Marantz PM-14SA (1999, ver.2 2002)

Name: Marantz PM-14SA
Brand: Marantz

The Marantz PM-14SA is a pre-main (integrated) amplifier built around the PM-14 platform and voiced for SACD and other "next-generation digital audio" sources. It came out in Japan in 1999 at ¥200,000. In 2002 it was revised as the PM-14SA ver.2 at ¥230,000. The ver.2 is the better-documented of the two. It used technology from Marantz's separate SC-7S1/MA-9S1 components, and its power amplifier gain was matched to the SM-17SA ver.2 so the two could be bi-amped.

The ver.2 is rated at 100W + 100W into 8Ω (160W into 6Ω, 200W into 4Ω), both channels driven from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Total harmonic distortion is claimed at 0.008%. Frequency response is specified at 5 Hz to 100 kHz (+0, -1 dB) in Source Direct mode, and the damping factor is 180 into 8Ω. It has both MM and MC phono stages (MM: 2.4 mV/47 kΩ, MC: 270 µV/100 Ω), a balanced input, and WBT speaker terminals. Pre-out and main-in jacks let you use the preamp and power sections independently. It weighs 23 kg and draws a rated 300W.

The design details that survive are extensive and specific. Current-feedback circuitry is used throughout - in the power amplifier as before, and newly in the preamp section. The power supply was heavily revised. It has a 450 VA super-ring-core toroidal transformer, low-loss electrolytic capacitors, Schottky barrier diodes in the rectifier circuits, and noise-killer elements between windings. The first-stage voltage amplification uses an adjustable HDAM module with DC offset adjustment, which removes the need for an active DC servo. The output stage is a single push-pull, three-stage Darlington configuration using 200W multi-emitter bipolar transistors. The chassis is copper-plated, high-density zinc die-cast, and the phono equalizer, balance buffer, preamp, tone control, and power amp sections are mounted on top of it.

A two-page service manual exists for the PM-14SA/PM-14mkII. It notes that cosmetics and the preamp PCB were changed from the earlier 74PM14/02B design. The record on real-world performance is thinner. One owner moving from the PM-14SA to an Audio Refinement "The Complete" called it "simply musical especially so with vocal recording," and a repair blog documents a case where one channel produced white-noise-like sounds. No formal period reviews are in the archive's sources. There is also no documented information on production totals, common failure points beyond that noise issue, or parts availability.