TRL Marantz Sa-14

Pick up a preowned Marantz SA-1 sacd/cd player and end your search. I own two Marantz SA-1's and ditched every dac/transport combo you can ever imagine. In excess of $50K combination units.

Hi Cuz,

I had a hunch that anti-static materials might have some affect. I used an antistatic enclosure from a chip.

The reason I mention it here is to report that I heard the sound change to a more solid character and wanted some of you to try it and report back here.

I want to add a larger anti-static sheet to cover the top of the transport area since the sheet I have is 8"x 5 3/4" small. Since this is all experimental I can't offer any guidance on size or offer any info on if there are different anti-static ratings. Anyone out there that knows about this aspect are welcome to comment.

I fully appreciate the note on the Marantz SA-1 player as a "search is over" final component. I have noticed that they are now appearing on the re-sale market for a good price. I just wish they were a little closer to my budget.

Lou

La45-
Will give the antistatic sheet a try tonight.
I build computers on the side for fun and have a lot of these sheets laying around in back.
I am always open to tweaks and enhancements that might add an element to the sound.
The best recent ones I have found are the RRL Shine Ola CD cleaner stuff, the QuickSilver Contact enhancer, and plumber's teflon tape wrapped on the tubes of my Hagerman Cornet phono stage.

My system sits on a DIY heavy MDF shelving racks that are mounted on threaded rods, and I am on a basement floor so I have some good things going as far as vibration. Static in the winter is terrible in my house though. Probably better now that we are entering the humid season in the Midwest.

Mfslgoldcd-

I am sure the SA-1 is a wonderful player similar in some ways to the Sony SCD-1 as far as venerable former flagship models. I see they are going for 3-4K$ at this point.

The TRL SA14 investment is quite a bit less, however, and I guess that makes it quite attractive since it also seems to be giving people a reference player level listening experience.
I am quite impressed with this unit as it breaks in now at about 260 hours.

La45: Thanks Cousin for your insight. I'll try your tweak later this week and will get back to you over the weekend. I use anti-static spray on my cables from time to time, which seems to really help, so it makes sense that there may be some magic in your tweak. By the way, how did you come up with the idea? It's a good idea ...

Everyone: On a side note, I got my SA-14 V2 a few days ago and will run it at home for a few days to get a feel for it. I plan on sending it to the TRL crew within a week or two for their wonderful mod. More on that later. (Can't wait for the mod).

Lkdog: So, you have 260 hours on your SA-14. That means you are about half way there. My friend didn't keep close enough tabs on the hours, but I'm guessing that he has around 700 hours on his now. It sure is a nice analog sounding player. I can't wait.

Lkdog-

Just an update. Where you position the sheet makes a difference. Under the TRL 2000es is the best location and I also attached a fine silver wire between the sheet and the player and ran it to a metal weight.

Sonic improvement: "Gypsy Soul" track called "Slash" the heavy guitar since it is recorded close miked has less reverb. As a matter of fact I will have to say due to the tweek this resonance all but elimintate from my speakers.

For those who do not have this disc try "Tiny Island" on Opus 3 label track 4 the first 50 seconds is a small instrument that some of you will recognize. Try the before and after test and you will hear what this tweek does.

Jes45-

Yep you are right Jack. Running a wire from the static enclosure to a ground will probably be more effective than what I made up. It removed feedback from the close miked guitar and removed a compressed bass anomaly from the "Gypsy Soul" disc-new flamenco. Everything sounds more vinyl and has an added character that just simply keeps you drawn to the music. The bass got firmer and gutsier and the top end smoothed out. In this Hobby this type of improvement would cost over $200.

The flamenco disc by the way has Jesse Cook, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia, Ottmar Liebert etc. In the wrong system the disc is bright and aggressive but when everything is jelling, its very very good. Nice test disc.

Lou