TRL Marantz Sa-14

Vertigo: Without a doubt the TRL SA-14 sounds better than the XA777 on redbook CD. The way you described the XA777 is exactly the way I would put it: SACD was wonderful and redbook was a bit dry and could be a little uninvolving (but very accurate and true to the recording). SACD on the TRL is at least as good and probably better than the Sony. Keep in mind that I only have 50 hours on my machine.

Pardales: You said, "Keep in mind that I only have 50 hours on my machine."

Just wait until you get to 500 hours ...

My TRL/SA-14 started to really break in at 300 hours and continued to around 500 hours.

Enjoy the ride,

Jack

Agreed on the 300 hour mark for the sound to really start filling out. Bass does not really kick in until then, but when it does you will be quite pleased. 500 hours easy for full break in.

Have fun!

Interesting thread. Where can one find out more about TRL? I've heard positive remarks about their amplifiers but they're out of my price range. What else have they made? Valence

Valence-

Here is their website link.

http://www.tuberesearchlabs.com/
Specific questions to their email listed are usually answered by Paul Weitzel pretty quickly.

They mod most any digital unit or amplifier for a standard fee of $550. Don't ask me why they picked that figure, but most would say it is the deal of the century in audio.
Yes, they make $140,000 SOTA tube amps and $30,000 digital reproduction units. They also do audio recording and engineering projects, cables, Record Cleaning products, CD Treatment projects, and medical field digital technology work on a major scale. They have been around for decades and are generally thought of very postively by those in the audio business.
They are now making a solid state integrated amp that many people like that is around $5000 I think. I have heard it firsthand and it is quite good.

Good luck.