I didn't think of TEAC when I began searching for a dedicated CD player. My initial short list included Denon, Cambridge, Marantz, Onkyo. The Teac intrigued me, so I went for it. It is very solid, minimalist, super quiet. I haven't gotten into SACDs, so that wasn't a need. However, the Teac plays some compressed formats, in case I want some long uninterrupted listening sessions. It has the traditional RCA outs as well as a coaxial digital out. TEAC oddly instructs you to use the coax to connect to a "CD recorder" or other similar apparatus, but it works great connected to my Onkyo TX-NR5009 receiver. I like neutral sounding components, and that is what it sounds like to me. It is super quiet, sonically as well as the mechanisms themselves. No headphone out, but that is no big deal to me, as I would route it to an amp anyway, unless it had an exceptional headphone out.
Reviews by gonkulator
gonkulator
Thanks for that.
gonkulator
Yeah, I have noticed it online for sale, a good value.
I like the Harbeths very much - it has a very even "mature" sound, one which is good for hours of listening without fatigue. It is livelier than the Spendors I owned earlier (S100 - the reason I sold it was it was just too massive), but I have heard more resolving speakers. It also works with a variety of music, though its not great for deep bass or for extreme dynamic swings (on comparison) - so its a bit less hi-fi, you may not get knocked over by the inshop listen, and its definitely not likely to impress friends on first listen ("like you paid USD 3600 for this?")!
But if they ever get into hi fi, they'll then come over and listen again! Lovely tone.