TEAC Distinction Series AI-2000 Integrated

You forgot Luxman, Pioneer, Rotel, Fostex... they're all producing, at the very least, a few great products currently within their product lines right now.

I agree with your sentiment though. There's never been a better time than now to be an audiophile.

Personally, I think it's wonderful that, finally, these long standing Japanese companies have returned to the fold and are starting to produce wonderful 2 channel High Fidelity equipment once again!
Yamaha has done it, Sony has done it, Onkyo has done it, Accuphase never stopped doing it, now it seems Teac is doing it, and even what's left of Marantz and Denon are resurrecting 2 channel for the masses. It makes me excited for the future of STEREO again, and I was peddling Dolby surround, prologic and AC3/DTS back in the day when audiophiles were trading in massive 2 channel rigs for the 'latest' surround fiasco in a box.
Long live simplicity!
 
bump to see if anyone has reviews for the TEAC AI-2000?

A buddy of mine has that running into a pair of Monitor Audio RX8 speakers. He's using a CDP from the series, too.

I really like the sound of his setup. It leans a little to the warm side, which I like. Part of that might be the British speakers, but I've heard them with other components and I think that's a small contribution.
Bass is well defined and seems to go plenty deep with the RX8's. The highs are nice, if maybe slightly rolled off. My hearing isn't the greatest in those upper ranges so that could be me, and again, could be the speakers. I had those same RX8's and with my equipment I had the same experience.
 
I borrowed one to use with my Monitor Audio RX6's a while back. Beautiful looking amp, and I enjoyed my few days with it. I'll have to pull out my notes and put them in this thread.
 
Yamaha has done it, Sony has done it, Onkyo has done it, Accuphase never stopped doing it, now it seems Teac is doing it, and even what's left of Marantz and Denon are resurrecting 2 channel for the masses.

TEAC never stopped doing it, neither have Marantz or Denon. The TEAC Distiction series has been around for a while. I have the TEAC Distinction A-1D integrated amp (same as the one pictured below) for a number of years and now it will be powering my NHT Classic Three speakers....

teac%20a1d.jpg
 
The 'flagship' 'Teac' AI-3000 at $3000 doesn't look great value to me on harder inspection. 200+200w at 8ohms, double paralleled transistors only per channel, single transformer, no separate PSUs for each channel etc.
It looks like a DIY amp from China and it is made in China. I would bet Teac didn't even design it. The heatsinks are off the shelf 4 per side with a crossbar bolted to them which the output transistors are bolted onto- not an ideal way to do it- but cheap.
The twin XLRs feed into (via relay selction) a single opamp and out via two electrolytics (L/R) which means it isn't a true balanced input at all. What a waste of time putting the XLRs there in the first place. Maybe not- their market wouldn't know anyway.
I'd like to get one on the bench to play with, but I won't be buying one.
 
TEAC never stopped doing it, neither have Marantz or Denon. The TEAC Distiction series has been around for a while. I have the TEAC Distinction A-1D integrated amp (same as the one pictured below) for a number of years and now it will be powering my NHT Classic Three speakers....

teac%20a1d.jpg

That will be a nice setup.
 
I picked up the CD-2000 CD/SACD player and I'm loving it so far. It is a large piece and feels good (as far as modern electronic gear goes). I've played SACD's and streamed high resolution flac from my pc through it and I've been very impressed. It's a clean and smooth analog sounding performance.

I've enjoyed it so much that I decided to pick up the AI-2000 integrated amp. I usually don't go for integrated pieces but the combination of quality, price, looks, power (180 into 4 ohms) and positive impression from the transport made me pull the trigger. I'll give it a full review after I recieve it.


current equipment
Great Room: Totem Arro's, Carver TFM-4.0, Carver C-2, Teac CD-2000, Marantz 6110 TT

Bonus Room: Wharfedale Diamond 10.2's, Diamond 10.CM, Diamond 10.SR, Def Tech supercube 2, Elite BDP-52fd, Elite VSX-31
 
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I got one. I can only give an opinion based on owning TEAC stuff forever; this amp shares some of that pedigree in that it's effortless and clean with a truckload of headroom, and quick. And from my shoddy research it appears to be the only model of the entire range with dual transformers, so this would be the one to get (I speculate).

