TEAC DR-L700

lowrider · « **on:** 22 Apr 2006, 04:25 pm »

http://sapp.telepac.pt/lowrider/latvia.html

The Riga system is "complete" at last... With all Schallwand's recomendations, including damping blocks and Cardas RCA caps, (that I finally got from Finland), plus proper (but not expensive) cables all over, the last beeing the subwoofer's power cord and IC plus the digital optical IC for the satellite box, (see it all on my web page)...

Again, with Cardas RCA caps, image improved more noticeably than sound, there is a pair of audio inputs for each video input, and obviously they are active, looking for whatever signal is available, beeing more prone to get RF from the air, so I got 2 pairs for the TV inputs I use, HDMI and Component...

I was in Cascais 1 week for Easter, to see my kids and to play and get my Golf clubs, the season has started, even in Riga...

Of course I was curious to listen to the 5 times more expensive, conventional AV system I have there... So many ressonances, I couldnt believe I didnt notice them before, it still sounds much cleaner than most I have heard, golden ratio size room, 2 subwoofers, and a lot of furniture and sound treatment...

On the other hand the sound has more body, wich I like, but I did some tests with the KRELL processor's equalizer, and it was the result of ressonances between 160 and 200 hz...

Anyway, with a 283 euros DVD receiver, on an almost bare room, I have a fantastic, clean, lively, dynamic, full range sound... Even without surround, it fills the room with a wide and tall, very well focused stage...

Thank you Schallwand, ESE Labs and Jim, for helping me put it toguether...

Jampot · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Apr 2006, 05:35 pm »

Enjoy Antonio!

We should all have your tenacity in the persuit of 'our' ideal system. I know it hasn't been easy to achieve in such an unusual location, and have been pleased to help in a small way.

Keep us abreast of any future changes.

Jim

lowrider · « **Reply #2 on:** 9 Jul 2006, 08:06 pm »

I liked so much my old fashioned speakers, and the manufacturer kept recommending tubes, so I could not resist the pressure, and the curiosity...

I bought a beautiful Cayin A-88T amplifier + one Vincent SDV-3 player, to replace the TEAC...

Guess what, the 2.000 euros dearer and 30 kg heavier combo, doesnt beat the humble TEAC, it sounds livelier, and music has more body, but the former is more detailed, has a more defined sound stage, and nicer timbre...

Well, I believe they will improve with more time, but I sure didnt expect this kind of sound from tubes...

lowrider · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 08:36 am »

Got fed-up with HUMMM and THUMP, and not so good sound, it is packed, beeing returned today, hope they return my money too...

No more tubes for me...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 08:58 am »

Quote from: lowrider on 12 Jul 2006, 08:36 am

Got fed-up with HUMMM and THUMP, and not so good sound, it is packed, beeing returned today, hope they return my money too...

No more tubes for me...

So does that mean its back to the TEAC ?

lowrider · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 09:01 am »

It is already there...

I am going to compare the Vincent player with the TEAC, if it sounds better I will try something else digital, the only one that does everything I want is the Lyngdorf TDA2200, but it is quite expensive...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 09:04 am »

Quote from: lowrider on 12 Jul 2006, 09:01 am

It is already there...

I am going to compare the Vincent player with the TEAC, if it sounds better I will try something else digital, the only one that does everything I want is the Lyngdorf TDA2200, but it is quite expensive...

Well...at least you know what direction your going...now start saving.

Good luck....

lowrider · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 09:10 am »

Thanks, maybe I should start selling some of the stuff from Cascais, no one would notice the difference, as long as I leave the speakers alone...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 09:22 am »

Quote from: lowrider on 12 Jul 2006, 09:10 am

Thanks, maybe I should start selling some of the stuff from Cascais, no one would notice the difference, as long as I leave the speakers alone...

Maybe if you can audition the Lyngdorf TDA2200 before you sell anything else...just in case....to make sure.

lowrider · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 10:06 am »

Just kidding, I am not selling anything, yet...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 10:17 am »

Quote from: lowrider on 12 Jul 2006, 10:06 am

Just kidding, I am not selling anything, yet...

Good....

Jampot · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 11:48 am »

If the Vincent plays better than the drl700 dvd drive why not hook it up to the aux in temporarily - and send for Signature 30 from Vinnie!

Then you could sell the Cayin, Teac AND the Enil

lowrider · « **Reply #12 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 12:21 pm »

Stop distracting me, I am listening to my Stradivarius again, delicious...

lowrider · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 Jul 2006, 03:09 pm »

The Vincent is gone too, the TEAC alone sounds much better...

