TEAC TN-550 -- Wannabe high-end with fatal flaw

[winters860]

You will not read about TEAC in a good way in any forum except the tape thread, or their new high end components, their turntables are horrible, except for maybe 5 out of every 100, they sell ok because audiophiles dont buy them,

I owned a TEAC AI-301DA integrated amp that I was very happy with, and their integrated amp offerings over the last five or so years have been consistently impressive.

 

[majick47]

With a few exceptions a good number of the recognizable audio company names are not the same companies from 30-50 years ago. Many of these company name rights were purchased with the sole purpose of branding products with a somewhat recognizable name that has no relationship to the original company products. Ever heard Of Bell and Howell? Names plastered on flash lights made in you know where. Same goes for turntables, Denon attempted to sell their $3,000+ DP-100A, anniversary model, looked impressive in photos, give away was the Hanpin tonearm, Denon couldn't give these tables away. Same level of junk is made in Europe by Project and Rega so no ethnic bashing is directed at Asia.

 

[noman]

And many of these turntables are also not very well suited to the needs of quite a few vinylphiles either. And too high maintenance, too delicate, or don't meet the needs of average music lovers either. SOTA, VPI, or ClearAudio I don't recommend to people who are not somewhat experienced in vinyl playback.And it's care and feeding. People who know their way around turntables and tonearms, they can be good options. Regas can be recommended but with caveats. I do like their tonearm for the price. Some people want and need a good, well built, no fuss turntable so they can listen to their music without fuss or frippery. And don't want to have to spend extra for things like pitch accuracy (Regas for pitch sensitive people, you have to often buy a GrooveTracer subplatter at minimum to be able to listen to any Piano record or Guitar solo record with held chords without hearing the Rega wavering). If we could get something akin to the best Hanpin models (their features serve many well) with better build quality and engineering, and tonearms better made, then we'd have a more viable option many music lovers could benefit from, and many who want convenient.

And there's the rub. I want something that sounds great and is technically competent for my critical listening, but also something for my wife to use without fuss while we're having people over for drinks. Even just the lack of hinged dustcovers on the VPI and Marantz-branded ClearAudio is a deal breaker. I get I'm asking for more in some regards than other users (either they want convenience without performance, or the other way 'round) but it sure seems doable to me to make a best-in-class sub $1000-1200 turntable that includes bare-bones creature comforts like a speed selection and a dust cover.

Sounds like they gave you some practical advice, "They told me point-blank that their advice is to return my table and purchase a competitor’s." You mentioned Amazon, so are you one of those hobbyists left with no local dealer where you can handle and audition some options? How did your warranty service go with the Pro-Ject turntable you mentioned in another thread? I'm assuming not well since you bought the Teac. I bought a Rega RP3 a couple years ago and am quite satisfied with its performance and sound quality, but I was able to buy it after auditioning options at a local shop and borrowing a floor sample to try at home first. A friend of mine has used his Rega P1 for 10 years and is still convinced it's all the turntable anyone really needs. Best wishes on finding something that works well for you--sounds like you've had more than your fair share of frustration.

I received a brand-new-in-box warranty replacement from Pro-Ject. Since I had no shred of confidence in their product, I sold it locally at a $200 loss just to get it off my hands ($250 if you count the $50 shipping to them, and more than double that if you count all the crap I accumulated trying to eradicate its many issues). The point about brick-and-mortar is a good one. I probably should have done more in that regard, and will likely in the future. Wish I lived someplace like NYC where there's real showrooms in the city. My town is just big enough to support a few showrooms, but they're way out from the city center where I live, out in the rich suburbs and often by-appointment-only type stuff.

 

[sturgus]

If you are willing to modify sensors add ground wire to the bearing well and investigate what was wrong with the Teac. How hard can it be to add hinges and dust cover to a VPI

 

[noman]

If you are willing to modify sensors add ground wire to the bearing well and investigate what was wrong with the Teac. How hard can it be to add hinges and dust cover to a VPI

Ha! Ok, you've got me there. But, I haven't seen anyone retrofit a hinged dustcover to one. Finding a spot to drive 4 screws into the plinth, and everything that means for eventual resale value... I don't think I have the stomach for that. Running wires is easy and reversible.

