TEAC has decided to cover all the bases with its latest product launches. The TN-570 is a new belt-driven turntable that combines a clear acrylic platter with an S-shaped tonearm, all mounted on a composite black marble/high-density MDF base. The PD-301DAB on the other hand is “one of the most compact CD players available" (it’s just 6.1cm high), and incorporates a DAB and FM radio for good measure.
The TN-570 record player has a new S-shaped tonearm with a light alloy removable headshell (for easy cartridge swapping) and is height adjustable, to allow VTA adjustment. Speed selection is achieved electronically, rather than requiring the platter to be physically removed in order to move the belt. Why belt-drive? Because it’s better, obviously! Or in TEAC’s words: Because most direct-drive turntables tend to suffer from cogging effects, a fine pulsing that occurs naturally when a direct-drive motor turns. TEAC has also developed a ingenious Platter Rotation Sensing Servo System (using an optical sensor) to deliver a rotation precision (quite possibly this refers to speed – Ed) that’s almost the same as good as you’d get with a direct-drive. The TN-570 combines a clear 16mm acrylic platter and “massive” dual layer composite artificial marble ‘Onyx Emperador’/MDF base (secured on a honeycomb structure bottom cover). A built-in MM phono stage is also included, along with an "optical output (up to 192kHz/24-bit) and USB output (48kHz/16-bit)", allowing owners to convert their vinyl to digital formats. The TN-570 is available now for £749.
TEAC PD-301DAB
A perfect partner for the AI-301DA amplifier (or UD-301 DAC), the PD-301DAB features a slot drive that will also decode discs encoded with MP3 and WMA content.
For those who also want to play back WAV or AAC files there’s a USB slot on the front panel for thumb drives. If the songs are accompanied by ID3 tags the song and artists names are shown on the player’s display (MP3, WMA and AAC files only).
The PD-301DAB features a Burr-Brown PCM5142 DAC as well as coaxial and digital outputs.
It boasts a DAB/RDS FM tuner*, complete with 20 presets. The tuner section also offers upgrade potential inasmuch as DAB/RDS FM signals can be sent as digital signals (using the optical/coaxial outputs) to an external DAC (44.1kHz/16-bit resolution). The PD-301DAB features “weighty” all-aluminium alloy construction.
*Both DAB/RDS FM and RDS FM-only versions of the PD-301 are available in the UK. The PD-301DAB with DAB/RDS FM tuner is £349 while the RDS FM tuner version is £299.
