Teac Reference Series

[Fleetie]

This sounds interesting. Care to elaborate on how this manifest itself and the effects of it? Also - is it risky?

You must open up the amp, switched on and running, after it has been on for quite a while, say an hour or two, as warming up DOES affect this.

Adjust the small trimmer potentiometer mounted to the top of each of the left and right PCBs, while holding the 2 probes from your digital millivoltmeter on to the 2 test pins (very small and close together, so tricky). I did on my own, but it might be easier with a friend or 2 mini-croc-clip-leads.

You must make the voltage be 11mV (0.011V). You need to have a very light touch with that screwdriver! Move it SLOWLY and carefully.

Too much bias and your amp will run hot.

Too much OR too little bias will cause your amp to be non-linear, or even clip early, making a really nasty sound instead of nice undistorted music.

BE CAREFUL; THERE IS MAINS VOLTAGE ACCESSIBLE IN THERE! RATHER ALARMINGLY ACCESSIBLE, I REMEMBER.

 

[-WR-]

You must open up the amp, switched on and running, after it has been on for quite a while, say an hour or two, as warming up DOES affect this.

Adjust the small trimmer potentiometer mounted to the top of each of the left and right PCBs, while holding the 2 probes from your digital millivoltmeter on to the 2 test pins (very small and close together, so tricky). I did on my own, but it might be easier with a friend or 2 mini-croc-clip-leads.

You must make the voltage be 11mV (0.011V). You need to have a very light touch with that screwdriver! Move it SLOWLY and carefully.

Too much bias and your amp will run hot.

Too much OR too little bias will cause your amp to be non-linear, or even clip early, making a really nasty sound instead of nice undistorted music.

BE CAREFUL; THERE IS MAINS VOLTAGE ACCESSIBLE IN THERE! RATHER ALARMINGLY ACCESSIBLE, I REMEMBER.

Thanks for this brilliant post. I really appreciate it. However, I could never do this without screwing up. I am certain i would only ruin the amp. Also, I don't really understand what I will be fixing and what the results would be.

 

[Harmonica]

I came a cross with PD 503...and as the price of it was very reasonable...I could't resist myself => my mini Teac system looks like this today:

 

[Matthew Andrews]

I have finally got chance to try my AH500 amp with the PD-500 CD player yesterday. WOW! I originally thought my Sony Blu-ray player was more than good enough for CD playback (been a more modern and higher specd) I was so wrong. this system is now singing!

I was wondering does any one have a teac catolog (PDF?) circa 1999/2001 when these components came out?

 

[Harmonica]

''I was wondering does any one have a teac catalog (PDF?) cirka 1999/2001 when these component came out?''


Atleast I have seen only paper versions (= original catologs) on Ebay.....

But perhaps this link could help in the first place (different model series can be chosen from top left).

AUDIORAMA - Equipamentos de Audio & Video - TEAC Reference 500

 

[Fleetie]

Like most of the people reading and posting here, I want to know how much money (UK £) my sexy AH-500i amplifiers used to sell for!

But I have scoured the net for the answer, in vain. Surely there must be some people who used to work for dealers of them when they were current models!

 

[crossedover]

According to audigon, the US retail price in 1998 was $499. So if you google the exchange rate that year you can get your price. And BTW it was on the second Google page of "teac ah500 retail price"

 

[Seth=L]

Main filter caps on the A-H500 are commonly in need of replacement. Check for expansion, they start to bulge at the top when they're going bad.

 

[TEAC]

Teac AH500 integrated with AGH550

Hi All, I joined the forum down to this Teac thread! Very good source of info - Thank you to everyone for the input!

I have a reference 300 system ATM, running 2x Teac 300 speakers - It is immaculate condition and I love it. It sounds great! I am looking to upgrade it to the 500. Does anyone know if the AH500 amp can be integrated with the AGH550 home cinema 5.1? So I could have 7 speaker inputs.

