TEAC VRDS 701T - Review

[Macca]

Got the right thread now I hope - too much vino tonight?!!

Review for the 701T


https://www.stereophile.com/content/...t-cd-transport

A bit over the top but he obviously liked it.

It's funny, I sold the Audiolab transport last week so I put it back in the system to check it was working before I boxed it up. Gave me a chance to do a proper back to back with the TEAC.

I couldn't tell any difference between them at all. Both sounded fantastic. (I did only listen to one album though).

So not sure where he's getting these revelatory differences from. They should be very close if not identical.

I'd argue that my system is a bit better than either of the two he used too, so none of that 'not revealing enough' excuse. Of course my hearing could be cream crackered but I think Herb is in his late '70s so likely his is no better than mine.

[Jimbo]

Yes I think maybe there is a bit of hype regarding CD transports in general although I think there certainly could be a difference between the very worst CDT and the best out there. Not seen a comparison between a whole range of CDT out there but I would suggest it would need at least 5 and a couple of regular CDP thrown in for good measure.

[Macca]

Yes I think maybe there is a bit of hype regarding CD transports in general although I think there certainly could be a difference between the very worst CDT and the best out there. Not seen a comparison between a whole range of CDT out there but I would suggest it would need at least 5 and a couple of regular CDP thrown in for good measure.

Prior to getting the Audiolab I was using an Oppo and a Panasonic DVD player as transports and I did think the Audiolab was better.

A CD transport has a very limited number of things it needs to do properly in order to be notionally perfect, and I suspect the Audiolab clears that bar.

As stated in my original post, the reason I swapped to the TEAC had nothing to do with sound quality. Although initially I did think it had a slightly different presentation to the Audiolab, doing the comparison again a year later, that difference was not there for me.

If someone's on a budget and SQ is the only consideration, there's IMO no point in spending more. Better to save the pennies for better loudspeakers.

[Jimbo]

I do wonder if its not just the actual transport mechanism (drawer /laser assembly etc) but also the electronics delivering the sign al to the coaxial/ optical outputs that also makes the difference?

[Macca]

I do wonder if its not just the actual transport mechanism (drawer /laser assembly etc) but also the electronics delivering the sign al to the coaxial/ optical outputs that also makes the difference?

There's various possibilities - noise from power supply piggy-backing on the signal, bit inversion creating distortion. Noise is probably the most likely reason for real differences which I suspect is why the cheapo Panasonic and Samsung players I tried were not great (the Samsung had a lot of mechanical noise too).

Fancy transport mechs might be more reliable long term but for sound quality it's just over-engineering for the sake of it - and for the marketing department to have something they can hang their hats on when trying to sell the thing.

[Macca]

For what it's worth the TEAC made it into Stereophile's 2024 list of recommended components:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/...c-file-players

Class A recommendation too.

[Barry]

Well it's certainly in some exalted (and absurdly expensive) company.