I have the Marantz Pm14s1 special edition. Fantastic quality amp, loads of power precision and detail. Smooth and controlled. Very musical indeed. Brings your music to life. Worth finding with the matching SA14S1SE CD player.

None. Worth every penny. Buy with confidence.

Tengo el PM14KI desde hace mas de 10 años conectado a unas B&W 803 con un cd17ki y jamas se me ocurrio cambiar de equipo.
Eso lo dice todo.

Bass, warmth without detracting from the orignal intent, sense of control and low end grunt - does not need to be played at full power for good results - assuming sensitive speakers. Oh yes - it is built like a Sherman tank! Absolutely bomb proof, lovely WBT terminals - with a gorgeous remote and I admit to quite liking the temperature monitor - has that quirky retro feel about it.

Had to wait for ages to get one - the German reviewed it well at launch and so struggled to get UK stock. Almost 30kgs worth of amp - does not make for much experimenting with hifi rack positions! Nothing else.

Absolutely superb machine, I purchased the KI version which as some fancy up-grades on the passive components - does not impose on the source and has a lovely way of smoothing out imperfections. It does tend to be a bit warm - personally I see that as a real bonus at I love RnB and Jazz. Can listen to it for hours with no sense of fatigue - just continual pleasure. Bass is very good, as well as the sound staging - likes its vocals too - in that hi-end japanese way it brings the vocals to the front of any music where intended. Rest of equipment includes: CD 7, DR 17 from Marantz B&W CDM9 NT Speakers Van den Hul interconnects

Similar Products Used:

PM 14 non-KI, PM 17, MF A308,

see above.

none.

Far better than my old amp (Sony 555 es mkII). Soundstage is better. Overall sound is wider, more detailed, it draws you into the music. Build quality is excellent. Remote as well. Besides, it's very stable and the overall sound is more controlled. Excellent value for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Sony TA-F 555 ES mkII.

Powerful and beautiful. In my setup i find it perfect with much detail and air. In my present search for amp this was the winner. 5 stars.

SMOOTHNESS,REFINEMENT,SOPHISTICATION,CLARITY,SOUNDSTAGING,STEREO EFFECTS, DETAIL AND ER... DETAIL! SPECIALLY IN THE UPPER BASS DEPARTMENT NEVER REALISED BASS COULD BE SO VARIED.I WAS VERY SCEPTICAL ABOUT PAYING £1800 FOR AN INTEGRATED AMP(IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A DISCOUNT!) AND IT IS EASILY THE MOST I HAVE EVER PAID FOR A PIECE HI FI BUT I CAN HONESTLY SAY IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY.THE BUILD QUALITY IS IMMEDIATLEY APPARENT AS YOU LIFT IT FROM THE BOX AND IT WEIGHS VERY VERY HEAVY SO NEEDS SOME SUBSTANTIAL SHELVING TO HOLD IT.IT HAS A BEAUTIFUL HIGH QUALITY REMOTE CONTROL IN SILVER FINISH WITH CUTE GOLD BUTTONS WHICH ARE WELL LAID OUT.THE PERFECT ADDITION FOR ANY DISCERNING COFEEE TABLE WATCHER! IT HAS 2 SETS OF VERY STRONG SPEAKER TERMINALS (GOOD FOR BIWIRING) PLENTY OF IN/OUTPUTS INCLUDING A GOOD SOUNDING MM/MC INPUT 2 TAPE LOOPS AND UPGRADE OPTIONS (I DOUBT THE LATTER WILL BE NEEDED HAS IT SOUNDS SO GOOD ON ITS OWN).IN SHORT IT HAS ALL THE FACILITIES MOST HIFI LISTENERS COULD EVER WANT IN ONE BOX(ALBEIT A BIG HEAVY BOX!)
SOUND:COMPARED WITH MY PREVIOUS AMPS, ARCAM 290/290P, THERE WAS AN IMMEDIATE CONTROL OF THE BASS ,BOOM HAD TOTALLY DISAPPEARED REPLACED WITH BASS DETAIL YET STILL RETAINING BASS DEPTH AND POWER.I HAD CONSIDERED THE PM17 WHICH SOUNDS EXCELLENT ALSO BUT MY KEFS HAVE HAVE QUITE A DIFFCULT 4 OHM LOAD SO I DECIDED ON THE EXTRA POWER/CONTROL OF IT'S BIG BROTHER(190W @ 4 OHMS). THE IMMEDIATE IMPRESSION EVEN BEFORE IT HAS BURNED IN IS HOW REFINED IT SOUNDS IT IS JUST SO SMOOTH AND DOESNT MISS A THING AND THE BASS IS JUST SO FAST IT STOPS AND STARTS EXACTLY WHEN ITS SUPPOSED TO DO PERFECT FOR RHYTHMICAL MUSIC LIKE BE BOP, EAST COAST JAZZ ETC.

