Okay, I've got a little over 200 hours on the TRL modded Sony. Supposedly it's not fully burned in until about 500 hours. So keep in mind, it's still got a ways to go. Also keep in mind, this is all in my room, with my equipment, in my opinion.
In it's stock form, the Sony sucked. It was harsh and lacked dynamics and detail, at either end of the frequency spectrum.
My last two cd players were the highly praised Rotel 1072 and the Marantz 8260. I was fairly happy with both. I thought the Marantz offered more detail and was more musical.
For close to the same price, the TRL modded Sony absolutely blows those two players away. This thing is AWSOME! I can honestly say, I have NEVER heard digital sound this good. And it keeps getting better. I don't just mean more detail, which it has, or lower lows and higher highs, which it has, or better dynamics, which it has, but it just sounds more like live music.
I've been listening to cd's as opposed to LP's for about the last 20 years. So I know that some of the recordings are crap. I know they can sometimes be harsh and digital. But I didn't know that a lot of this was coming from the player. I've listened to players up to about $3000 and every one had this "digital" sound. The TRL mod does not sound like any digital player I have ever heard. It's smooth, dynamic, lush, liquid, etc, etc, etc.
I know some people will never try this because it's a Sony and it only costs about $800. I almost didn't try it for the same reasons. I asked Paul at TRL twice, "I know you can mod my Marantz, are you sure the Sony will sound better?". His response was "I think the Sony, in some ways, sounds better than a modded SA-14". I haven't heard a modded SA-14, so I can't say. But I can say, I will be keeping this player for a LONG time. I would imagine I'd have to spend close to $5000 to better this thing in any significant way. Plus it plays dvd's and sacd's. What more could I ask for? Maybe a digital input.
Feel free to email me with questions.
E-
In it's stock form, the Sony sucked. It was harsh and lacked dynamics and detail, at either end of the frequency spectrum.
My last two cd players were the highly praised Rotel 1072 and the Marantz 8260. I was fairly happy with both. I thought the Marantz offered more detail and was more musical.
For close to the same price, the TRL modded Sony absolutely blows those two players away. This thing is AWSOME! I can honestly say, I have NEVER heard digital sound this good. And it keeps getting better. I don't just mean more detail, which it has, or lower lows and higher highs, which it has, or better dynamics, which it has, but it just sounds more like live music.
I've been listening to cd's as opposed to LP's for about the last 20 years. So I know that some of the recordings are crap. I know they can sometimes be harsh and digital. But I didn't know that a lot of this was coming from the player. I've listened to players up to about $3000 and every one had this "digital" sound. The TRL mod does not sound like any digital player I have ever heard. It's smooth, dynamic, lush, liquid, etc, etc, etc.
I know some people will never try this because it's a Sony and it only costs about $800. I almost didn't try it for the same reasons. I asked Paul at TRL twice, "I know you can mod my Marantz, are you sure the Sony will sound better?". His response was "I think the Sony, in some ways, sounds better than a modded SA-14". I haven't heard a modded SA-14, so I can't say. But I can say, I will be keeping this player for a LONG time. I would imagine I'd have to spend close to $5000 to better this thing in any significant way. Plus it plays dvd's and sacd's. What more could I ask for? Maybe a digital input.
Feel free to email me with questions.
E-