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I have owned TEAC equipment throughout the years and have enjoyed them and not once any of them failed on me. As a matter of fact, I’m still listening to a TEAC reel to reel that I purchased in the mid 70’s 😊

That fluance is "midrange" in the same way that the new Corvette is "mid-range". Yet most people could not justify the price of even that car. Heck, it's why I bought an FR-S in 2013. Also, It reminded me of the experience I had in the late 70's in my Opel GT, only the FR-S is WAY better. I put 185k mile on it on the twisties of Kentucky so far and had a blast. I still have it, but I retired 3 years ago and left my 150 mile a day round trip commute behind. I drive it to church a couple of times a month and sometimes the golf course, and that's about it. But I see turntables the same way. I have four turntables. The worst of them is an AT LP120 USB and a U-Turn Plus with a built in pre. I honestly believe that unless one is in the one percent and must have the "best of the best", either of those two would be more than most people would ever need, even with the supplied cartridges. And I'm aware of their shortcomings (I sold hi-fi between 1976 and 1982). I wish the u-Turn was white, but I bought it used...cheap. I tell anyone that cares that if they want to improve a midrange turntable ($300-$600 range), get a nude stylus for the cartridge. Getting an ortofon Blue is the biggest advantage of the RT-85. The comical part is that I got a friend into vinyl about 8 years ago. He started out with an AT-LP120 USB (his antiskating actually works, unlike mine). But he started getting into the hobby and simply had to "step up". I recommended the Fluance RT-85 because of the blue. He now uses both and to our old ears they sound the same. He uses both interchangeably. Yeah, I know the Fluance and blue sound better, technically, but it's hard to tell unless you are a/b comparing them. And that's not why you buy a Turntable. That being said, Bob Bradley (youtube channel and local guy) picked up a completely restored vintage Thorens idler drive TT a few years ago and put an excellent cartridge on it. I'm sure it sounds amazing and set him back a LOT (in the same way a classic Porsche or Corvette would). Yet in the last year he bought a new, and more modern belt drive table. If you are really into this stuff, you end up with the same sickness boaters have. For boats they call it "two foot-itis". The two most critical features for me in a turntable are Direct Drive and a replaceable headshell. Heck, even my main TT with an ADC LMF II carbon Fiber tonearm has a removable headshell. It's easy to mount cartridges, and it's easy to swap out two different ones when you have multiple headshells. I'm no fan of modern belt drives with exposed belts. That would have been unheard of back in the 70's. It would be like buying a car with exposed tires and mudflaps. Sheesh, I'm wordy tonight. Can you tell my wife's out of town?🤣 BTW, I bought a 78 RPM stylus for the AT cartridge that came with my AT-LP120 and it is amazing how good 78's sound with the right stylus. They are a lot of fun.

SWEET had some great songs which I fondly remember of my youth like Fox On The Run, Ballroom Blitz, and Love Is Like Oxygen

The upgrade path for that cartridge is what makes it so popular as you can elevate it with stylus swaps all the way to a shibata stylus with nude eliptical and microlinear in between.

Great to see a turntable other than from a brand that everyone recommends! I remember many TEAC products growing up and have always enjoyed them! Thanks for the informative video!

The band The Sweet became Sweet after their run of hit singles dried up here in the U.K. The album you showed is called Desolation Boulevard and was not a greatest hit package. From memory this was their 'big hit album in The States. Met the lead singer Brian Connolly a couple of times but sadly the effects of alcoholism was very noticeable. This band is dear to my heart as this was my entry point into pop and rock music when the single Hellraiser was released back in '73. A great glam rock band that morphed into a stunning rock band. They, along with Uriah Heep, were instrumental in developing a particular style of vocal harmonies later copied by Queen.

I had a Teac tn3b for a while and to be fair I found it sounded better than a Pro Ject debut carbon that all the hype suggested was better.

Nice review of a not so obvious choice turntable. Reminds me of my first turntable purchased in 1980, the Sansui SR222 MkII. A brilliant turntable for the princely sum of £65. Also gloss black. I bought another one 3 years ago out of nostalgia and it set me back on the vinyl path. I’m so far along that road now but I thank Sansui for introducing me to vinyl not once but twice!

1:30 am, getting ready to go to sleep, and joy of vinyl uploads a new video 🤦‍♂️

beautiful turntable indeed! The only thing that bothers me somewhat is when a furniture company jams some hifi gear on the shelves in the most unlikely setup: turntable on a middle shelf where it couldn't open, bookshelf speakers on a bottom shelf next to each other. If you make furniture for hifi components, it would help if you knew a little about hifi :)

TEAC had a great variety of entry-level turntables like the MCD800 which I still have

A turntable I like in midlevel is the Pro-Ject RPM 1 evo. Interesting design with a detached motor, minimalist plinth and s shaped tone arm. Pro-Ject also offers several upgrades for this specific turntable.

