Marantz - America's Greatest Hi-Fi Brand. Sold It for $3M. The Original Amplifiers Now Sell for More

#marantz #hifi #vintageaudio Discover the story behind Marantz amplifiers and why early models now sell for over $10,000 despite the company's rocky start. The Marantz Model 9 amplifier that left Saul Marantz's factory for a few hundred dollars now trades for $10,000-$20,000 — yet the man who built America's greatest hi-fi brand sold the whole company for $3 million in 1964, broke and unable to make payroll. He created the value, then handed it away years before the world caught up. Why would the best at sound nearly bankrupt himself? ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Saul Marantz wasn't even an engineer — he was a graphic artist who couldn't stand how his amplifier colored the music, so he built his own in a Queens basement. With chief engineer Sidney Smith he produced the Model 7 preamp and the Model 9 monoblock that recording studios trusted as their reference standard. Then his masterpiece, the Model 10B FM tuner, was so over-built and under-priced that Marantz lost money on every unit and drained the company's cash. He sold to Superscope, was pushed aside as "President Emeritus," and resigned in December 1967. The brand passed through eight owners to Harman and Samsung — while the original gear he built by hand became worth more than the company that bore his name. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 🏢 BRANDS COVERED Marantz • Superscope • Sony • Philips • Denon • Dahlquist • Harman • Samsung ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The man who sold it too soon 0:43 A graphic artist who hated his amplifier 2:27 Sidney Smith and the most revered amplifiers in America 4:27 The perfect tuner that bankrupted him 6:17 President Emeritus: pushed aside in his own name 8:09 The Marantz you remember was built without him 10:12 The gear outlived the company ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 🎬 MORE PATENT PENDING DOCUMENTARIES ► Stereo Hi-Fi's Rise and Fall: The $1.4B Industry Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui, and Yamaha Built:    • Stereo Hi-Fi's Rise and Fall: The $1.4B In...   ► Reel to Reel: The Lost Sound of the 80s. Here's How Audiophiles Brought It Back.:    • Reel to Reel: The Lost Sound of the 80s. H...   ► 5 Hi-Fi Brands Audiophiles Buy Once and Never SELL:    • The Only 5 Hi-Fi Brands Audio Technicians ...   ► 5 German Hi-Fi Brands That Out-Engineered Japan. And Vanished Anyway:    • 5 German Hi-Fi Brands That Out-Engineered ...   ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 📺 ABOUT PATENT PENDING Every receiver, turntable, and speaker in your living room had a story. We tell them — cinematic documentaries on the Hi-Fi and audio legends that defined an era, and the decisions that killed them. 🔔 Subscribe to Patent Pending:    / @patentpendingstories   #Marantz #VintageHiFi #Audiophile #StereoHistory #AudioDocumentary #VintageAudio #HiFi #TechHistory #BrandStories