Saul B. Marantz, perhaps the man most responsible for the birth of the high-end audio industry, was born the oldest of three children on July 7th, 1911, in New York City.

Much of Saul's early childhood was unremarkable and unrecorded. Although he showed an early aptitude for technology, experimented with crystal radios, crafted a microscope in his early teen years, and hoped to pursue training as an electrical engineer, his family's fortune (or, more accurately, the lack of same) dictated otherwise. Although he was accepted into an exclusive Rapid Advance program in the New York City public schools, he had to leave after the 8th grade to help support his family.

His first job was as a messenger for a now-unknown firm in the NYC financial district. This experience was not altogether positive as he was fired after taking an unauthorized holiday on the "friendly advice" of a jealous co-worker. Fortunately, the young Marantz had spent much of his down time at the same firm's art department and was immediately accepted as an apprentice.

Although Marantz's years of attendance and curriculum are largely unknown, he continued his art training with courses at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. After his formal training, he became a commercial artist serving such clients as Hanes (for whom he may have designed the logo) and General Electric.
He met his future wife, Jean Dickey, in NYC at a St. Patrick's Day party in 1939. A friend who was dating another resident of the "women only" hotel where Jean lived had issued the invitation. Saul and Jean were engaged on Valentine's Day, 1940, and married in October of the same year in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Jean was to play a pivotal role in bringing the name Marantz to the public's attention. She had graduated from Vassar College with a liberal arts degree. After Vassar, she returned to her family's home to attend graduate school in architecture at the University of Minnesota. She left one semester short of her degree after the Department Chairman suggested that, as a woman, she would not be taken seriously in her chosen field. After working for a Persian art dealer, she moved once again to NYC in 1938, where she worked in the accounting office of Macy's. (Although this seems an unlikely preparation, her proficiency with math, particularly calculus, proved invaluable to Saul as he readied the "Audio Consolette," his first product, for sale many years later. Jean's ability at solving complex equations allowed her to calculate the proper values for many of its internal circuit components.)

Saul joined the Army Transportation Service in the spring of 1943 as a civilian employee. (During this time, Jean Marantz stayed with her family in Minnesota.) He was sent to San Francisco in August, then to New Orleans where he began service on a chartered oil tanker. From New Orleans, he went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific theater. During this initial journey, he was awarded a "Shellback Certificate," a document given to everyone crossing the Equator for the first time. The certificate states his nickname as "King Kong," a reference to his hirsute physique.

Although Marantz did not partake in any battles, he spent time in New Guinea, where an Australian pilot, much against regulations, flew him over the Owen Stanley Mountains for a reunion with his brother, Charles, who was stationed there as a member of the military.

Things were not entirely calm for the young Marantz, however. While taking thetanker through the Great Barrier Reef, he discovered that both the Captain and First Mate were "under the influence." Marantz confined both to their quarters and assumed temporary command. No mutiny charges were filed, however, as the Captain later admitted that Marantz's actions were "correct."

During his employment with the Army Transportation Service, Saul earned his GED (Graduate Equivalency Diploma) and, though he was technically a civilian,rose to nominal rank of Major.

After his return, Saul and Jean lived in Woodside, a suburb in the Borough of Queens, New York City, and later moved to Kew Gardens, another Queens neighborhood.

Saul Marantz's musical interests blossomed in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s when friends Karl and Ginny Noell invited Saul and Jean to a meeting of the New York Society of Classical Guitar. The couple soon joined the Guitar Society, as it was called by members, and Saul began guitar lessons shortly thereafter. During this period, the couple met and developed a strong friendship with guitar maestro, Andres Segovia. (Their daughter, June, remembers sitting on Segovia's knee when Segovia visited her parents, probably at the Woodside home. She also remembers a large empty speaker enclosure in the house which she used as hiding place when she was 3 or 4 years old and suggests that this is evidence of her father's co-developing interest in music and electronics.) Vladimir Bobritzski, also a member of the Guitar Society, later authored (under the shortened name "Bobri") a book entitled The Segovia Technique, originally published in 1972. Saul took many photographs of Segovia's fingering style for this book and received the following acknowledgement for his work in the book's Preface: "SAUL MARANTZ who took most of the photographs and spen hours in the darkroom experimenting with prints to achieve a maximum of brilliance and clarity." Marantz's Segovia photos also appear in the booklet accompanying the 4 CD set called "Andres Segovia - A Centenary Celebration" released on the MCA label (MCAD4: 11124).

Reprint by permission of; MarantzPhilips.nl