When I got back into hifi a couple years ago I wanted a turntable to replace my old Dual CS-5000 from the '90s. After a lot of research I decided on the TEAC TN-5BB, their top of the line. It's a belt drive with acrylic platter, but had the feature I really wanted; auto stop/lift. It came with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, which seems strange for an $1,800 turntable, but it's an okay starter. I soon replaced it with an Audio-Technica AT-OC9XML moving coil using the phono preamp in my Yamaha A-S3200 and was very pleased. Then last December I caved and bought a Technics SL-1200GR2 which I ran with a moving magnet beside the TEAC. I alternated between the two and enjoyed both, but with my recent purchase of the Willsenton R8 I needed to move one table to make room. I decided to move the Technics to my secondary system as I really prefer the semi-auto to the full manual. I just got the iFi ZEN Phono 3 and running the TEAC through it into the R8 is simply great. I am very happy with TEAC and have a AD-850 CD/cassette deck and also a V-6030S vintage cassette deck. When I was looking for my TN-5BB Crutchfield had a bunch of TEACs but not the top model, and they wouldn't order it for me. It looks like they are phasing them out now and only have three models. Anyway I ended up going to Music Direct and had a very good experience with them, and bought the Technics from them also. Plus I've purchased a lot of vinyl from them. As an aside, if you enjoy modern jazz give the album "Vol. 1" by Chris Botti a try. It's a Blue Note and has excellent musicians and the pressing is great, and sounds fantastic on my system.

Seems like a viable option in this price range. The one thing I like about my Fluance RT85 is the acrylic platter. To me, that's a step up from an aluminum platter, and I don't need a mat. Plus, it just looks cool to me. Teac was always a solid brand at a reasonable price back in the day. It looks like they are continuing that trend. Nice review.

LP Gear makes a Vividline stylus for the AT95... costs more than the cartridge but man it turns that thing on! Makes it a real contender.

You tease. I am looking forward to that set up video to compare notes. Thanks.

That's basically mine

Teac's cd players have a very good reputation for sound also. On the vintage used market it is hard to beat the Harmon Kardon T series of turntables from around 40 years ago. On the audio forums, it's pretty much unanimous that the upper models especially, have better sound quality than Thorens turntables from the same era. The line goes from the T20 to the T30 to the T65 model. Tbey all have a very good lightweight Carbon Fiber tonearm, and the upper models like the T60 and T65 have a heavier platter, a custom platter mat, and an excellent spring suspension. They also have controls on the turntable to adjust capacitance for different cartridges. The top of the line T65 model has a very unique type of anti-skating gizmo. They even come with a round record weight puck included. The T 60 model I experienced, outperformed an over $1,200 turntable model. Especially in the bass; which was deeper, tighter and more defined with the T 60. The T60 can be had on the used market, often for around $500. Frank Van Alstine, built his reputation as a long time well known modifier of vintage tube amps like Dynaco. Someone said he used or still uses a Harmon Kardon T 25 as his preferred turntable. Van Alstine is now not just a modifying company, but has their own line of amplifiers etc. They are highly respected for offering amazing sound quality per dollar.

Luckily there vary good turntables these days that almost any one can afford Great content I've subscribed

Teac Corporation , in addition to the pro-audio Tascam brand has the ESOTERIC brand of super-high-end audiophile gear . Engineering trickles down from high to low . ESOTERIC now makes it's first turntable , a grand statement design with truly original engineering , but don't look at it if you don't want severe sticker shock . Indicates what a great engineering company can achieve .

WTF is that a knife-edge bearing tonearm? Didn't expect that one a midrange turntable like these!

Teac has nice products. Any ideas on the TN 175. ? It's another cheap entry level turntable.

I dont know if I missed it, but did you comment that the cart can be fitted with many other styli? The Microline is a fav of mine.

I've always been suspicious of the metal platters on the Technics, but owners seem very happy with them so it must not be an issue.

Two items: 1) Did you compare your S2 phono amp to the turntable's built-in phono amp? 2) @7:00 -- Sweet. Their big hit was "Fox On The Run". I used to have a 7" 45 of that song, that I played and played and played -- and has since disappeared like the sock in the dryer. I tried hunting down a digital copy of it, and after four purchases (three digital downloads and one CD) from four different albums, I gave up, due to the barely listenable sound quality. On a scale of 1 to 10 (the latter being the best), I rated each of my four purchases a 4. Disappointing. They all sound flat, compressed, and congested. How is Fox On The Run on your vinyl? I see none up for sale on eBay, and none up for sale on discogs. Is it worth pursuing, and rolling the dice if one surfaces? It will probably cost $50+. I am not keen on taking such a gamble, if the vinyl is not better (or barely better) than the digital copies that I own. But if it is a good step up, then I will grab one when it surfaces. The ones on youtube also sound south of good.

GM☕️..Teac is the OG of the Esoteric line of equipment…so….if you reach “the end” of your journey it’ll be worth the price.

where would you rate TECHNICS SL 1300 which i have medium above medium or???

You have a webpage? Cool. 😏