 

[Bogdan AH]

Hi everyone. I decided to give a try to the TN-550. I got it today (for 549,00 EUR, about 638 US$). So I jumped on it to test it in my system. I already miss the auto-stop at the end of the record...

I confirm the pitch sound produced by the speed feed-back device. It's audible in my system at the graduation 8 of the amplifier. Before it, at 7, the noise of the phono stage it starts to be also well audible... (AD9 optional phono stage of the Accuphase E211, 80-something W max power. I usually listen between 3 to 5... At 6 I give already a nice concert to the neighbors... the loudspeakers are a pair of Zingali Overture 2S, great match to the Accuphase). Turning the platter to clean the record while at those levels it doesn't make any audible sound... I have 14 days to change my mind, so I'll listen to it and make my decision.

For the counterweight of the TN-550 : yes, there is a small play that I can feel when I push it or pull it, once in position, but it's not loose. I have to push or pull, otherwise is stable. It's true, even my Tesla, from 1989, had the counterweight perfectly stable. Anyway, I use a Shure scale to set the force. I don't see this a problem to listening music, and I'm sure I can find a way to correct this if I feel like.

For the VTA at the lowest setting : with the AT100E, I had to ad over the original felt mat a cork mat to have it leveled. I listen with a Michell record clamp and in that setting all is ok. I feel that the improvement (by leveling the arm like this) is most audible in the widening and 'clarifying' the stage image, and it's worth to do it. I can feel the difference. The Tesla didn't had an adjustable VTA. And the shell mounting was not a SME standard, so it took me some time each time I wanted to change a cartridge. I already had three shells, so I wanted a tonearm like this.

For the sound with the original cartridge (AT100E), I'm very satisfied with. I have an AT440ML and a Sumiko Blue Point Special waiting in the line. I came from an old Tesla NC430. (Years ago I had a Technics SL1100 with a SME 3009 and an Ikeda 12".) Big default of this model - it had a DIN output wit only 3 wires (+,-, and ground...) that delivered a strong electrical background noise, audible already at volume level 3... Very annoying, BUT... once the needle touched the record... the music was already great ! (The TN-550 is extremely silent with its all original setup.) I find that the AT100 picks more cracks on the records then the AT440ML for ex... Overall it's sounds good enough.

My favorites records for testing are Bob Dylan's "Desire" & M.M.E.B.'s "Nightingales and Bombers". I turn to them anytime I change something... I'll continue the listening for a few days and I'll pass to another cartridge to see... Rage Against the Machine, Massive Attack "Mezanine", Depeche Mode "Delta Machine" sounds impressive already. I found myself pushing the volume at... 10, with great delight... ;-)

 

[Bogdan AH]

Second feed back for the TN-550.
First : I also noticed kind of a mechanical rumbling while the platter is spinning... It has to be complete silence in the room to notice this, but I don't remember hearing this in the Tesla (I will check). I don't have a test record with a silent track to be able to say if it feeds into the cartridge...
Second : the support of the lifter is not horizontal. With my setting (cork mat on top of the original mat), the needle touches some records at the beginning even with the lift up, but at the end of the record is well lifted.
Third : comparing with the Tesla, the Teac is MUCH more sensitive to the dust cover's manipulations... The Tesla was almost inert to that, the Teac brings out in the speakers any little nail hit on the dust-cover. Surprising...

It didn't took long to notice that the needle of the AT440ML goes on the AT100E. As it is that easy, I couldn't resist from changing the needle... So the AT100 body (looks metallic, like the AT95E) with the AT440ML (black body) needle it makes already a difference. E stands for elliptical, ML stands for micro-line, so I was expecting something. What I notice easily is the back-ground silences that are deeper, the cracks are less present. A little more "finesse" on the violins that are played with some more "matter" of the strings and the voices that seem a bit more natural, with some more "body" to them are two other appreciations I can give after replacing the needle. So definitely an improvement.