Now lets see if I can convince the sellers to refund me, they are both German stores, I might be lucky...

lowrider · « **Reply #14 on:** 19 Jul 2006, 06:58 am »

It arrived back to the vendor, the pre tubes where malfunctioning, he replaced them with premium units, says the amplifier sounds great now, wants to ship it back...

No thanks, I have no warranty it wont happen again, and it costs almost 200 euros one way shipping...

BrassEar · « **Reply #15 on:** 31 Aug 2006, 08:20 pm »

That Teac is an amazing piece. I just picked on up from a fellow AC'er and did a quick round robin amp comparison with two audiophools. Parasound, SI, Classe, Behringer among the amps tried. Well, in terms of transparent mid-band, the Teac is probably the best hands down. Ditto extended treble. Overall musicality makes it tops. It only shows weaknesses when compared to big muscle amps in the bass department. And even that can probably be improved with a few mods.

Tripath chips are capable of SOTA performance in the right hands.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #16 on:** 31 Aug 2006, 09:07 pm »

Did you use a pre-amp in front of it, BrassEar? Tubes are best...they sort of flesh out the too bland (tho stunningly clean) overall character of the amp. It's almost too clean for it's own good.

Both the bass, and more notably treble, improve with gobs of power conditioning - as we discussed via PM/e-mail. All in all, it's still a bit bass shy overall bone stock I've found....but amps 20x it's cost err worse in other areas of performance. A tube preamp, with TEAC volume set to maximum, helps 'plump' up bass lines into something fattier and more satisfying.

Buy the Highwire power wrap for the captive cord...or, better yet, solder a new, shielded 14ga or larger cord (I believe that a bottleneck is formed when this under-ripe switched power supply demands power) to it and run it thru balanced power or some other kind of excellent conditioner. It's a stunning piece of goods for what TEAC sold it for.

Tho it's fully burned in for pleasure, it does seem to respond best to at least one hour warmup time each time you turn it on.

fyi, the original poster (think) was talking about the DR-L700 receiver of the same TEAC lineup...the A-L700P was a 3 channel 'accessory' amp originally brought out to do duty in modest surround sound/video setups. That is, until the audiophools got ahold of it and found it played swell. Two, as monoblocks, probably are as good as you can get for any money near it (that was my original plan for it, but I never got to buying that second one).

Enjoy it!

Quote from: BrassEar on 31 Aug 2006, 08:20 pm

That Teac is an amazing piece. I just picked on up from a fellow AC'er and did a quick round robin amp comparison with two audiophools. Parasound, SI, Classe, Behringer among the amps tried. Well, in terms of transparent mid-band, the Teac is probably the best hands down. Ditto extended treble. Overall musicality makes it tops. It only shows weaknesses when compared to big muscle amps in the bass department. And even that can probably be improved with a few mods.

Tripath chips are capable of SOTA performance in the right hands.

BrassEar · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 Aug 2006, 10:17 pm »

Thanks ChairGuy!

Yes, we used it with and without a tube pre. In my environment, it needs a pre. It does have a lower gain than most amps which surprised me. It also doesn't like sub-6 ohm loads all that well.

But the performance/$$ reminds me of the Panny and JVC receivers. Thanks for the tips on warm-up, power conditioning, etc.

Jampot · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Aug 2006, 10:50 pm »

BrassEar,

Please clarify, is the item under discussion the DR-L700 'receiver' or the A-L700 'surround amp'?

Either way I am sure the advice about power conditioning and so on is sound, but there is very little room in the receiver to mod anything. The amp boards are identical in both, but the power supply in the receiver is larger (in size) with take offs for the dvd drive fm tuner and all and is presumably even more compromised than that in the surround amp.

Melorib (who started this thread) was eventually (after modding and using a balanced transformer) thrilled with his but has now replaced it with a substantially more expensive set up.

Unfortunately both Bolder and Red Wine seem to have dropped the A-L700 mods from their line up, and when I asked them back in January, niether were enthusiastic about looking into the receiver for me. Can't blame them, both units have been out of production for some time so it is a dwindling market!

Jim

BrassEar · « **Reply #19 on:** 31 Aug 2006, 11:26 pm »

Jampot:

I apologize if I accidentally hijacked this thread. I am speaking only of the 3 channel amp, not the receiver which I have no experience with.

The amp chassis has tons of room for mods and there are more than a few tips on the net for this amp.