Hey all,
I was looking at a Teac AG10D receiver today. The price is decent and it seems like it has everything that I need. The only problem is that I have not heard much about Teac as a brand. There seems to be very little out on the internet and their webpage is lack-luster.
Does anyone have any ideas / experience with Teac?
I would really appreciate hearing from you if you do.
Cheers,
Jordan
I know they used to make very highly regarded tape decks, but other than that, haven't heard much from them recently.
Hi Jordan,
As Ken pointed out, in the analog era Teac had an impressive line of analog open-reel tape decks aimed at the semi-pro market.
It's a company that seems to have lost its way, not unlike some others that held places of prominence back in the 1960s and '70s (KLH, AR, Nakamichi, Advent, etc.) but now I suspect the brand name is simply being pasted onto an OEM receiver. Teac has no history of receiver design and even their cassette decks were nothing special.
You'd be wise to stay with brands that have a long history of quality receiver and electronics design (H/K, Denon, Pioneer, etc). Companies often try to enter a new market and when a product fails, it becomes impossible to get parts or repairs.
Regards,
Many thanks for your reply Alan. I appreciate the info.
That is exactly how I felt regarding this company. I actually emailed their support staff to get some more specs regarding the receiver and they were unable to give me the standard wattage output at 8 ohms etc. Aside from it being a very nice looking receiver I ruled it out for a number of reasons.
Furthermore, it was not comforting to see that they had very few reviews online.
It seems to have come down to 2 receivers:
A - Yamaha HTR 5850, or
B - Harmon Kardon AVR 135
I should be able to get either for around the same price. I simply cannot afford to go higher and have not found much used to my liking.
It will be for the medium sized living-room (12 x 16 feet) in my apartment driving M60's up front and some uninteresting surrounds in the back for the time being.
It will be used 99% for music (most of which coming from my computer) and now and again for movies.
Any thoughts on the above?
All the best,
Jordan
Oh, and by the way. The "Harmon Kardon AVR 135" is very similar to the "Harman Kardon AVR 135" so feel free to comment on either.
J
And even closer to products by Harman/Kardon. :P
Bren R.
I would assume it would be very similar, since it is the same model #.
I was making a reference to my poor spelling. I hope that doesn't put me in the same league as Stoneman. Lord help me.
J
Be advised that you rarely get more than you pay for. The trick, IMO, is to get at least what you pay for.
To provide a sense of closure, I would like to let you all know that the AVR 135 is now sitting happily in my living-room. I am currently, sitting happily in front of it listenting to music.
I could not be more pleased with my purchase. Then again, I don't have the contending Yamaha in front of me to compare but nonetheless, no regrets with this receiver.
As for power, which was my only reservation, I would like to state that it holds its own just fine. I have a medium sized room and it does the trick just fine. If I had a massive room with vaulted ceiling etc then I would surely need a beefier amp. But for most applications I would imagine this receiver is enough.
As an aside, I finally "pulled the trigger" as cheseroo put it and placed my order with the factory outlet for a pair of M60s. I have 8 long weeks ahead of me before I can give my opinion.
Cheers,
Jordan
8 weeks? Holy moley. I thought I had it bad when I had to wait a week on mine. Good luck and keep the mind occupied.
