TEAC C-1D Distinction Series CD Player

Rating:
Summary: Teac Distinction C-1D: Surprising quality performance/build.
Review: Ordinarily I'd never write a review on a cd player like a Teac but I make a big exception for this one. I own both the NAD 541 (older version) and a Rega Planet 2000; I bought the Teac Distinction C-1D for my son for Xmas. Apparently the Distinction Line is was part of Teac's venture into higher quality sound and performance (their version of Pioneer's Elite series?). There is a tuner and integrated amp in the Distinction Line that I haven't seen nor heard.

My son and I took the time to hook up the Teac to my (ever-changing) system with a Rotel integrated amp and Totem Model 1's.

What a surprise. I've had Sony and Pioneer cd players on my system before and they sounded fair to middling bu tnowhere near the NAD or Rega. The Teac Distinction C-1D sounded amazingly clear and natural. I'd venture to say they almost, but not quite, equaled the older NAD 541 in performance. Most surprising was the fact that the Teac didn't have to be embarrassed to be in the same company as either decks. Teac did something right with this cd player.

The deck is also well made. I've seen Teac decks from their other lines that look and feel like the lower end Sony/Pioneer/Kenwoods- decent quality control but a plastic-cheap feel. These feel less like plastic and more like a higher end construction- not quite there but on its way.

Quite a feat for Teac. They seem to be holding the line by introducing high-quality single players to the mid-fi set as Sony, Pioneer and the rest seem to be opting out for multi-disc players. They seems to have put a lot of thougth into making an effort to build quality- at least in this Distinction Line.

For the value and quality I'd highly recommend this particular Teac model, it's a no-brainer step-up from the plastic Circuit City/Best Buy player specials.