NOTHING AT ALL WITH THE SOUND ITS JUST SO SOPHISTICATED AND HAS THAT ELUSIVE "GOOSE BUMPS QUALITY" WHICH FOR ME IS THE ULTIMATE ACCOLADE FOR ANY PIECE OF HI FI. ONLY MINOR QUIBLES WERE ...I HAD TO WAIT 5 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY COS' OF DEMAND IT IS APPARENTLY VERY POPULAR IN GERMANY.TAKES AT LEAST A WEEK OF BEING CONTINUOUS USE B4 IT GETS ANYWHERE NEAR TO PEAK PERFORMENCE AND EVEN NOW 3 MONTHS LATER USED EVRY DAY IT SEEMS TO GET BETTER EACH DAY SO PLEASE BE PATIENT YOU WILL BE REWARDED.VOLUME NEEDS TO BE AT LEAST AT THE "9 O' CLOCK" SETTING BEFORE IT REALLY SINGS BUT WHEN IT DOES WOW! I WOULD LIKE THE OPTION OF SWITCHING OFF THE TEMPRETURE GAUGE(!) LIGHT AS ITS VERY DISTRACTING WHEN LISTENING IN A DARKENED ROOM.APART FROM THESE MINOR QUIBLES IT IS EASILY THE BEST AMP I'VE HEARD IN ITS PRICE RANGE. SHORT OF A LARGE LOTTERY WIN I CANT SEE ME EVER REPLACING THIS AMPLIFIER.ONE THING (THOUGH IM NOT SURE ITS A WEAKNESS!) IS THAT IT DOES NOT SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY. IF YA PUT CRAP IN IT IT'LL COME OUT CRAP THE OTHER END ONLY MAGNIFIED , SO IT REALLY NEEDS GOOD QUALITY RECORDINGS TO SOUND ITS BEST.NOT REALLY ONE FOR BADLY OVER COMPRESSED ROCK BUT MY FAVE JAZZ TRACKS JUST SOUND PERFECT.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU TRY THIS AMP OUT IF YOURE AFTER A HIGH QUALITY ONE BOX AMPLIFIER.
REST OF SYSTEM :-
Marantz cd16 CD Player
Kef reference 2 speakers(gorgeous)
Van den hul 102 III hybrid interconnect
Ixos 604 bi wire(soon to be upgraded!)

Similar Products Used:

ARCAM 10/P10,MARANTZ PM17,NAIM,

solid state, no valves to change after some years ...
tone control that does not harm the stereo image

not neutral sounding.

I tried many amps recently, and after reading so many good revues in the magazines i always took the marantz 17 and 14 to compare other amps. Doing so, i found the marantz always rather pleasant, but never the best at it's price.

I agree with the other author on this page that there is a lack in musicality, the sound is very "clean" in the high frequencies, but the bass is not well enough controlled to feed my tannoy D700, it is just not the best.

I would prefer a luxman 505 or 507, a brinkman integre, or even an atol 80 which is much less powerfull.

It's better than my old rotel, beter than the combination of my old quad 34 + end amp combination. that is however, not a reference in these days.
Are the magazines loosing their objectivity due to the advertising of marantz??

It's been 10days with Marantz PM-14. I bought it at US$ 1,950 by today's exchange rate. I looked at used Mark Levinson's 27.5 and 29L first. Their sound was what I was looking for, but the dealer intended to rip off me and I finally turned to brand-new Marantz. That's common situation in HiFi market in Korea. I'm waiting for some day I can get what I want thru e-mail with no tariff. Please support poor Korean audiophiles, Comrades!
Anyway I've carefully auditioned PM-14 every evening and my verdict is it's typically a made in Japan machine. I usually listen to various genres of classical and sometimes other acoustic genres (jazz, pop, enka). My PM-14 is connected to Marantz CD-17 and B&W Matrix 805. An experienced comrade will guess the sound in my living room is lack of musical resonance. You're right!!
The color of timbre I hope is a kind of American Sound. That's clarity with power in low frequency. But PM-14 is quite different. It's frequency range is very wide, but its treble is less impressive than My EL34 tube amp and its bass cannot match Mark or Audio Research. Its sound very clear, transparent and accurate, but there's someting lack, musical taste.

I cannot say it a so-so amp, because, when I opened its cover I was really impressed at its build quality. Huge toroidal transformer, tough black capacitiors, gigantic separate heat sinks, orderly array of parts and modules,
etc. But, regretfully its sound fall short of my expectation. If it were PM-17, its little brother, I would fully accept its sound, but its price, weight, physique are just double and I think it's natural to expect something different, such as floor-rumbling bass or musical taste.

Verdict on sound would be less objective, but one apparent shortcoming I found is its volume sensitivity. With B&W 805, it can make sound at 10:00 or higher. Below that level, its sound is as weak and slim as a portable radio.
Contrary, its phono stage is excellent. I had difficulty with my MM cartridge, but PM-14's phono module handles it easy. Sound of $60 cartridge is as good as $1200 CDP.

My satisfaction from this amp today isn't good enough, but I believe there are many things to be improved as it burns-in. So my verdict is 4 speakers.

I got my PM-14 a week ago via my brother(good luck he is a Marantz distributor here). First setup is with Mission 750LE speaker and Marantz CD-16D. Be honest, it sounds really good with balanced sound and vocal clarity. Though the bookshelf 750LE is lack of good bass here, it has already provides impressive sound quality. I heard the PM-14 with BW Matrix 803S2 before, just amusing. I am definitely going to get a pair of 803 and play with all my favorite Jazz and Classical music. PM-14 provides balanced and natural sound. I will give it a five-star for the price I pay. However, for the suggested retail price of $2,500, definitely worth a 4-star.