Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

Vinyl walks the planet with leaps and bounds, raising half a century of dust from the mezzanine. It was there, even before the era of cassettes and CDs, that our ancestors hid stacks of records and a turntable that played them.

But time is merciless: even the mezzanine door began to open worse and creak with its hinges. And what can we say about the record player - many of them rested there, looking frowningly into the darkness of change.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

But we live in a wonderful time - now the cycle is closed. Our new is now ours, and what difference does it make what was there before. Today, the shiny Teac TN-3B vinyl player will act as the wind of change: while the tea is cooling, you can dust off your old records. They will play again soon!

This is not the first attempt by the Japanese from Teac to make vinyl more accessible to the widest possible audience. More precisely, this is one of the most remarkable and most significant models: TN-3B occupies the niche of players with a price tag of up to $800.00. And here there is a fierce struggle, since the buyer of such a turntable is more of a music lover, and rarely "just wants it, because he saw it from a friend."

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

In fact, there may be a lot of options. If we open the range of Teac LP ​​players, we will immediately understand that the Japanese are aware of the situation and understand where to aim. Look at the variability of design solutions: there is an acid DJ-style turntable with a table, and retro-complex turntables that are sold immediately with speakers. Well, there is also room for the classics - our Teac TN-3B can be attributed to this category of exterior.

Exterior

Of course, it was possible to come up with something similar in design and play roulette again. But thankfully, the Teac designers were kind and calm on the day the TN-3B project was approved - and we ended up with a decent looking classic. They immediately decided that the table would be available in three colors: black, white and cherry.

For the test, I got a turntable with a white table - there are suspicions that someone found out about the author's love for this color and wanted to influence my objectivity.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

The tonearm and all other organs for controlling and providing functionality are made of silver color, which looks very elegant and aesthetically pleasing against the background of a white table. But even with white, you can overdo it, so to dilute the palette of colors, the TN-3B was equipped with a black felt slip mat. Although its color only matters until the moment you install the record.

Well, the belt is also black. It covers the aluminum platter around the entire visible circumference - we also managed to see something curious in this.

Another detail is an electronic speed switch from 33 to 45 and vice versa. The same control turns off the player if necessary.

S stands for tonearm

And now, dear friends, take a leisurely look at the upper right corner: these exquisite curves of the S-shaped tonearm are the work of many hands and minds, since this tonearm was developed jointly by Teac and Saec. And Saec is, for a minute, wow! Masters of Japanese high-end vinyl, no less!

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

The tonearm is static, with a blade bearing, and is equipped with an Audio-Technica cartridge marked AT-VM95E - a very reasonable solution if we consider the Teac TN-3B as an upgrade platform: interchangeable cartridges with different needles that can be found on sale for this heads, will save you from what so many adult vinyl growers love to do. In short, you don't have to configure anything. We quickly put a needle with a different sharpening - we got an increase in sound. Everything is extremely simple and clear.

Alas, this tonearm does not have height adjustment, which, on the other hand, limits the possibility of replacing the head itself, not for every option it can be adjusted.

The effective length of the tonearm is 223 mm, and the maximum weight of the cartridge that can be installed on it is 12 grams. This information will be useful for those who want a new head. By the way, also a very, very reasonable upgrade option.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

But let's break away from the numbers and take another look at this arm. Live Saec immediately catches the eye, as it looks very technologically advanced and serious. Each control and notch is made with such precision and accuracy that the very process of looking at this integral part of the player is a pleasure - already very beautiful and elegant.

Phono stage and ADC

Switching connectors, one toggle switch and one button are hidden on the back side of the chassis.

There are two RCA connectors for signal transmission, next to them there is a ground terminal. Detachable RCA cables can immediately be attributed to the advantages of the Teac TN-3B, since many competitors can find a cable that is built into the player - and no upgrade for you. Here, this path is open and invites lovers of experiments.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

Nearby we see a toggle switch - it can enable and disable the built-in MM-phono stage. Its position depends on the scenario in which the TN-3B will be used: if your amplifier also has a phono stage, you can move the toggle switch to the “THRU” position and connect the cables from the player to the “Phono” connector of the amplifier. If there is not a single hint of the possibility of connecting a vinyl player in the system, it does not matter! We translate the toggle switch to "ON" and use any suitable input on the amplifier or AV receiver.

But the presence of a USB-B format jack at first can confuse digital adherents who are used to seeing such connectors on all kinds of DACs. Here, this connector works, one might say, in the opposite direction: it transmits an analog signal to a computer, where it can be digitized to 16 bit / 48 kHz quality.

To be honest, the demand for this function is highly doubtful, but, nevertheless, a number of manufacturers stubbornly continue to equip their players with such functionality. We have to accept and forgive.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

Meanwhile, only the power socket and the “On” or “Standby” mode selection button remained on the rear panel. We move on.

We can say that the player looks "expensive-rich" and "classic". The tonearm played an important role in this matter, but the chassis itself is also not far behind: a rather thick MDF sheet is abundantly varnished and polished to a state where pleasant reflections refresh and facilitate the perception of the whole structure.

