TRL Marantz Sa-14

This discussion is so repetitious and boring. I had a Marantz SA-14 TRL and it was very good. I recently bought a preowned a stock Marantz SA-1 and compared. Hate to say it but the Marantz SA-1 smoked the SA-14 TRL in every aspect. I was in the room with four other listeners and we all agreed a Marantz SA-1 is superior in all facets. So my SA-14 TRL is getting moved to the bedroon and the Marantz SA-1 is in my main system.

The essence is try to find a preowned Marantz SA-1 and you'll understand and justify why it was a $7500 player.

Hchi. I left my Marantz SA-1 in stock but there are mods that can be done with it. Have not heard the mods with the SA-1. But I can tell you the truth that a stock Marantz SA-1 destroys a TRL Marantz SA-14. It's unfair because the Marantz SA-1 was a $7500 rarely discounted unit verse the $3000 highly discounted SA-14. Talk to Marantz America and they'll tell you that from a design and sound perspective it does not get any better than a stock Marantz SA-1.

I have a MAC402 amp, Audio Research Reference II preamp,Marantz SA-1 (still have the SA-14 TRL but used in another system, and Wilson 7 speakers, AQ Kiliminjaro spkr cables, Kimber Select interconnects,a and BMI Cables Hammerhead Gold/ag silver power cables. Very, very satisfying two channel system.

*Here is a little tid bit on Marantz SA-1 mod if you want to go that road. I personally say leave this classic SA-1 stock. And Marantz America agrees with me.

The Marantz SA-1 is a World Class -No Holds Barr Design SACD/CD player intended to be the Flagship of the line. It has been around for nearly 5 years and has already been the target of modifications. Audiocom in the UK was probably the first to really hotrod this player by executing improvements to jitter performance and power supply resulting in a much improved performance. Retailing for over $7500 USD great sound is expected but the intriguing question was always, how much further could after market modifications take it?

Fortunately, a curious gentleman was interested in taking the SA-1 to new limits and was willing to guinea pig his player for our R&D. By the way, we appreciate his patience throughout the process…Thanks. Searching for increased performance is the area of our business I enjoy the most! "Tweaking" we call it, and I love it! Nothing like popping the hood of an already high end player looking to turn it into something truly spectacular.

What can one expect form a stock SA-1? "Musical" comes to mind. The stock sound is pleasantly smooth. Music was round as if we added a very euphonic SET amplifier to our system. Some may approve whole heartily but we were simply disappointed. I believe that resolution is the key to musical involvement and euphonism is just a distorted coloration there to mask the sound of possibly associated inferior products to make things nice and listenable. If I were to rate the player in terms of overall performance with 100 being the best we have had in our system I would give it a 65. Sorry…but this player was to my ears a wet rag lacking in any resolution and dynamics while the pace and timing were not exemplary.

So what to do? I have learned and experienced for quite some time now that the output stage is generally responsible for killing resolution and squashing dynamics. I must give credit to my friend Ric Schultz of Electronic Visionary System who has always preached this to me and which I now always focus on because he is absolutely correct here. Removing as much of the filtering and gain stage as possible really allows the music to flow through and what you hear is greatly improved detail, extension, slam, and micro dynamics. Music becomes incredibly palpable and present. The SA-1 has so much output stage or what they call the HDAM's that it is no wonder that it lacks any sort of resolution. After a bit of R&D we decided to remove the entire top PCB containing the HDAM's and the 4 TDA1547's. We actually kept just 2 dac chips and literally cut the PCB to ~ 3" X 3". The 2 TDA1547's are now buffered and sent directly to 2 Audio Consulting silver coupling transformers. The digital interface was re-routed to use only one dac chip per channel rather then 4 thus creating a much purer and direct signal path.
The results were incredible!! Resolution, resolution, and more resolution!! This was a phenomenal step of the mod because now we could here the potential of this beast. Let's move to the next stage.

The clock circuit was the next area of improvement and it goes without saying we replaced the stock part with the superb Superclock 2(33.38688 MHz). Lowering the jitter has such a profound effect on sound because the hard edged fundamentals now take on a clear and distinct characteristic. Music locks into focus and spatial cues are more prominent and easier to hear. Also, sound takes another step forward in dynamics bringing more energy to the room like live music. No need for more praise as we feel the Superclock 2 is quite proven with any player at any price.

It is now routine to improve power supply capacitors, internal wiring, and adding Bybee filters. All of these stages of modifications simply deliver much more lifelike qualities. Uniquely, we only use the Bybee filters in the signal path where we hear much greater inner resolution and clarity with no drawbacks in dynamics or pace. A rare case of more is actually better!! The Bybees are superb! Something new for the Marantz was a full C37 lacquer treatment to all the IC's. This produces a stunning improvement! It seems to add a natural more vivid presentation with improvements to resolution too. Why? I really do not know entirely but Mr. Dieter Ennemoser in a way claims it has certain properties our ears and brains relate to thus we hear better sound. Whatever it is I am a believer… Hearing really is believing.

So, that's essentially the modification and from the picture below you can see it is a completely different player now. Completely different looking and absolutely better sounding. I would confidently rate the modded Marantz at a stunning 105 because it is the finest sounding mod we have accomplished to date. Take your Marantz and mod it…you will be shocked at the improvement!!!

Installation
Please contact Reference Audio Mods by e-mail at sales@referenceaudiomods.com or by phone at (909)353-8948 for installation.

To clarify the little bit remarks on the Marantz SA-1 I am dead set against the Modification. I have not heard the Mod but doing research and Marantz America's advice to leave the SA-1 stock is your best bet. Both from a present owner and anybody that may buy one preowned in the future. Marantz America told me that the SA-1 is highly sought afte in the Asian market. And they said even 10,20 years down the line audiophiles will be seeking to find an SA-1. Only 1000 units were ever made, and less than half were shipped to the USA for Marantz America distribution.

Now they were not my words that the stock SA-1 was lame. They were the words copied and pasted from "Reference Audio Mods" website about the Modification. Of course they are going to say the Mod is going to make the SA-1 sound fabulous. They charge over $2900 for the basic Mod and if you go the full mod from "Reference Audio Mod" you can speand over $8000 which would include a nice wood cabinet for the SA-1.

So to reiterate the Marantz SA-1 stock alone is incredible. And what I am trying to say is that you can take a full modded up Marantz SA-14 and it will still not come close to a stock SA-1. Again it is unfair to make the comparison regarding the Marantz SA-1 was a no holds barr design to begin with at $7500 msrp. While the Marantz SA-14, SA-14mk.2, SA-12si, SA-11 were all in the $3K price range and massively produced by Marantz. Plus the SA-1 was so limited very few were discounted while the step down SA-14, SA-11 .. were found new under $2400.

Talk to Marantz America (Co inventors with Sony). Actually Philips invented the hardware and Sony the software , just like over 20 years earlier with the 16 bit CD technology. Marantz America will tell you honestly that SACD technology doesn't get any better that what is in the SA-1. And that whoever has one should be lucky and hold on to it, for the future demand will be very high.