I was able to hook up the TRL SA14 this evening. I have not taken any special care, I just plunked it on top of my pre-amp, using rubber-cork-rubber isolation feet. The hardest part was wrestling the CRL Silver power cord into place as it is thick and quite stiff. Eventually, I won.
These players are said to take 500 hours to break in, what more with a brand new power cord containing a huge chunk of metal. So I expected the sound to be poor, perhaps irritating and unmusical. Well, I'm glad to be wrong. It sounds musical and coherent. Right off the bat it displayed flashes of brilliance. As it warmed up it opened up and displayed very good dynamics and deep, tight bass. Actually, it does very little wrong even now and it sounds simply coherent and musical. It isn't yet the best digital I've ever heard as it is sometimes a bit veiled and grainy at the top end, but it absolutely kills the Marantz 9500 and my Scott Nixon TubeDac in every way. Play one of Paul's expertly recorded CDs and wow it sounds natural. In general, the TRL SA14 seeks to get out of the way of the music and just let it flow as a coherent whole. The PRAT is very good and I find myself... for the first time in many many long months... getting immersed in the music and feeling its rhythm and emotion and intuitively feeling the interplay of the various rhythms, instruments and voices.
I'll stop for now. I am quite pleased with the TRL SA14 and am very excited that after 500 hours I can expect it to sound much better. Even the way it sounds now, the $550 is very very much money well spent. This is going to be a great month.
FYI, my system consists of: TRL Marantz SA14 -> Joule Electra LA-100 Mk3 tube pre -> Acoustic Reality eAR Two digital amp -> nOrh 9.0 marble speakers. The SA14 is fed by a balanced power supply, totally isolated from the rest of the system which is fed by another balanced power supply. Cables are from CRL, Bolder Cable, Slinkylinks and Acoustic Reality. I use Echobuster acoustic treatments on the wall behind the speakers and in the room corners by the ceiling.
These players are said to take 500 hours to break in, what more with a brand new power cord containing a huge chunk of metal. So I expected the sound to be poor, perhaps irritating and unmusical. Well, I'm glad to be wrong. It sounds musical and coherent. Right off the bat it displayed flashes of brilliance. As it warmed up it opened up and displayed very good dynamics and deep, tight bass. Actually, it does very little wrong even now and it sounds simply coherent and musical. It isn't yet the best digital I've ever heard as it is sometimes a bit veiled and grainy at the top end, but it absolutely kills the Marantz 9500 and my Scott Nixon TubeDac in every way. Play one of Paul's expertly recorded CDs and wow it sounds natural. In general, the TRL SA14 seeks to get out of the way of the music and just let it flow as a coherent whole. The PRAT is very good and I find myself... for the first time in many many long months... getting immersed in the music and feeling its rhythm and emotion and intuitively feeling the interplay of the various rhythms, instruments and voices.
I'll stop for now. I am quite pleased with the TRL SA14 and am very excited that after 500 hours I can expect it to sound much better. Even the way it sounds now, the $550 is very very much money well spent. This is going to be a great month.
FYI, my system consists of: TRL Marantz SA14 -> Joule Electra LA-100 Mk3 tube pre -> Acoustic Reality eAR Two digital amp -> nOrh 9.0 marble speakers. The SA14 is fed by a balanced power supply, totally isolated from the rest of the system which is fed by another balanced power supply. Cables are from CRL, Bolder Cable, Slinkylinks and Acoustic Reality. I use Echobuster acoustic treatments on the wall behind the speakers and in the room corners by the ceiling.