[mcgsxr]

I just received 2 of these, and have pulled my Sugden integrated out of my system 4 hours ago, shoving 1 of these little amps in its place.

Great pointer for Canucks - I paid only GST on these amps, no duty or brokerage fee, as I used Expedited Service.  The driver mentioned that using any air service alleviates the woes of the brokerage fee!  Hopefully I will not receive a bill in the mail 3 weeks from now for just such a fee...  

The Sugden was pushing 90wpc into my 4ohm Totems, the TEAC likely only 35-40wpc. I have used that Sugden happily for 10 years now, pleased with the way it handled music in my system. The cheap TEACs caught my attention, and I thougt I would bag a pair, to do some passive biamping.  I have recently upgraded my front end, using the falling prices of the modded DIO's to my advantage, as new front ends grab the spotlight.  The affordability of this Tripath technology made my previous strategy unnecessary, so I can even get in while the iron is hot on these!  Shipped, and GST in, the pair cost me CAN$382 or about US$285.  Since the last place I saw these for sale in Canada, they were CAN$470 each, this represents great value.  Thanks JR!

I have not yet received my passive preamp, so I am using only 1 TEAC to drive my Totems, directly from my smART DIO. The TEAC has adjustable gain for each channel (I am only using 2 of the 3 at present), so I can break at least one amp in, while I await the preamp.

Sound? Good to me. How exactly? Not fair to make that assessment so early on, with all the advice about break in with these amps, but I am certainly going to run this 24/7 for 10 days, and then sit down and really evaluate it.

I cannot comment on if it sounds tubey, as I have never had a tube amp. The Sugden is reputed to sound tubey (Class A for 1/2 its' output, and it runs hot hot hot!) and this new TEAC right out of the box makes female vocal and accoustic music glorious - I will get to the Crystal Method later, and see how the power supply keeps up!

I look forward to getting both amps running, and playing with biamping, since I can - not sure if it will markedly improve the listening, but I will try it.

As these break in, I will post more, and am pleased to address any questions any might have about these.

Thanks for all the advice in my other threads, this is such a great type of forum, to learn and share in.

Mark in Canada

[ooheadsoo]

Sorry if this is a bit off topic but this is the first time I've seen a link for the innards of the Teac. Looking at the innards of the teac and knowing near nothing about electronics, it looks like there an amp for the L and R channels and another amp for the center channel. Couldn't we use one L/R channel for the L signal and the Center channel for the R signal and derive more power from that since it would sort of be like dual mono?

I don't mean to follow you off topic, but I will... Perhaps further discussion of this belongs on my thread in Digital, about these amps.

I have also looked at the innards on that link, and surmised something similar. I am presently using the R and C channels of this amp, as it does appear to be 2 amps.

I am not sure that this is dual mono, however, as my understanding of true dual mono would involve separate power supplies for each channel. When I set up both amps tonight, and begin passively biamping my speakers, I will use R and C on both, leaving L idling, just in case it sounds better...

Yes, I think so too, that true dual mono is when the power supplies are also separate...but close enough for $100, you know what I mean?  Glad I'm not alone in thinking this.  Thanks for the review, I'd love to hear more of your impressions.

[tyee]

mcgsxr
  What's the model number of these TEAC's. I can't find anything on JR.com relating to tripath TEAC amps!

tyee

[cjr888]

A-L700P

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=9481&highlight=teac