I am a new PC audio enthusiast and I use this with a UD-501 USB DAC
 
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Personally, I think it's wonderful that, finally, these long standing Japanese companies have returned to the fold and are starting to produce wonderful 2 channel High Fidelity equipment once again!
Yamaha has done it, Sony has done it, Onkyo has done it, Accuphase never stopped doing it, now it seems Teac is doing it, and even what's left of Marantz and Denon are resurrecting 2 channel for the masses. It makes me excited for the future of STEREO again, and I was peddling Dolby surround, prologic and AC3/DTS back in the day when audiophiles were trading in massive 2 channel rigs for the 'latest' surround fiasco in a box.
Long live simplicity!

You forgot Luxman, Pioneer, Rotel, Fostex... they're all producing, at the very least, a few great products currently within their product lines right now.

I agree with your sentiment though. There's never been a better time than now to be an audiophile.

Yea, lots of classic brands making some nice 2 channel amps and also DACs/Headphone Amps these days.


The only new TEAC I've heard is the little UD-H01 DAC and Headphone Amp package. A "non-audiophile" friend bought it for his office set up. It can be had for about $200 these days (I think it was originally $550 retail) which, imo, is a good/reasonable deal for the piece.

Briefly, though I only spent about 20 minutes with it at my friend's office, I thought:

1) Loved the looks personally (he has the sliver which mates so well with the blue lights)

2) Build quality is good (especially liked the weighty volume knob...though it is a bit small) weighs a lot, big enough (won't slide everywhere like so many of those little headphone amps and DAC separates or combos around the same price do) but not so big as to crowd an office type desk...it looks like a piece of audio equipment and not a toy

3) Sound is good, but I could definitely detect a lack of "sophistication" or "musicality" compared to the higher level (often much higher) gear I'm used to. I took in my BeyerDynamics T1 headphones for a listen (he uses Grado 325i's) and my quick notes were:

Bad: Brash, little hollow/weird mids, not so delicate/refined/detailed (lacks micro detail and articulation), splashy/tishy cymbals, little sibilant, dry, vocals lack weight and emotion ("warmth")...not good for "warmer" or "more sophisticated" music with natural instrumentation and refinement, like jazz and classical, and vocal/singer-songwriter material...gets fatiguing...lacks some smoothness and coherency

Good: Crisp, clear, good separation/imaging, good PRAT (exciting/dynamic), snappy, powerful, tight and taut sound (I found it drove my T1's fine, though not extremely well; it sufficed...I never went past the 12:00 position and that was plenty loud; normal listening would be around 9:00 to 11:00 I suspect)

Summation: works best on "artificial" instruments (80's type of pop/rock especially); sounds (the tone) off with more natural ones...not bad at all for $200ish; for the original retail price I would expect better...for the average "non-audiophile" user who doesn't need "the best", or especially the guy who just wants an all-in-one solution and loves to rock out, it's a great DAC/headphone amp, but its defects will be clear to those who are used to more refined and accurate (and more expensive) gear.

Imo only of course. :smoke:

I wonder if this same house sound runs through all of their models, because frankly I love the looks of the AI-501DA http://www.teac.com/product/ai-501da/ and AX-501 http://www.teac.com/product/ax-501/ (those meters!) and if they sounded better than the lower level product I've heard, I might be able to make room for them in some system. :D
 

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Teac UD-H01 DAC

Yea, lots of classic brands making some nice 2 channel amps and also DACs/Headphone Amps these days.


The only new TEAC I've heard is the little UD-H01 DAC and Headphone Amp package. A "non-audiophile" friend bought it for his office set up. It can be had for about $200 these days (I think it was originally $550 retail) which, imo, is a good/reasonable deal for the piece.

