I’ve just bought a Teac!! Errr maybe not. In comes the Primare R35

[Rockchild]

Teac PE-505 phonostage to be precise.

Had one on loan for a while and wasn’t expecting anything special but liked the features. Well, never judge a book by its cover. It’s bloody fantastic!


I’ve had a number of more expensive stages which were awesome in their own right but I’m pretty amazed how good this is. My deck has balanced outputs and this is a fully balanced design with many sensible features and also accommodates Decca and Columbia recordings along with mono and subsonic settings. It suits my Benz extremely well.



I didn’t think I would buy something like this but just goes to show that if you don’t listen to things, you can easily dismiss them.
When the actual unit arrives, I’ll update on progress.

 

[HouseElf]

Looks fantastic. In the world of phonostage Teac would not be a brand I would have thought of.

Very interested in your thoughts on this.

 

[Rockchild]

Looks fantastic. In the world of phonostage Teac would not be a brand I would have thought of.

Very interested in your thoughts on this.

Me neither but I just couldn’t fault the synergy with the Thorens/Benz. I tried so hard to trip it up but failed 😊 it’s sooooo quite too.

 

[TIU]

Looks very flexible, nice choice.

 

[DomT]

@Rockchild what happened to the Sugden Phonostage? Is the Teac better than that one?

 

[newlash09]

Teac PE-505 phonostage to be precise.

Had one on loan for a while and wasn’t expecting anything special but liked the features. Well, never judge a book by its cover. It’s bloody fantastic!


I’ve had a number of more expensive stages which were awesome in their own right but I’m pretty amazed how good this is. My deck has balanced outputs and this is a fully balanced design with many sensible features and also accommodates Decca and Columbia recordings along with mono and subsonic settings. It suits my Benz extremely well.



I didn’t think I would buy something like this but just goes to show that if you don’t listen to things, you can easily dismiss them.
When the actual unit arrives, I’ll update on progress.

Teac makes some great gear. Recently I was searching for an external master clock. And was considering the cybershaft OP21A, which is really expensive . But I was suggested by none other than wikilie ( lumin and esoteric software lead) to go for the teac CG-10M at a very reasonable price. It looks similar to the phonostage. So teac is a brand definite below the radar.

P. A : Now can everyone please forget that I mentioned a master clock 🤣🤣

 

[newlash09]

There is actually a full fledged teac 5 series, with matching looks.
Teac PE-505
Teac NT - 505 ( This is very highly regarded too)
Teac CG-10 M

 

[Rockchild]

@Rockchild what happened to the Sugden Phonostage? Is the Teac better than that one?

Hi Dom.
I sold one of my Sugden amps and tested the water on here with the PA-4 because it was the same colour. Nobody bought it but a very nice chap from Cornwall did to go with his Master class kit. I think because he offered more than others, I let it go. It was an excellent phonostage but I like to experiment a bit and I invested the money elsewhere.
Is the Teac better? Can’t tell because it’s being used with an entirely different vinyl set up but putting money aside, it certainly seems to hold its own especially with the older recordings and pressings and should I change my Amp (likely) I’d like to take full advantage of the fully balanced configuration which gives a higher gain/lower noise than RCA cables amongst other things.

 

[Rockchild]

There is actually a full fledged teac 5 series, with matching looks.
Teac PE-505
Teac NT - 505 ( This is very highly regarded too)
Teac CG-10 M

Very solid build my friend although me being old school, I don’t think I’m ready for class D 😊
The place where I got the phonostage will however, lend me stuff if I want to try it.
I will be looking to change my amp soon to something with more current and power to maximise the Harbeths potential rather than go down the subwoofer route I mentioned in another thread. I’ve knocked that idea on the head.

 

[newlash09]

Very solid build my friend although me being old school, I don’t think I’m ready for class D 😊
The place where I got the phonostage will however, lend me stuff if I want to try it.
I will be looking to change my amp soon to something with more current and power to maximise the Harbeths potential rather than go down the subwoofer route I mentioned in another thread. I’ve knocked that idea on the head.

The teac NT 505 is actually a network streamer cum dac 😁

 

[Tarzan]

I have the TEAC PDH600 Cd Player ( had it years now ) and for the money the thing is blooming brilliant!

That phono stage looks cool, where are the settings?

 

[DomT]

Very solid build my friend although me being old school, I don’t think I’m ready for class D 😊
The place where I got the phonostage will however, lend me stuff if I want to try it.
I will be looking to change my amp soon to something with more current and power to maximise the Harbeths potential rather than go down the subwoofer route I mentioned in another thread. I’ve knocked that idea on the head.

I heard @Lurch John’s class D monoblocks driving his hybrid speakers and it was a great combination. In my lounge I am using a 200w Audio Research DSI200 integrated with class D power amp stage and it also sounds really great. Plenty of class D that I haven’t liked but it might be an idea. FWIW I suspect that my Audio Research will have something in common with the Sugden sound that you like ie transparency yet smooth but with real punch. @Jules_S also has the same DSI200

 

[Lurch]

Jon, I'd be happy to bring my Nords to yours, once you pull your finger out and sort this bake off that you've been threatening since forever. 😴😴😴😴😴😴😴

 

[BiggestLebowski]

The PE505 looks very interesting, my turntable has XLR outputs and I find that keeping everything balanced, from cartridge to power amp, has a beneficial effect on the sound.

TEAC is, in my experience, a hit and miss brand. The best product of theirs that I’ve had is a headphone amp, the HA-501. As well as operating in class A and having XLR inputs, it has an unusual feature where you can switch between five selectable damping factors from the front panel.

 

[TIU]

The PE505 looks very interesting, my turntable has XLR outputs and I find that keeping everything balanced, from cartridge to power amp, has a beneficial effect on the sound.

TEAC is, in my experience, a hit and miss brand. The best product of theirs that I’ve had is a headphone amp, the HA-501. As well as operating in class A and having XLR inputs, it has an unusual feature where you can switch between five selectable damping factors from the front panel.

I'm curious to hear what your miss TEAC component was. Was there more than one?

 

[BiggestLebowski]

I'm curious to hear what your miss TEAC component was. Was there more than one?

It was a cd player, PD-H500, which I bought to match the integrated amp in my second system (A-H500i), really disappointing sound.
i replaced it with the same cd player that Tarzan mentions above, the PD-H600, which is way better

 

[Dogwithnotail]

I have a Tascam UH-7000 audio interface with in- built microphone amplifiers. These are highly regarded in pro circles.
Teac and Tascam being 1 and the same, there is a track record of them making great small signal amps.

Love that phono preamp btw!

 

[Dogwithnotail]

 

[Wine man forthe County]

I would certainly consider the PE505 if I didn't already have a decent
Phono stage. That Teac series is built like a tank - I too have the now defunct HA-501, great headphone amp.

 

[Rockchild]

It’s in, warming up