Teacs for $100 available

mike_c · « **Reply #80 on:** 17 Aug 2005, 04:07 pm »

If anyone here is still looking for one, Amazon.com still has the TEAC unit available - for $99.99 SHIPPED! I ordered one last night. Ofcourse, this will be sent in to Vinnie for modification upon arrival... Now, back to lurking (and learning!).

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #81 on:** 17 Aug 2005, 05:01 pm »

Quote from: mike_c

If anyone here is still looking for one, Amazon.com still has the TEAC unit available - for $99.99 SHIPPED! I ordered one last night. Ofcourse, this will be sent in to Vinnie for modification upon arrival... Now, back to lurking (and learning!).

Hi mike_c,

Welcome to the Red Wine Circle, and thanks for posting info on the Teacs at Amazon. A bunch of my customers have also been sending them to me from Needledoctor.com, which seems to still have 'em in stock and is selling them somewhere in that price range...

Glad to hear that they can still be found at such a great price!

Regards,

mike_c · « **Reply #82 on:** 19 Aug 2005, 05:43 pm »

As of today, 8/19, only 4 more in stock at Amazon...

Dmason · « **Reply #83 on:** 19 Aug 2005, 05:46 pm »

If you do a Google with the full name and title in quotation marks, shake the bushes, they are out there.

Listening to mine as I write this, very warm, "infinite ease" was the term used to describe it by another on these threads, recently. I concur. I love this amp.

JLM · « **Reply #84 on:** 21 Aug 2005, 11:43 am »

Dan,

I hate to put you on the spot, but several here cling to your every word.

When you say that the Vinnie modded Teac is "very warm..." I'm concerned what the system synergy with my Fostex F200A based speakers and a Vinnie modded squeezebox 2 would be like.

thanks

Dmason · « **Reply #85 on:** 21 Aug 2005, 07:11 pm »

Jeff

All the Tripath chips share a similar overall sonic signature; what you hear at home doesn't vary all that much between chips. Warm would be preferable to strident, particularly where metal dust caps are concerned, if you see my point. "Infinite ease," is not an allusion which should worry you at any rate. The Vino moddo Teac is the best bet for more power for the F200A and keeps you off the grid. The Teac and F200A combined sound just great together, no worries there, I assure you. In fact, it grips that inefficient driver by the balls, very like a much more powerful amp, a true demonstration to current delivery by battery means.

What I hear in massed strings, particularly massed cellos, with the Teac is warm, yummy, organic, it sounds like it is breathing, and I can "feel" the body of the cello, where most others amps have ALWAYS made this instrument sound like brown, atonal sludge. Warm? Yes, especially with cellos, like the 14 Vakrestes, written by Edvard Grieg I was listening to whilst I wrote that last post. Warm where there is warmth, absolutely. Not too sure about your concern here, but it sounds great to me. As for the SB2, I cannot comment on that as I do not own one. As always, YMMV.

JLM · « **Reply #86 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 10:54 am »

Dan,

Thanks for the clarification. Warm is good, but too much of a good thing is still too much. Too much warmth to me would be represented by classic tube sound (that was needed years back to tame some nasty horns for instance) or warmth when there is no warmth in the recording/original instrument or voice. I understand what you're saying in regards to metal dust caps.

"...grips the inefficient driver by the balls..."

I usually use the term, "commanding grip," in reference to describing needed power but your expression certainly makes the point! IMO its this sufficient amount of power combined with battery/digital dynamics that allows for the very desirable ease and body factors you mention. From some of the other Red Wine Audio threads it seems that the modded SB2 (perhaps due to its higher output) adds even more impact. I wonder if that can be too much of a good thing.

Dmason · « **Reply #87 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 12:04 pm »

Somehow it gets Neutral and Warm. I am not one to attach words to what I hear, but massed strings have become famous with T amps, and Grieg is famous for massed strings. Warm, alive and breathing. When you can hear the resonating of the body of a cello, vs the brown atonal sludge portrayed by most other amps, that is good.