 

[JoeESP9]

 

[Bogdan AH]

Hi, I'm back, the central scrutinizer... . I spent a week with the TN 550. Played with 3 cartridges. The AT440ML is spectacular. Brings a very large spectrum in the high frequencies which make records sound like crystal. I guess is an A.T. signature. I don't remember when, in what circumstances and for what I buy it, but I'm glad I did. If she would be "the bad girl", the Sumiko Blue Point Special would be the "good mummy's girl" ; it plays on the more calm and "be wise" side. Beautiful reproduction though...To have the VTA right with this one I put the records directly on the acrylic platter, and with the record clamp it works very nice. Great on small groups of acoustic instruments and with the voice. Always nice to compare. For example, the stylus of the AT440ML grabs the dirt from the bottom of the grooves and so it requires to take special care of the records, a good washing is mandatory. Even the brand new records that came out from the plastic. Re learning...

I also changed the original modulation cable with a cheap cable (in the range of 15 Euros), for line levels, to witch I added a grounded shielding. It was catastrophic... The level of electrical back ground noise made a huge bound ! Obviously the original cable, even if it looks very cheap, is very well chosen.

This being said about my experiments, back to the reality of the TN 550. Today I decided to return it. The mechanical noise I heard at the beginning of the listening is coming mainly from the motor, not from the platter, as I thought at start. But the platter is not perfectly silent either. On long enough silences between the tracks I realized that is audible in the speakers... I used a stethoscope to listen to it and compared to the hum of the Tesla NC430, and I was unpleasantly surprised to find that the Teac have that much noise...

About the marble plate : I found is not at all inert to vibration. In fact is quite the opposite - it sounds like a resonance box... This explains why the turntable is that much sensitive to the dust cover's resonance... With it closed, at a rather strong volume the music starts sounding like in a closet... With it up but still attached is much better, but removing it completely from the hinges is what it takes to have an audition clean from its resonances... That made me think that Rega might have a point in using low density materials for the body of their turntables... The Tesla, that is build from a stratified wood plinth on which is mounted a non suspended chassis (screwed into the frame) made out from a thick metal sheet (see my actual avatar), so it has a cavity inside, could have been more resonant... bit it isn't... In fact is more silent... Much more inert...

I really liked the look of the TN 550, but I'm very disappointed by what seems to be the result of a poor conception and engineering... I have the TEAC DV 50 that delivers a very high quality sound, so I wanted to believe... It doesn't prevent from enjoying music, but the rumbling in the speakers keeps reminding me that is not at all worthy of a top of the range turntable... I don't know how many people have it, but I think that few of them looked in detail, so I can understand why those 'flaws' are not reported more often on forums... It's not "bad sounding", it's just worth less then 200 Euros... And at that price I wouldn't have look at it... I'm kinda snob...

The good side of this is that I know now that I will make another experiment : once I recover my SME 3009, I'll install it on the Tesla (I will regret again the auto stop missing), because now I know that is rather well built...

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Also, since the Gibson Guitar buyout of Teac, and the Onkyo takeover, Teac is not what they used to be either. The old Teac would have listened to you, duplicated the problem, and the Japanese engineers would have fixed the problem or taken it off the market. They were very sensitive to the needs and wishes of American customers, and people of integrity, and who bent over backwards on customer service, and support.

 

[Scramble]

You're not at fault here it's just that there seems to be a pattern with many mfgr's that presumably try to capitalize on the vinyl hype.
They come up with new, shiny, appealing, modern looking decks, sharing the exact same specifications as did the competitor just a few months ago,
and they initially sell it for what appears to be an insanely disproportionate price. I mean look at the inside of it!