I have Mordaunt Short speakers - 906 main speakers, 302 for rear surround & 309W Active sub woofer. I was considering buying my mates Marantz AV receiver SR4001 with HDMI, etc... But like the idea of having the Teac 500 system along with the AGH550 surround sound and DVH550 DVD. Or...Am I better off going with the Marantz option in the lounge/home cinema and keeping my Reference 300 in the dining room! I have considered keeping the Ref 300 system and adding the AGH 350 Surround sound, but think it would be underpowered for the main speakers.

Also, just to add, the idea is to use this as a set up for a small lounge/home cinema with Panasonic PT-AE700U projector. The projector does have an HDMI connection, etc.

Appreciate any advice on what set up I would be better off going with.

Thanks

Dan (Teac) The username seemed appropriate at the time of signing up!

 

[Seth=L]

Being the big fan of Teac that I am, I would have to advise you to go with the Marantz. The Teac looks really cool, however, its shortcomings stack up against it when compared to a modern AVR like the SR 4001 you mentioned.


The Teac does have a facility to connect external amplification, but only as a replacement for onboard power. Adding power amps will not make more channels. Connecting the A-H500 integrated to the AG-H550 would augment the SNR to such a point it would likely be disruptive. It would manifest with a significant amount of hiss from the speakers. The AG-H550 was a finely featured receiver in its time, however now completely overshadowed in every way by modern receivers. For a simple no frills setup it works great. It's simple to use and powerful enough for your speaker system. It has virtually no bass management to speak of, just a setting to set speakers to small and applying a fixed crossover point for the subwoofer.


Skip the AG-H350, horrible SNR.


If you can get your hands on an A-H500 I can say it's a fantastic little amp, definitely worth having.

 

[darkvader]

Hello i am new to this forum and need help, i have a AL700P Power amp. but not the matching dvd player with standby trigger so cannot measure the trigger voltage.
what i want to know is Remote triggering an teac AL700P amplifier a standard 12 volts?
don't want to burn the amp

 

[MiRaCL]

Earlier this week i bought a pair of B&W 685 speakers. I off course had to have a amplifier for these. After many hours on google i landed on the A-H500. The alternative was bigger amplifiers or some class-d/t amp from Ebay.
Luckily i got a hold of a A-H500i close to where i live to day.

I listening to it now, and so far i'm impressed. I delivers!
Drives these b&w's really well.

I used to drool over this Teac range back in the 90's and now finally i have the amplifier. Probably rare here in Norway as well.

I have 2 issues so far.

1. Hum noise from the speakers when the amp is on with no audio playing. Guessing this is due to no earthed connection? Any ideas?
2. Som crackling due on the volume control and balance controll. Can probably be fixed with contact spray for potentiometers?

I went trough some "T3" magazines from 97-99 and found a test of the Reference series and some commercials. If anyone is interested i can scan these and then upload them.

 

[mp386]

Main filter caps on the A-H500 are commonly in need of replacement. Check for expansion, they start to bulge at the top when they're going bad.

The main filter caps in my A-H500 are swollen - also, the sound is lower in one channel. Could these two things be related?

Anyone recommend the right brand/type to replace the caps with?

 

[Michel]

I Love my TEAC-reference , they did in fact need some job, new lasers for the players and new caps for the amp, I heard a micro Yamaha pianocraft a couple of days ago that sounded fantastic, but I'll keep my TEAC until one of us leaves this world

 

[Grahame]

I just joined because I've never seen so much TEAC ref series info in one place.
I need some info/advice.
I've had my 500 series set-up for about 20 yrs at a guess and never felt the need for anything better
I love the sound and the looks
Currently mostly used for sat. tv sound, CDs, radio and occasional nostalgia fix via cassette.
Recently the PD-H500i started occasionally skipping.
I read up and carefully cleaned the laser lens with no improvement.
My nearest repair shop says £120 -£150 for parts alone
E-bay has laser for £10 and complete CD mechanism for £30 - are these likely to be good quality?
To be honest I'm not sure if it's worth repairing as used CD players are pretty common around £100
But they will also be 20 yrs old and might not last long
I've already decided I want to keep this system
Should I repair - anyone BTDT - or replace?