"By the balls" is a technical term for absolute control. Sorry if I shocked you. There is no room for modesty in my line of work, I was at work, it transfers into what I might write... It gets the idea across. I consider myself reasonably articulate otherwise.

The Teac takes a long time to really break in, I have found. Once this is accomplished, it is a VERY, very fine little amplifier that comes with the crunch of much larger amps, which makes it alot of fun with progressive music, but more importantly, it is the ideal ticket for situations where abit higher power is needed. For more of everything, use the ClariT with B200.

JLM · « **Reply #88 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 04:53 pm »

Thanks again Dan. Seems most promising.

No problem with your choice of wording.

As our friend Nigel is apt to say, "Everything is light and breezy mate."

DeadFish · « **Reply #89 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 08:22 pm »

Hey Dan!
You typed The Teac takes a long time to really break in, I have found.
Uh, is that a technical term?

Now that you are this far along, have you had any 'milemarkers' along the way, hourwise? 'Bout how many hours have you got now do you figure?
Forgot if I've asked before, what are you using as a pre for the Teac now?
These questions have popped up to me other times, but thought I'd ask.
Thanks!
DeadFish

Dmason · « **Reply #90 on:** 22 Aug 2005, 08:35 pm »

I can't be a technical term. It is grammatically too incorrect.

No pre in use, only DaCT volume attenuator. Tried it with 6sn7 Octals, this would be my pre amp. Mmmmmmmm!

But, alas tubes must drink from the "sewer," so they disqualify. For Now.

How many hours? Sorry, no meter for that. Mmmm, lots? I dunno, dude. The more hours, the closer it seems to get to a more refined state, in the highs. Gives the ClariT V 2.0 the edge but not by all that much.

gslashcpc · « **Reply #91 on:** 10 Sep 2005, 07:03 pm »

The blue light was on. The cd had a homemade disc in it. The Brines 1600's (2hrs. out of the boxes) were positioned. Marilyn was waiting. BOOM! There it was. The sound that I know but still fight to articulate.

I have answered questions from friends who wonder what I'm up to. Now I can invite them to listen. The Teac is incredible and works with all my music. Much of it isn't demanding such as 1950's doo-wop but the sweetness of the harmony allows me to get lost in the music and I don't get the fatigue. Because the 1600's are new I wasn't expecting much, but again I was surprised . I decided to try familiar 80's dance jams and Vinnie's Teac rocked us. The bass will stun the skeptics along with a symmetry that makes a guy like me want to know more. Thanks Vinnie and all who post and describe your experiences and upgrades. Scheduled for tonite are :Sade, Ella, Diana Krall, Dorothy Schurr, Eva Cassidy. Yeah,I'll be back......Mods, SB2 and ????????????? Peace

srayle · « **Reply #92 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 12:01 am »

I have a Vinnie-modded Teac, that I have shuttled in and out of my system without really taking to it. The sound from my Ah Tjoeb cdp into Zu Druids somehow lacked coherence. I've never really been a believer in pre-amps, as it seems more logical to run out of the cdp directly into an amplifier. Last week, on a whim, got an Eastern Electric Minimax preamp, and hooked it up into the Teac. OMG! Un-effing-believable sound, especially the entire bass, deep, full, rich--total pleasure---mids and highs were crystal clear and ever-so-slightly warm...seems as though the pre contributed most to bringing out amazing bass, and gave the sound form and deep holographic dimensionality. Must be the synergy, but it seems like the pre allows the Teac to be the best it can be.

-Richard- · « **Reply #93 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 03:58 am »

Hi Steven,

Congratulations!!!! you finally got your Teac to come alive with
your Druid's...you must be in audio heaven...

Perhaps tubes and the digital Teac are meant for each other.

However I thought with Vinnie's mods the pre was built into the Teac...
I must have that wrong...in that case what were you using as a pre
before the Eastern Electric Minimax?

Do keep us informed of any further insights you may have.

