Marantz PM-12SE golden silver

New high-end products from Marantz are always a reason for the audiophile community to celebrate. And the new special edition of the 12 series is no exception to the rule. Marantz Special Editions represent the passion for music that flows through the veins of Marantz’s sound experts and engineers, manifested in the artistry and craftsmanship of these special components. With an unwavering attention to detail, Marantz special editions produce unrivaled Hi-Fi sound that exalts the mastery and emotion of music.

The PM-12SE’s circuitry offers the cleanest signal path thanks to an amplifier that delivers 100W per channel into 8 ohms, or 200Wpc into 4 ohms. Moreover, it is equipped with high-quality nickel-plated copper input terminals and high-purity copper speaker connections.

Current Feedback Amplifier

Current feedback amplification is a well-known original circuit technology from Marantz, designed to meet the demands of high-resolution Super Audio music for wide-band, high-speed reproduction. The impedance at the current feedback point is limited, resulting in very low phase shift. Marantz’s current feedback amplifiers reduce the need for phase compensation by minimizing negative feedback (NFB). This simplifies the signal path and enables high slew rate, excellent transient response, and superb sonic transparency across the entire bandwidth. Unlike conventional voltage feedback topology, current feedback also makes the power amplifier insensitive to difficult speaker loads.

Powerful Amplification

Drawing from the design elements of the PM-10, the PM-12SE is built to leverage improvements, maintain the purest sound possible, and support the power needed to drive the most demanding speakers. The output stage of the PM-12SE’s amplifier allows for high output power, delivering 2x100W into an 8-ohm load, and easily adapts to low impedances with an output of 2x200W into 4 ohms. The amplifier module connects directly to the PM-12SE’s rear panel printed circuit board to maintain signal purity and sound stability.

Pure Analog Design

The PM-12SE’s purely analog design further enhances residual noise reduction: many competing designs today include digital-to-analog conversion, or adopt digital amplification and volume control, but Marantz keeps things as clean and simple as possible with its acclaimed all-analog design. It may seem convenient to have a DAC in the amplifier, but digital circuits are inherently noisy (in the electrical sense) and can interfere with the delicate analog signals passing through the amplifier. That’s why Marantz has chosen to design its Premium Series range without any digital-to-analog conversion, keeping its amplifiers as pure and clean as possible.

Technical Specifications

Amplification

• Effective output power: 100 W (8 Ω), 200 W (4 Ω)
• Number of channels: 2
• Current feedback topology
• Hyper Dynamic Amplifier Module (HDAM)
  • Version SA3
  • Version SA2
• Switching mode power supply (SMPS)
• Symmetrical printed circuit board (PCB)
• Extruded aluminum heat sink

Technologies

• Marantz Musical Premium
• High-end audio components
• Selected components
• Adjustments: balance, bass, treble

Performance

• Frequency response: 5 Hz - 50 kHz
• Total harmonic distortion: 0.005%
• Damping factor: 500
• Input sensitivity:
  • Moving Magnet (MM): 2.3 mV / 39 kΩ
  • Moving Coil (MC): 250 mV / 100 Ω
  • High level: 220 mV / 13 kΩ
• Signal-to-noise ratio:
  • Moving Magnet / Moving Coil (MM/MC): 88/75 dB
  • High level: 107 dB (input 2 V / nominal output)

Connectivity

• 6 audio inputs
• Phono input for Moving Magnet / Moving Coil (MM/MC)
• 2 audio outputs
• Direct power amplifier input
• Gold-plated RCA connectors
• Marantz SPKT-100+ speaker terminals
• 2 speaker outputs
• Digital bus (D-Bus)
• Control bus (2 × 3.5 mm mini-jack)
• Headphone output

Physical Characteristics

• Metal front panel
• Dimensions (W × D × H): 440 × 453 × 123 mm
• Weight: 15.3 kg
• Dimensions with packaging (W × D × H): 557 × 536 × 243 mm
• Weight with packaging: 18.4 kg

Power and Control

• Power consumption in operation: 130 W
• Power consumption in standby: 0.2 W
• Auto power off
• Detachable power cord
• Remote control RC005PMSA