TRL Marantz Sa-14

Not to be an sa-14 cheerleader, but its redbook was compared to the benchmark dac1 as being very, very close, a dac rated as first rate by every pro reviewer and recording engineer to get there hands on it. John Marks used it as a cornerstone suggested player for $30k'ish systems, if I recall, and there are tons of reviews of the SA-14 suggesting it is superior to anything Sony, denon, philips or most small company offereings under 2-3K. Are you quoting TRL when they say it is "NOT a very good player?" If you are, I'd presonally stay far away from TRL and their mods, as I find the SA-14 quire good and I'd deduce that the TRL house sound is not going to be to my tastes. I know a guy that thinks the SA-14 sounds better then the Esoteric DV-50 on redbook, and plenty of folks have commented that the SA-14 and Esoteric are nearly indestinguishable on SACD. ...ok, I'll put the pom-poms down. I don't own this machine but did at one time and hate to see people that have never listened to it give it a bad shake. I've owned it, among countless $3-5K digital rigs, and its near the top of my list for making music....

Uva hifi the thought never occured to me that the TRL may have a kind of house sound and that it did not matter which player one has. But I can't believe that this assumption could be true. Although Paul does not reveal what changes he makes with his mod, he did indicate that the SA-14 after treatment was comparable to his expensive reference and made no mention that this is true of the Sony players.

For me I am looking for bang for my bucks since digital is changing so quickly and mod ROI (return of investment) is minimal. I hope someone can comment on what effect the TRL mod has had on the stock Marantz SA-14 or any other hi-end player.

Thanks

UVA, the DV-50 was probably the worst sounding 2ch cd player I ever owned. By default, the Marantz 14 would most certainly have to "sound" better. It is my opinion these days, that there does not exist a stock player at or below approx the 8k price range that is worth my listening time. As far as TRL is concerned, I ordered a SA-11 to hear for myself how it compares to the stock unit I owned. Again, the stock SA-11 I view as worthless.

Uva_hifi, do you know how the SA-14 compares to the SA-11S1? Seems like people either love the SA-11S1 or hate it. According to a review on Positive Feedback, the SA-14 really didn't sound significantly different than the Marantz 8620 SACD player, which goes around $800 these days. The reviewer went on to say that the Marantz engineers acknowledged this, and the new model(SA-11S1)is supposed to rectify the shortcommings of the SA-14.

Very good questions by all.
It does seem to be the case by some modders to make extreme claims about their new and improved mod that they are now offering that "blows away" whatever they did before to that unit. Makes you wonder. Especially if you blew several thousand dollars on their mod from last year. I should say that I tend to gravitate toward the mod as an enhancement approach versus modding as re-engineering school. If you have to replace almost all parts and totally re-engineer a unit-why did you buy that unit?

FWIW, it appears that TRL uses their $30,000 processor as a reference. They have not made claims to my knowledge that the Sony 595, then the Sony 2000 almost equals it, and then next week claim something else almost equals it. They avoid extreme hyperbole in their comments from what I have seen.
They do have opinions, however FWIW. Every modder does.

They do seem to think that the 2000 is a slight improvement on the 595 in certain ways. They seem to apparently think that the SA14 and SA11's are better mod platforms than the 2000, and also the Esoterics, and Denons they have worked on. They are assessing other models.

Actually, TRL thinks the SA14/SA11's are great units by all communication I have had with them. That does not mean that they do not feel that there are areas that can be improved upon. There are posters on this thread who feel strongly that the SA14/SA11's have issues. You get that with any well reviewed unit though, including the Benchmark, et al.

Whether the TRL mod to these or any units is truly what you also idealize as better can become subjective without a doubt.

Now, if Jack Seaton (Jes45) can pipe in here, he can provide more clarity than any of us as he has heard most of these TRL modded units firsthand.