Marantz SM-80
Marantz SC-80
(1991 - 1995)

Export-only pre/power combo, the bright star of which is the SM-80 power amplifier.
Derived from the very successful PM-80 series (and its many many many many versions), the SM-80 was a good amplifier with an ample power reserve and a somewhat "polite" frequency response : never bright, never aggressive and very strong in the bass department.

I owned one for many years and it powered quite efficiently my terrible Janszen electrostatics. The only mod' I did then (audiophile days...) was to bypass the four big 12,000µf / 63V power caps for a very audible difference, a much faster bass and more transparent low mids. The power section is a double push-pull of Toshiba 2SA1301 / 2SC3280 which each can dissipate 120W. Strong, sturdy, efficient. No ICs in the signal path and only discrete components.

The SC-80 preamplifier is less of a good component -albeit not bad- but was obviously an add-on. It does sport unconventional features such as transformer-balanced output plugs... in RCA format !
The four output terminals (1L, 1R, 2L, 2R) allow thus to either use two bridged SM-80 for a true dual-mono structure or use only one set of outputs with a single stereo amp - with the phase inverted... A bit strange but coherent with the MA series of amps which allowed to be bridged as phase+ or phase- amplifiers.
I tested the SC-80 for a while and gave it back - my Sony TA-E80ES was vastly superior in all areas.

Solid construction if rather "industrial" but a PM-99SE was much much more expensive ! The diecast sideburns were a very nice (heavy) touch. Available in black with grey sideburns (more) or in champagne with dark-gold sideburns (less).