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Dynamic - energetic - alive<br />
www.gamutaudio.com 150 TONE AUDIO NO.78 facebook.com/gamutaudio usa@gamutaudio.com 888-252-249<br />
REVIEW<br />
Equally admired and perhaps even more<br />
sought after than the original, are the two<br />
subsequent reissues: the first, Marantz 9k,<br />
Handcrafted in Denmark<br />
was released in 1978, was available in kit form<br />
and required the owner’s assembly. Then<br />
in 1995, Marantz commissioned VAC (Valve<br />
Amplification Company) to remake an exact<br />
RS3 - The ultimate standmount<br />
replica of the original Model 9 monoblocks.<br />
The 1995 recreation was an instant hit<br />
worldwide, and it became the best selling<br />
high-end amplifier in Japan in 1997. A mint pair<br />
of the original or the reissues, if found at all,<br />
“The new GamuT RS3 stand-mounted two-way.<br />
Finished in beautiful cabinetry with integral<br />
stands, the $19,000 RS3 was one of the show’s<br />
musical highlights, with a spacious yet focused<br />
usually comes with a price tag anywhere from<br />
$20,000 to $40,000, the vast majority of them<br />
being snapped up by collectors in Asia.<br />
presentation, natural timbres, and engaging<br />
Ten years after the VAC reissue, the idea to<br />
musicality.”<br />
resurrect the Marantz 9 was conceived once<br />
Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound - October 2015<br />
again, this time by Steve Rowell, President of<br />
Audio Classics Ltd. in Binghamton, New York.<br />
“GamuT’s RS3 standmount monitors are one of the<br />
Steve is no stranger to the audio world: he is<br />
two finest loudspeakers I’ve ever had in my home.<br />
one of very few audio shop owners to appear<br />
I’ve prized the time I’ve spent with them because,<br />
in very many ways, they’ve shown me a way<br />
in the McIntosh book For the Love of Music,<br />
forward toward higher levels of performance that<br />
by Ken Kessler. Born of Hi Fi blood, or should<br />
I thought possible”<br />
we say McIntosh blood, Steve is infamous for<br />
Chris Martens, Hi-Fi+, September 2015<br />
his impeccable customer service. Most of his<br />
much-coveted customer base of over 150,000,<br />
“If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I was<br />
listening to much bigger speakers! These (RS3) are<br />
stunning small monitors that deliver big speaker<br />
sound!”<br />
Jeff Dorgay, Tone Audio - THE SHOW, Newport 2015<br />
which he has been accumulating since the<br />
early ’80s, are McIntosh customers.<br />
“I may sell a lot of McIntosh, but I am also<br />
a big fan of the Marantz. We sold a lot of those<br />
throughout the years.” He wanted to produce<br />
“The (RS3) speaker proved so wonderfully<br />
a modern version of the amplifier retaining the<br />
descriptive of the textures and timbres of acoustic<br />
look of the original, with an updated circuit<br />
and electronic sounds that it was never anything<br />
and modern parts. After the merge of Denon<br />
other than wholly captivating.”<br />
& Marantz into D&M Holdings in 2002, Steve<br />
John Bamford, HiFi news, 2014<br />
pitched the Marantz 9 reissue idea to D&M,<br />
but corporate strategy of D&M no longer favors<br />
the high cost point to point wiring of the<br />
original design. He even approached McIntosh,<br />
which has had several successful series<br />
of reissues, but were too busy making their<br />
own amps. In 2013, Steve approached Kevin<br />
Hayes of VAC, the maker of the original Marantz<br />
reissues, clinching the deal. In 2015, the<br />
Audio Classics 9B was born. (continued)<br />
AUGUST 2016 151
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