2. digital
  3. 1112823308

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
la45 OP
242 posts
 
Lkdog-

It made everything very articulate and coherent. I compared it to the Acoustic Zen Matrix II. While the Zen adds more body, bass and warmth, the Ori cable is wonderful in speed, balance, and low noise. Of the two, the Oritek is more neutral. It also adds more emotion, you just feel more connected to the sound.

The Oritek X-1 noise level is very low so there is alot of "air" around instruments especially cymbals, saxophone (try Antiphone Blues cut 2)and guitar strings. Very involving indeed.

Enyas voice (Watermark) is more articulate, I can understand her words. Very nice improvement especially at the used price found on Audiogon. Its a keeper.
clio09
3,363 posts
 
I am going to be trying the Oritek X-2 shortly on my TRL Sony DVP-NS900V. If I see a used X-1 I'll be all over it. Too much has been said about these cable to ignore them.
la45 OP
242 posts
 
Lkdog,

Thats great to hear. I was wondering if I really needed to consider making another change and frankly I wanted to settle with something good. And the TRL Marantz SA-14 is really good! The one thing Paul mentioned was that the Sony NS900 had even lower noise (less digital noise). So I worked on the Marantz and it has improved in this area.

ClioO9,

Lkdog says the Sony NS-900 is different than the Marantz TRL. Is this your opinion also?

Let me know how the X-2 works in your set up. I might make the same move to the X-2. There is something 'just right'. The ship has arrived response with the Oritek in the system is very satisfactory.
lkdog
417 posts
 
La45-

It is a bit hard to put my finger on the difference. Paul says the 900 measures out the most neutral of any unit they have modded. This can be a good thing, or not, depending upon your
perspective. The SA14 probably had a slight lower midbass and/or lower range bump that I really liked. Maybe it was just the interaction in my system. Since TRL modded my integrated amp also-it is very neutral also so I think I can discern source and cable nuances pretty well..
Both units are incredibly quiet, detailed, and void of glare.
Maybe I will try the Oriteks sometime. Many folks like them.
clio09
3,363 posts
 
La45 - I'll report on the Sony when I get it, hopefully this week. However, I have never heard the TRL Marantz so I can't make a direct comparison.

I actually spotted a pair of 1m Oritek X-1 ICs here today and bought them. I'll compare them to the X-2s and a few other cables I have lying around.
More to discover