Warm regards -Richard-

srayle · « **Reply #94 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 06:11 am »

Hey Richard,

Thanks for the reply.

For some reason, in my system, it took a preamp to really make the teac come alive. It sounds amazing across the board, but it really is the bass thats intoxicating and addictive. I keep reaching for 'big music' like soundtracks, to really hear what it can do. And it's all levels of the bass that are meaty and substantial. And no, the Teac does not have a pre-amp, but it does have its own stepped attenuator volume control, so a pre is not really necessary. (It does have the Monica 2 DAC, which needs to have Vinnie adjust the gain, because it just doesn't play loud enough...but of course, if I run the monica, I can't use a pre-amp...but it might be fun to play with after I get it back from Vinnie).

-Richard- · « **Reply #95 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 06:45 am »

Hi Steven,

OK...the Teac has its own stepped attenuator that can be used to control
volume...I wonder if this is adding anything to the equation...perhaps if that
attentuator was taken out of the mix your Eastern Electric Minimax would
have less circuitry to get through to do its magic...just thinking out loud...
you may want to ask Vinnie about that if you are getting him to adjust the
gain in your Monica dact...

It is great that you were able to find really good synergy with the Teac and
the EEM preamp...are you planning on attending the audio show in Denver...
or is that a bit too far from your home...

Warm regards -Richard-

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #96 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 02:15 pm »

Quote from: -Richard-

Hi Steven,

Perhaps tubes and the digital Teac are meant for each other.

However I thought with Vinnie's mods the pre was built into the Teac...
I must have that wrong...in that case what were you using as a pre
before the Eastern Electric Minimax?

Do keep us informed of any further insights you may have.

Warm regards -Richard-

Hi Steven and Richard,

As most probably know, I much prefer to not use an active preamp (tube or solid state) after the source, but in the case of a tubed CDP (such as Steven's Tjoeb), they tend to have a higher output impedance than solid-state CDPs, and I can see that this feeding the 10k stepped attenuator directly might not be the best match. I'm glad you found a whole new world of synergy with your Minimax preamp thrown into the equation, Steven!

Richard, I offer the option of installing a volume control into the Teac (potentiometer, or stepped attenuator, or more recently...a DACT stepped attenuator with remote control kit

), but some just leave it as a power amp and use their own preamp (passive or active). In my case, I use the remote volume controlled output of my modded SB2 directlyl into my modded Teac.

Will either of you gentlemen be attending RMAF?

Regards,

-Richard- · « **Reply #97 on:** 11 Sep 2005, 04:44 pm »

Hi Vinnie,

Being called a gentleman is rather nice...a word that must have come
about as the result of men displaying a certain gentleness...
gentleness seems lost to us, as men, at this moment in time...
we would much rather be seen as strong or powerful or knowing...
the implication of all of this posturing is a descending from a state of
affection to one of fear, and the apprehension of powerlessness...

I would love to attend the audio show in Denver...I woke up this morning
wondering if I could swing the expense and time to bring it off...I will have
to see how things fall into place...

However, Vinnie, I know I am not alone in wishing you and Louis a splendid
and successful outing...a chance to show your magic and creativity...
What you and Louis are doing is making really high definition music
reproduction affordable...and most importantly...through a very personal
relationship with the creators...which is a form of revolution in this world
where corporate domination is a very real concern...we are moving inextricably
toward a new feudalism with the corporations as our overlords...a most
worrisome business indeed...

We are most fortunate to have you as a resource in our continuing attempts
to make magic happen in our homes through music...Bravo Vinnie!

Your work and creations and presence here in AC is unique and always
deeply appreciated.

Warm regards -Richard-

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #98 on:** 12 Sep 2005, 12:11 am »

Quote from: -Richard-

I would love to attend the audio show in Denver...I woke up this morning
wondering if I could swing the expense and time to bring it off...I will have
to see how things fall into place...

..

Thanks for all the kind words, Richard. I really hope you'll be able to make it to RMAF. It will be great to meet you in person!