Do the ceramic capacitors on the main PCB, appear to be "high-end" components? No Sir! I've seen these noisy buggers on vintage 60's and 70's gear and they are first to
go and be replaced by modern MLCC caps in any DIY recap job. Why can't the mfgr use Murata caps for these in a $900 deck? Have a look at the electrolytics please. Are they Nichicons?
Are they Panasonic? Are they any known solid main stream make? I can't tell but I really don't think so. More likely they are some obscured Asian brand, that is likely to go out of specs
in a couple of years. It's not just that... Under the hood, all of these turntables generally appear flimsy with a capital F. The cheap large PCB, the cross wiring, the mounting of mechanically
stressed large controls directly onto the PCB, the DC motors, the electronics, it just strikes me cheap, cheap, cheap. I know the tonearm looks OK, but seriously, I wouldn't give an eBay
listing a second look if it had one of those in it for more than $40. I honestly don't see where $900 can go in this table. I'd find it hard to believe $90 let alone $900.

Then, as time goes by, you start hearing about "issues"... Tonearm drops like a rock, anti-skate doesn't do it's thing properly, the darn thing hums or makes noise, can't keep it's speed,
some platters appear to to be warped straight out of the plant, stuff like that... Yeah, sure there are hundreds of positive reviews on reddit and Amazon (probably teenagers and kids
with Christmas gifts mostly), and along side comes dozens of reports about faulty units that are generally replaced with no questions asked. But the evidence of poor QC and inherent
defects starts to stack up on AK and VE and what do you know... prices start to slide down as fast as mods appear online suggesting to rip out the piss poor built in pre-amp.
Then the next one comes along and there's a total reboot and complete loss of memory regarding a few weeks worth of turntable history and it's the same story all over again.


It's been like that with the Stantons, the AT's, the Reloops, and probably dozens more, then the PLX-1000... Try to guess what all these have in common. Isn't it time the lesson is learned???

Yep, all of these TT's are made with "off the shelf" cheap Chinese parts.

 

[Scramble]

And there's the rub. I want something that sounds great and is technically competent for my critical listening, but also something for my wife to use without fuss while we're having people over for drinks. Even just the lack of hinged dustcovers on the VPI and Marantz-branded ClearAudio is a deal breaker. I get I'm asking for more in some regards than other users (either they want convenience without performance, or the other way 'round) but it sure seems doable to me to make a best-in-class sub $1000-1200 turntable that includes bare-bones creature comforts like a speed selection and a dust cover.



I received a brand-new-in-box warranty replacement from Pro-Ject. Since I had no shred of confidence in their product, I sold it locally at a $200 loss just to get it off my hands ($250 if you count the $50 shipping to them, and more than double that if you count all the crap I accumulated trying to eradicate its many issues). The point about brick-and-mortar is a good one. I probably should have done more in that regard, and will likely in the future. Wish I lived someplace like NYC where there's real showrooms in the city. My town is just big enough to support a few showrooms, but they're way out from the city center where I live, out in the rich suburbs and often by-appointment-only type stuff.

My Pro-Ject TT has been flawless since 2013. You can get VPI's with a Cover, hinged? Only the HW19. Covers should be placed to the side anyway when spinning.

 

[Scramble]

If we could get something akin to the best Hanpin models (their features serve many well) with better build quality and engineering, and tonearms better made, then we'd have a more viable option many music lovers could benefit from, and many who want convenient.

They make them, they're called Technics.
Plus Rega & Clearaudio's are plug & play. VPI & Sota take some experience with suspensions & Unipiviots but no one needed lessons in the old days with Thorens & AR TT's.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

They make them, they're called Technics.
Plus Rega & Clearaudio's are plug & play. VPI & Sota take some experience with suspensions & Unipiviots but no one needed lessons in the old days with Thorens & AR TT's.

Regas do not meet the 1964 NAB minimum standards on the lower end models. The Planar 3 is cheapest recommended.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

They make them, they're called Technics.
Plus Rega & Clearaudio's are plug & play. VPI & Sota take some experience with suspensions & Unipiviots but no one needed lessons in the old days with Thorens & AR TT's.

And I own one, and I use it as my main turntable. It's an original SL-1500.