TRL Marantz Sa-14



After speaking to Paul at TRL I am very curious to hear from those who own this unit what improvements do you hear with the player before and after the mod.

The SA-14 sounds weak in the bass and has no dynamics in comparison to some players like the Sony Scd-1 in stock form. Has anyone compared the TRL Sa-14 to the Sony Scd-1?
la45
Lkdog: Thanks for your praise, but I'm no expert. Quick Silver is an amazing product, period. The only downfall of the prodcut is that in audio applications, the sound will suck (bad) for the first 24 to 36 hours. I just let my player run on repeat for 36 hours, came back and shook my head, the sound improved so much!

I've found that you want to use the least amount possible ... that too much can become a problem. (This can probably be said for the other silver conductive pastes, too.) I'd be happy to answer any question regarding Quick Silver from my experience. Either here or at my e-mail jack_seaton@yahoo.com . Brian Kyle (the manufacturer) answered all of my questions, so he might be a more logical source than me ... I don't make the stuff! In short, it works. I have a customer testimony at the XtremeAV.com web site for those seeking more detail. http://xtremeav.com/TestimonialsQSPage1.htm

BTW, I'm very interested in your and Jsala's opinion of the TRL/SA-14. Is it everything you expected?

Jack
Oldpet,

Thanks for the information on the TRL discs. I will get in touch with Paul next week.
I've got about 60 hours on the SA14 now and it is doing well. It continues to be smooth, focused, clean, and coherent. But it is a bit bright on some recordings. Given that it is said to need 500+ hours of break in, I am confident that it will be excellent given how it sounds already.

Jack, I will give the Quicksilver a try just before a short business trip this coming week so that it breaks in while I am away!
Quick update on the break in process-

The TRL Marantz SA14 now has about 140 hours of break in time as I was gone for the holiday weekend and just got back this evening.

The TRL modded Musical Fidelity A300 integrated now has about 200 hours (9-10 days) of break in on it.

Both units will reportedly need at least 500 hours and/or a month or more of break in but I think the character or signature is there at this point.

At this point, the sound seems to be maturing quite well. The lower midbass and lower bass that I was waiting on is now developing a nice physical/visceral quality to enhance it's already extended clean musical nature.

The overall sound of this setup is very very natural and opening up quite a bit.

Jes45- In answer to your question...I had a pretty open mind about expectations. I guess I was hoping for a nice incremental upgrade from the TRL Sony 595 which is a quite wonderful unit itself. I am of the opinion that there is a law of diminishing returns in this crazy hobby and the SA14 plus mod is not cheap, at least for me.

Well, let's just say this appears to be all that I was hoping for and more at this point. Money well spent IMHO at this pretty early point in the break in process.

Will post more as it evolves. This is a very musical unit.
Lkdog
I'm glad to hear that your expectations of the TRL SA-14 are being met. I'm sure that the more you listen the more you will thoroughly enjoy your new player. :-)

paul