Amplifier Teac A-R650

Fans of true comedy will be familiar with one Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock, resident of 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam and the TV version of his highly successful radio series. Called simply, 'Hancock', it featured one of his best loved episodes called the 'Radio Ham' in which the lad was surrounded by boxes of complex amateur radio equipment, through which he would chat to fellow enthusiasts from around the world. The kit itself was full of switches and knobs, glowing dials and bits and bobs. If you look carefully, in scene two, when Hancock is in the middle of talking to a chap in Tokyo, just to the left of him on the desk, is a black box packed with dials. A busy, busy thing it is too; well, that's the Teac A-R650, that is...

Alright, it isn't. I was being facetious. But I ask you, take a look at this new budget amp from the company and tell me what is the difference between it and one of Hancock's toys? This is so retro that when I connected it up to my reference system to allow it to run in over several days, I almost expected to hear Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky Mick & Tich warbling from my speakers...

Knob festooned it may be but it's also very well made, considering the low price. It has a fascia quality and finish that is typical of Japanese gear. As for that fascia, it comes with a gamut of facilities including a rotary source selector that, when turned, cycles though six sources including - despite what one popular hi-fi magazine declared during their review - a phono stage. Below the source selector is a brace of buttons to select one or two sets of attached speakers while, to the left, is a power and a standby button: a nice blend of the eco-friendly and convenience. Especially, when many modern appliances only offer a standby button and most hi-fi equipment only provides a power button. Underneath that is a headphone socket.

To the right of the source selector is a Tape 2 button. Again, a nice addition that recognises us Luddite types who still use the little analogue treasures. What might cause a sprinkling of consternation among audiophiles is the inclusion of bass, treble, balance and loudness controls. Most are placed centrally, in full view, standing proudly. It's as if Teac has put them in that place as a dare to anyone to kick up a fuss about it. Okay, I'll bite; why are they there? They degrade the overall sound rather than add to it. As soon as you use the things they warp and malform the sound that staggers its way to your ears and... yada, yada, yada. Well, I suppose the point is that it's a budget device and in the real world people whose lives aren't governed by audiophile considerations, will still find them useful. Fair enough, but I still don't like 'em! I'd advise future owners of this amplifier to ignore them. Then they might go away of their own accord.

Below the Four Knobs Of The Apocalypse is the punch line, Teac's elbow in the ribs, their way of shouting, "gotcha!" Because there, in a swathe of subtle irony, is a Source Direct button that, when depressed, ignores all of the fancy knobs and switches, including the bass/ treble/ balance and loudness, cutting through to the core of the amplifier itself and concentrating on sound only. So, that's all right then. Needless to say, during the listening tests, this button was depressed so that I wouldn't be.

Switching to the rear and we can see two banks of speaker connectors (popular in Europe, apparently) plus outputs for a turntable, tuner, CD player, a tape or a CD recorder bank plus a second tape loop. Remote control sockets are included if you wish to buy the matching Teac CD player and tuner. Weighing in at 9.2kg, the Teac spans a fairly compact (for a Japanese box) 435x142x355mm.

The best way of assessing any piece of hardware - high-end or budget - is first to feed it with the very best source possible, so it can show its true colours, untrammeled by boundaries. Hence, the jazz-infused 'It Could Happen To You' from Diana Krall's LP, 'From This Moment On' (Classic) was spun up on my reference Avid vinyl source. I initially tested the effectiveness of the Source Direct button. With it engaged, the Teac displayed more focus and detail around the vocal delivery while detail was more insightful and relaxed. The soundstage also magically transformed from two to three dimensions.

Generally however, the Teac did struggle to cope with the sheer amount of information that was being thrust upon it. My top end Avid turntable highlighted the Teac's slightly bright tonality, even via my valve-based phono preamplifier. Krall's vocal suffered from sibilance and, while bass was powerful and punchy, and upper mid frequencies were quite exciting via the extra bite applied to plucked strings, cymbals suffered from being too well lit. Despite these initial problems, the Teac proved to be musical, lifting the mood and adding 'swing', making you want to move and dance with the rhythm.

The decision was made, therefore, to 'downgrade' to a Pro-Ject Essential turntable, priced at around $250. The Pro-Ject's less detailed approach gave the Teac a way around those problem areas accentuated by the Avid deck. Vocal detail was reduced which eased the pressure on the wee amp to perform, while upper midrange information was less demanding, meaning that the Teac sounded less strained as it was asked to decrease its workload. So I'd recommend a competent budget turntable with the Teac, one which will still produce plenty of pleasure for analogue fans but not push this amp too hard. I'd also suggest running it into the amp's onboard phono stage.

As it transpired, my Icon Audio PS3 reference phono amp rather overwhelmed the Teac, causing it to sound strained. However, the Teac's own phono stage is quite perky and light on its feet for the price, keeping all areas of the soundstage in check and performing to an admirable standard. It's more than an afterthought, and suits the rest of the amp, and similarly priced ancillaries, well.

In keeping with the notion of the Teac cutting its cloth to suit its style I then dropped my Quad ESL-57 and, instead, hooked up a pair of Mordaunt-Short Aviano 1 speakers ($320). With these budget speakers installed, the Teac made more sense. Being better matched and more confident, the Teac seemed to relax. Yes, vinyl still had that Alka-Seltzer treble ('plink, plink, fizz') but the bass seemed more integrated with the mid frequencies, making their output more cohesive and coherent. Also, Krall's vocals benefitted from not being examined under such a strong Quad spotlight.

Moving to the digital domain, I played Jo Stafford's early fifties cut, 'Easy Come, Easy Go', via the JSP box set, 'Beyond the Stars'. The introduction of a lower resolution CD format helped the Teac immeasurably. The treble problems experienced in the vinyl chain were reduced. Yes, the upper mids were still well lit but the overall arrangement was far more civilised with no sibilance present. In fact, the lifted midrange actually helped to emphasise details in the mix, moving a finger here to point to that textured sax and there to the vocal grain on that vibrato.

Switching to rock and Kasabian's 'Shot The Runner' from the album, 'Empire' (Columbia) improved the response even more. Rock blended well with the Teac's penchant for revelry. In fact, with rock infused within its guts, the Teac was a very different machine indeed. Gone was the rather nervous, hesitant analogue transcriber, to be replaced by this confident, swaggering macho hulk. In the digital domain, rock freed the Teac, encouraging bass to bounce like a manic squash court player while midrange and treble - while hardly incisive - offered enough information to genuinely excite the ear. Treble sounded more comfortable, no tizzy fizzies were heard and the lifted mids sounded more natural.

Finally, the included headphone stage was tested, sounding just as lively and happy as the Teac phono stage. Tested via a pair of Sennheiser HD650s, the headphone amp is well matched to the rest of the amp. Vinyl playback was relaxed and at ease with life while CD replay was lively, punchy and full of vigour.

The Teac A-R650 should not be viewed as a long term purchase for those looking to build a hi-fi with an ambitious upgrade path, as it's not happy when matched with higherend equipment. In fact, it performs better with like minded elements in the same hi-fi price bracket. Given compatible equipment to work with however, the Teac is a feisty, dynamic, forceful and spirited performer that is musical and fun to be around. You can't say fairer than that; the company has obviously voiced it to work well within its comfort zone, so when matched with good similarly priced ancillaries, it really impresses. It's only if you're looking for a budget priced high end wonder that you'll be disappointed. So I recommend careful auditioning to get the best out of it. When you do find those other boxes that 'click' with the Teac then break out the champers because you'll have a hell of a party.

Teac A-R650 Amplifier photo