TRL Marantz Sa-14

Has anyone sent a high end cdp such as a Cary to TRL to be modded and with what results?

They have done over 600 units in the past year.
Many very high end units to my knowledge of all makes and models. They have also worked on many very expensive modded units from other modders.

I would contact Paul. Remember-they make a $30,000 digital unit themselves.
You will be surprised as to what they have found is best to mod in their opinion. It does not always equate with stock unit price.

The SA14 in this thread was a $3000 stock unit like your Cary.
FWIW, I had a Cary 308 which I liked very much, but even the entry level modded TRL/Sony 595 was signiicantly better IMHO and that was a $150 stock unit.

Another opinion to get might be from Empirical Audio as Steve Nugent also has a wide range of experience and a solid rep.
Good luck.

Hi Bradz

I don't like to tell people which way they should go, so I'm not going to start now. :-)
But - I'm not sure of the costs of the DACs you are considering. The TRL mod costs about $550. Do the DACS compare with the price of the TRL mod? I believe, unless TRL has changed policy, Paul will give your money back if you are not happy with the mod.

If you ask Paul for comparisons I'm sure he'll be accurate in doing so.

Lkdog has comparitive info on the TRL mods. (Cary 308 vs TRL Sony) I can say, that the Player is detailed/extended in its frequency presentation/dynamic, yet smooth. I really enjoy my CDP. As I've said to others It would take alot to convince me to part with my TRL SA-14.

Bottom line= Ask Paul how he thinks the Cary will stack up. I'd trust his judgement. But that's just me :-)

I really hope you can work through you decision making.

best
paul

TRL sent out my SA-14 last thursday via USPS. Hopefully, it will finally arrive today. I can't wait to hear it. I realize it will take 500 hours break-in to be at its best. My digital amps needed at least 300 hours to be listenable so I am familiar with the drill. Bob

La45: Hey Cuz, yeah, I'd give him a try at it. You might want to give him a call and see what he thinks.

Bradz: Clio09 can give you some insight on the Audio Mirror DAC, before and after mod.

Best,

Jack

Hi,

I am new here; but now that I have a Marantz SA-14 v.2 myself, I think I'll give my opinion.
I bought my (ex demo) SA-14/2 over the Internet from SaleHifi; a Hong Kong eShop. It arrived a week ago. So right out of the box -- with to cold of transport at 10kms above Siberia still in its bones -- I hooked it up, and had a listen. Yes... beautiful rich sound; but the low highs put quite some pressure on my ears. After 24h in the cosiness of my home, and Zappa on repeat, that was almost gone: everything was more in balance.

I have been breaking it in for a week now: Mahler V (Concertgebouw orchestra), Zappa 'Hot Rats' and Cathy Berberian (Berio; Folk Songs and Kurt Weill) on repeat. That aught to tame the beast!
It is getting better every day; not as spectacular as the first few days, but still...

If there is one CD that justifies buying the SA-14, then it is 'Sure thing' (the Jerome Kern Songbook) by Sylvia McNair and André Previn. Ah... listen to track 10: "All the things you are" Splendid.
No... wait: listen to that phrase at 1:05 min: 'you are the breathless hush of evening...', how tender and fragile that 'hush'.
Yes folks: piano and female voice; the Marantz excels with that!
The SA-14 is a perfect RBCD-player, that -- by the way -- also plays SACDs.

The other day I hooked up my old CD-player again: Tjoeb '98.
And yes: all the things that are on the CD are shown by the Tjoeb as well. But you really have to listen quite carefully.
The SA-14 presents the music, the emotion with a sovereign ease. It has a quietness over it, that is hard to explain. It is by far the most inaudible player I've ever heard. And that is only on plain vanilla RBCD!

Hmmmm.. I love this machine! Even my wife can hear the difference with the old Tjoeb.

Oh... you all know that the SA-14 is out of production. But SaleHiFi.Com still has it on their price list; maybe they still can get hold of one. So if you are interested: drop them an e-mail.
But please note: it might be a 230V / 50Hz machine!

Question: Is anyone of you guys using it as a SACD player?