amps, especially with the wood cases. One of mine an older Technics with an original walnut case, not a tube amp but still nice. It's nice to see them come back to life.


Technics makes some very good sounding equipment, I'd like to see a picture of your amp. 

I just finished 3 more tonight, I'll post pictures tomorrow.


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## Leans (Oct 11, 2014)

Lennyk said:


> Marantz 7c
> A true classic piece of equipment


That's one of my favorites that I have done so far. They sound awesome but the price tag is big.


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