This feeling is doubled by four chrome-plated massive legs - the white device seems to be floating in the air. However, this apparent lightness did not affect the technical characteristics in any way - the player weighs as much as 5 kg.

Phono switch in the On position

The snow-white Teac TN-3B is already on the top shelf of the rack: the dust cover is up, the tone arm is at the ready, the stack of records is at hand. There was no need to make any additional settings - our turntable is completely ready to start right out of the box.

We connect the TN-3B via the analog CD input to the Rotel RA-1572 MKII integrated circuit, and to it - the Dynaudio Emit 20 shelf speakers, which echo the snow-white finish of Teac. Camera! Motor! Go!

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

The sound of this bundle turned out to be very interesting and original. The budgets of the components differ slightly, but there is nothing strange in this. This is rather an average situation: there is already a digital system, it is well coordinated and satisfies all requests, but friends say that "you need to take vinyl, because there is soul and life."

A stack of records did not imply genre indulgence towards the subject. Teac, on the other hand, was quite able to cope with both synthetic bass and jazz kicks, and even separate the bass guitar and kick drum, which were recorded quite risky in one of the tracks. Not a bad start!

On the other hand, there are high frequencies: here the elaboration caused some surprise, since clarity, openness and quality in general turned out to be very high, with a claim to prizes in the top list of turntables from the “under 50 thousand” category.

But what about "life and soul"? Here TN-3B showed a character more typical of those devices that go a step and a half ahead of ours. The overall presentation of musical material tends to be neutral: none of the ranges prevails, they are all well developed and structured. But through this, one can perfectly hear the unity and integrity of the phonograms, that “life and soul” of the records, having learned which one is no longer drawn to switch back to a digital source.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

Teac TN-3B Turntable Test

As they usually say in such situations, I wanted to listen to the entire music library again. In my case, I wanted to find my favorite tracks on vinyl and evaluate them from another angle. From this side of the barricades, sterility and separation begin to give way under the onslaught of fullness and depth - a great opportunity to look at the musical world in a new way.

After listening, do not forget to raise the tonearm when the record is over: the Teac TN-3B does not have hitchhiking and other tricks.

Phono switch in Thru position

Now let the Rotel RA-1572 MKII try to make its own adjustments - we use the Teac TN-3B as, so to speak, an analog transport and use the phono stage of the integrated circuit.

The situation is clearly changing - and Rotel begins to correct something in its own way. But through these edits, Teac remains clearly visible, with its own character and features. Rotel helped add depth to the scene, gave even more air and space in which the stage is built, and boldly pushed the bass even deeper while rounding its outlines in an interesting way.

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

Teac TN-3B Turntable Review

This experience became no less interesting than the previous one: there was even more of the desired “life” in it, and the “soul” here became even more transparent, but it became easier to find it because of the more defined contour.

In general, it turned out to be a very pleasant bunch, which took a step forward in terms of sound level. In general, Teac and Rotel showed a very deep level of interaction, regardless of the use case. In such cases, they also say - synergy.

Conclusion

The clock on the wall is ticking, the day is in full swing or something is already approaching. If there is a desire, it must be fulfilled, and there is no need to wait until the time comes. Because the time does not come - it goes. 

Do you see how after the vinyl sound you are drawn to philosophy? And all because the "life and soul" of music for many remains a fairy tale about sound. But when you become an accomplice in the process of extracting sacred fibers from compositions, a fairy tale, without hesitation, becomes a reality.

Teac TN-3B is designed just for this. Most likely it will be the first, but very confident step towards an analog source in a stereo system. And most importantly, he is quite capable of giving you an understanding of why vinyl is again striding across the planet with leaps and bounds, and old records no longer gather dust on the mezzanines. Welcome to analog audio!

Pros

Excellent design and quality finishes; detachable RCA cables; tonearm Saec; built-in phono stage with the ability to turn off; wide possibilities of quick upgrade by replacing the cartridges on the pickup

Cons

Tonearm not height adjustable

OFFICIAL SITE

Teac TN-3B

Specification

Disc speeds: 33 1/3, 45 rpm, electronically adjustable

Support plate: 300 mm, made of aluminium, thickness 20 mm, weight 1.5 kg

Platter spindle: stainless steel

Drive: belt

Detonation and speed instability: ±0.1%

Outputs: RCA (Phono/Line), USB

Tonearm: S-shaped, SAEC

Effective tonearm length: 223mm

Pickup Weight Range: 3g - 12g

Preinstalled Pickup: MM, Audio Technica AT-VM95E

Built-in phono stage: MM

Downforce: 0-5g

Output signal: 4-224mV

USB sampling: up to 16 bit/48 kHz

Package contents: dust cover, Connect it E phono cable, felt mat, EP adapter, counterweight, shell with AT-VM95E cartridge installed, disk, dust cover, rubber feet for dust cover, loops, RCA cable with GND terminal, mains adapter, instructions user

Dimensions (WxHxD): 420x117x402 mm

Weight: 5 kg

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