Topic: Stock Marantz 660. Worth a damn???

[DATPAT]

I just bought a stock 660 and am fairly happy with it but I don't know what to compare it to since I never used a seperate Pre and haven't used it with any of the usual mic's yet. I used to tape quite a bit back in the 90's. I used a DA-P1 Dat and a Marantz DAT (Model #?) looked like a brick. The same deck was available under Aiwa and HHB. I never once used a seperate mic pre because I couldn't afford it. I ran several AKG Models including C-61 Tube's,  460's and a vintage Electret condenser called a SE-10. I was generally happy with the sound I got with both dec's and I wonder if the current pre's are about as good as the ones that were the old Dat decks I used. Especially compared to the Marantz DAT since it was from the some manufacturer. My only concern is in the spec. it listed a S/N Ratio of 80db. I thought most digital recorders were generally 90db and up. Anyhow I used it with some Oktava's the other night and was fairly happy.