TRL Marantz Sa-14

Hello everyone,

Just back from vacation and now have my Marantz SA-14 back from TRL. Will hook it up later tonight or sometime tomorrow and will report back my initial impressions.

Jack

Hi,

LKdog, thanks for sharing your impressions on the differences. I just heard the Marantz SA-1 player side by side comparison to a Technics table (highly modified) and great LP playback system. Vinyl rules and the difference in this system is a 'character' that digital has yet to achieve and may not achieve. Sacd does this character at the surface level but the intrinsic 'character' is deep within the music itself. The LP seems to grab this by the throat.

The Marantz player is very impressive indeed. Sacd playback was outstanding and cd's had lots of bounce in the midrange but sacd just trounces it in the lower midrange and very top end areas. The LP just elevates all aspects of music beyond sacd. They each satify on different levels however and I can live with the Marantz or LP since they both make it easy.

This is just my observation on comparing the experience of the two mediums.

La45- Yes, the mediums are different for sure. My Technics has the KAB modified arm with the trough/paddle thing to address the alleged tonearm refinement complaints. The Hagerman Cornet tube phono stage was a revelation when I added that. Wonderful piece of gear. The Dyna 10X5 moving coil is sweet. Very satisfying to me, although quite modest setup.

I love both mediums, but sometimes that character thing you talk about can only be satisfied with a great LP.

Jes45- Let us know what you think about your SA14 as it runs in. I have about 350 hours on mine after a little break.

Lkdog- You are so right on the "a great LP" will hit the target. So many more great LP sources than what I have seen on modern day redbook. Your set up sounds like its cooking though and I would love to get back into vinyl again.

Jes45- Hope you are trying cycle-burning the SA-14. Play system 24 hours 3 days then turn completely off for 1 whole day. Slower but nice results IMHO.

TRL Family: I just installed my SA-14 after the TRL mod and gave it a quick hour listen. The guys left my player on a redbook CD on repeat with a load on the outputs for around 4 days before I picked it up. So, it is still very fresh, if you know what I mean.

Initial impressions are very impressive. The dynamics jump right out at you. The background is very black and tightly focused. I should stop myself first and let you all know that Paul, Brian and Joel have came up with some new mods for the SA-14. Brian and Paul are e-mailing past TRL SA-14 owners informing them of the latest mods and letting them know that they will install the updated mods for TRL SA-14 owners FREE OF CHARGE, you only pay shipping each way. Tony Riordan, our very own Lkdog, was the first to have this update done. I waited and had their entire mod done at once, this last week, when I was gone on vacation. I should note that the TRL SA-14 mod is still only $550, even with the "new areas addressed".

I have heard the TRL SA-14 without and with the latest mods. The latest mod really improves the dynamics, has a little more low midrange/high bass warmth and has better soundstaging. Focus is improved too, which is probably tied in with the lowered background noise.

To me this was already an incredible bargain. They aren't charging a premium for the recent updates and are doing the mods free for past TRL SA-14 owners. This speaks volumes about TRL as a company and about the Weitzel's in general. This type of customer service is unheard of anymore, regardless of the Industry.

I'm going to get back to my new toy ... it's calling for me.

Best,
Jack