Briefly, though I only spent about 20 minutes with it at my friend's office, I thought:

1) Loved the looks personally (he has the sliver which mates so well with the blue lights)

2) Build quality is good (especially liked the weighty volume knob...though it is a bit small) weighs a lot, big enough (won't slide everywhere like so many of those little headphone amps and DAC separates or combos around the same price do) but not so big as to crowd an office type desk...it looks like a piece of audio equipment and not a toy

3) Sound is good, but I could definitely detect a lack of "sophistication" or "musicality" compared to the higher level (often much higher) gear I'm used to. I took in my BeyerDynamics T1 headphones for a listen (he uses Grado 325i's) and my quick notes were:

Bad: Brash, little hollow/weird mids, not so delicate/refined/detailed (lacks micro detail and articulation), splashy/tishy cymbals, little sibilant, dry, vocals lack weight and emotion ("warmth")...not good for "warmer" or "more sophisticated" music with natural instrumentation and refinement, like jazz and classical, and vocal/singer-songwriter material...gets fatiguing...lacks some smoothness and coherency

Good: Crisp, clear, good separation/imaging, good PRAT (exciting/dynamic), snappy, powerful, tight and taut sound (I found it drove my T1's fine, though not extremely well; it sufficed...I never went past the 12:00 position and that was plenty loud; normal listening would be around 9:00 to 11:00 I suspect)

Summation: works best on "artificial" instruments (80's type of pop/rock especially); sounds (the tone) off with more natural ones...not bad at all for $200ish; for the original retail price I would expect better...for the average "non-audiophile" user who doesn't need "the best", or especially the guy who just wants an all-in-one solution and loves to rock out, it's a great DAC/headphone amp, but its defects will be clear to those who are used to more refined and accurate (and more expensive) gear.

Imo only of course. :smoke:

I wonder if this same house sound runs through all of their models, because frankly I love the looks of the AI-501DA http://www.teac.com/product/ai-501da/ and AX-501 http://www.teac.com/product/ax-501/ (those meters!) and if they sounded better than the lower level product I've heard, I might be able to make room for them in some system. :D

Nice DAC, indeed. Someone tweaked it here. (WOW, WOW, WOW!)

Pictures below (hope not to break any rules)...

Alldone.jpg


Side_view.jpg
 
I got one. I can only give an opinion based on owning TEAC stuff forever; this amp shares some of that pedigree in that it's effortless and clean with a truckload of headroom, and quick. And from my shoddy research it appears to be the only model of the entire range with dual transformers, so this would be the one to get (I speculate).

I am a new PC audio enthusiast and I use this with a UD-501 USB DAC

My thoughts exactly after taking a look at the guts. I also noticed that the amplifiers are almost identical to the Music Hall integrated amps. A little net research, and it looks like Teac is manufacturing the Music Halls for them.
 
I hadn't had a chance to complete a thorough review, although I plan to very soon. I've been working on some custom shelves for the gear.

I will say that I have been very happy with both the AI-2000 and the CD-2000. Not a lot of bells and whistles but a very good sounding pair. The amp is more than enough for my loudspeakers (Totem Acoustic Arro). For those not familiar, these are a pair of 4 ohm compact columns that really excel at transparency (close but not as much as a pair of Martin Logan ESL's) and imaging (about as good as I've ever heard). They have a surprising amount of lowend. Totem says down to 40hz depending on placement, but I would argue 50hz is probably the typical response. Still very good for such small loudspeakers.

The amplifier is built very well. It feels like a $1500 amplifier. Even the knob is heavy but fluid when turning. The remote feels the same way. As far as sound, I would say that this amp sounds fairly transparent leaning just into the warmer side than analytical. From top to bottom, I can't hear a single flaw. I did have the speakers connected to a Pioneer Elite AVR beforehand, and there was no comparison. The sound was unlively with a shallow soundstage. Much less engaging. The Teac is a very pleasant amplifier that should perform well with all but the most demanding loads.

Once I'm finished with the shelves, I'll do a full video review and drop the link in this thread.

Cheers
 
Looks like the AI-2000 and other models in that range have been discontinued
 
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