Thread: Is Teac trickle down from Esoteric? Teac PD-501HR CD Player

Still kicking around what CD player to get if not the Rotel CD-1572 for $1k or under and I came across this little Teac PD-501HR CD Player.

I do not have all the formats it plays but it looks interesting. Several decent reviews too.

Is a Cirrus Logic CS4398 as good or better than the Wolfson 24-bit/192kHz?

Not sure I like the small foot print or whimpy weight, but looks like a contender.

Any thoughts on Modern Teac?

Originally Posted by Shadowfax

Still kicking around what CD player to get if not the Rotel CD-1572 for $1k or under and I came across this little Teac PD-501HR CD Player.

I do not have all the formats it plays but it looks interesting. Several decent reviews too.

Is a Cirrus Logic CS4398 as good or better than the Wolfson 24-bit/192kHz?

Not sure I like the small foot print or whimpy weight, but looks like a contender.

Any thoughts on Modern Teac?

Hard to say, as TEAC launched the "ESOTERIC" brand which exclusively engineered and manufactured high end audio products in 1987. Maybe Teac contains a lot of the Esorteric parts but has never been marketed that way. Just a thought,.

Brian, for years I have felt the Rotel line represented some of the best sound for the $$ when it came to CD playback just as Marantz does for SACD/CD playback.

The Esoteric and TEAC relation has always baffled me. They are opposite ends of the market.

When I worked audio we used to sell their cassette decks and some were very good. The rest of their gear was always in that entry level range. The relationship of the two brands is nothing like other brands who may have a consumer and higher line.

I really do not have the impression that any Esoteric tech trickles down. I'm not sure the purpose of TEAC. TEAC must haveanother source of income as they have been around for ever.

I do remember around 1990, give or take, Teac had a CDP with separate chassis and very expensive for the time, Z1 or something like that. So it may have been when they decided they needed a new name for high end or that trickle wasn't worth the time.

I personally wouldn't use Teac or recommend them to family based on my observations up to this point. It's sort of like finding out Pass and Sound Design were both owned by the same company. Just strange.

I ordered the Rotel 1572 last night.