Marantz Slim Series

Marantz CR2020
Marantz SR1041
Marantz CD1020
Marantz AV1041
Marantz SD2020
Marantz DC1020
Marantz SD1040
Marantz CM1040
Marantz MD2020

Yes : that's how many you could get from the Slim Series !

Launched alongwith the well remembered Design Series' Layla in the mid 1990s, the Slim Series was available in seven colors, assembled in five different systems or... whatever the customer would fancy !
A multi-slant less austere than where Braun went with its Atelier series throughout the 1980s.

Available were receivers (CR2020, SR1041), CD/MD combos (CM1040), CD/k7 combos (DC1020), CD players (CD1020), Dolby-Surround processors (AV1041), MD recorders (MD2020) and cassette recorders (SD2020 & SD1040)

Each finished either in silvery grey, red, blue, green, "cosmos black" (never seen any), amber and midnight blue - must have cost quite a bit to make that many components available in that many colors.

Shown below are the five "preset" systems : Irizio (silver), Duetto (blue), Terzo (amber), Evviva (red) and Avanti (green).

However, seemingly, customers were a bit lost within the many possibilities and this multi-shape series didn't sell very well...
The idea was good, the looks and colors were well balanced, especially the green.

Not exactly high-end for sure but neither lo-fi at all, the Design Series' components were priced according to their fair sonic ambitions and very good looks - so what happened ?


(btw, Marantz made another set of Slim components, the "Slimaria", with much less success in design and even less... sales.
And whoever thought of Slimaria as a series' name should have been fired on the spot :)