 

[Michel]

Hello and welcome. Well any player has a tired if not a dead laser after 20 years of normal use. I've changed myself (you need to be able to handle a soldering iron and to be careful, only one point of solder to remove still, the one that grounds the laser for installation), the laser-replacements on Ebay are chinese, but they're the same used today by repairmen anyway. In the PDH500 were used 2 different so be sure to check out the reference on your laser before purchasing it on Ebay. It's definitively worth it. i've got 2 PDH500, replaced the laser in them and they don't skip anymore and can play burned CD again as well, they sound fantastic too, a huge improvement. I changed the lasers in mine when they started skipping songs and stopped played burned CD.
You should do it. Be careful to keep the same order or screws and springs when putting the laser-carrier together after you've replaced the laser for the new one ( think about that before screwing the carrier apart, do not mix the different scows and springs). If you're patient and take it easy you don't have to be a rocket-scientist to replace it. Well, if you don't succeed you'll only loose the money of the laser on Ebay, that's not a lot. Both my PDH work now as new. The only problem will be the day I'll replace the laser in my P700, those lasers are much more expensive and new ones aren't easy to find. I do not regret to have replaced mine. The bay's replacements are OK, the easiest is to buy the complete laser then to keep only the laser in its mountings and to put it on the original carrier that's s in your player. The motors on those are not great but they still work great in mine. They skip because of the half-dead lasers. Go ahead and replace the lasers, you won't believe your ears when it's done! You can contact me directly if I can help, but I'm in Sweden

 

[Grahame]

Thanks Michel. I got a complete mechanism on eBay and the unit is now with the repair man.
Meanwhile I've been thinking about the whole system
Currently the sat. tv box audio output is fed to Aux input in amp.
Is it a worthwhile option to take optical feed via DAC ?? FiiO DO3K because of USB power option
And..currently I have some small and sweet Mission750s
But now they are in a 7 x 5m room the bass especially is a bit weedy
Any suggestions for a decent subwoofer - wood (oak or walnut) (wife's only opinion and probably not negotiable!)
With auto-on because I don't want more remotes/switches
Looking at Wharfedale or BK but any suggestions welcome

 

[Juniorvae]

Hi everyone,

A new newbee here!

Great discussion going om here! I like the ref. series, but I can't find much information except for this forum! Thanks for setting this up many years ago and for keeping it running.

I signed up because my used AG-H550 and DV-H550 are in their way! I have a pair of Mission M52's waiting for the set.
In my internship in a small audiostore I learned and haard that those reference machines are able to drive even floorstanders. The combination of the AG-H550 with my Missions is a big questionmark for me. Does anyone of you have any idea of expections about it?

Thanks Jr

 

[Juniorvae]

Hi everyone,

A new newbee here!

Great discussion going om here! I like the ref. series, but I can't find much information except for this forum! Thanks for setting this up many years ago and for keeping it running.

I signed up because my used AG-H550 and DV-H550 are in their way! I have a pair of Mission M52's waiting for the set.
In my internship in a small audiostore I learned and haard that those reference machines are able to drive even floorstanders. The combination of the AG-H550 with my Missions is a big questionmark for me. Does anyone of you have any idea of expections about it?

Thanks Jr

Sorry for my mistakes. My autocorrect was not set on English yet...

 

[Paul D]

Hiya fellow Teac R500 fans,

I join purely because this is the only good feed on this (wonderful) product. I bought my system back in the late 90's and hooked it up with a bose acoustimass 3 speaker system and to this day i think its the sweetest sound I have ever heard.

Unfortunately, The MD player has started to fail on reading the discs. discussed this at length with the gents at Richer Sounds and they said they would services it for £70 but could not guarantee a fix as there are no replacement laser units. Does anyone know of a company that specialises in TEAC products? Or if I can pick up a replacement laser off ebay or the like?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Paul