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TEAC CR-H101 CD Receiver
01 / 09
TEAC CR-H101 CD Receiver
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Product Description
Breathe new life into your CD collection with the TEAC CR-H101 receiver: a centralized system with all the modern trimmings. Sure, it’s a CD player, but that’s not all—it’s also equipped with a high-quality PCM1795 DAC, Bluetooth aptX wireless streaming, an RCA input, an optical input, and an FM tuner Read More
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keyboard_arrow_downGunsOfBrixton
911
Sep 26, 2017
Since I just got mine from the last drop, and there aren't a whole lot of comments about the actual use of the system, I'll share my experience over the weekend testing it. Only caveat is that I did not do any testing against video, so can't speak to any lag/sync issues.
I think this device is well suited for those with small to medium spaces who want a good quality, versatile, compact audio at a reasonable cost, without a lot of fuss. It's also a relatively rare, high quality, compact CD player, which is great for us old-timers with CD collections. On the other hand, I don't think this device would satisfy spec-oriented, 1%-er audiophiles searching for the latest, coolest thing.
I hooked mine up to my Klipsch R-14M speakers and tested all the various inputs. Functionality is perfect. Drives the R-14Ms really well, plenty of volume with lots of headroom. Also drives my 250ohm DT880s just fine, again plenty of headroom. Based on the specs, I don't think the headphone amp is a "drive anything" type (like my Magni 2 Uber), but I expect it will drive anything up to the mid sensitivity/mid-impedance range quite competently (e.g., 96db/300ohms). The Bluetooth 3.0, while again not the highest standard, worked just fine in my testing, with no significant quality drop-off in casual listening.
The sound quality is very good, both speaker and headphone. The expected sound of the Klipsches and the Beyers comes through clean. Overall, I think this is a very nice piece of engineering. While it's not going to compete on the spec front, I feel like there was a nicely executed tradeoff away from high specs that would likely be wasted on most users, toward solid real-world performance and versatility.
It will even work even when your grandpa comes over all excited about his new Blink 182 CD ;)
I think this device is well suited for those with small to medium spaces who want a good quality, versatile, compact audio at a reasonable cost, without a lot of fuss. It's also a relatively rare, high quality, compact CD player, which is great for us old-timers with CD collections. On the other hand, I don't think this device would satisfy spec-oriented, 1%-er audiophiles searching for the latest, coolest thing.
I hooked mine up to my Klipsch R-14M speakers and tested all the various inputs. Functionality is perfect. Drives the R-14Ms really well, plenty of volume with lots of headroom. Also drives my 250ohm DT880s just fine, again plenty of headroom. Based on the specs, I don't think the headphone amp is a "drive anything" type (like my Magni 2 Uber), but I expect it will drive anything up to the mid sensitivity/mid-impedance range quite competently (e.g., 96db/300ohms). The Bluetooth 3.0, while again not the highest standard, worked just fine in my testing, with no significant quality drop-off in casual listening.
The sound quality is very good, both speaker and headphone. The expected sound of the Klipsches and the Beyers comes through clean. Overall, I think this is a very nice piece of engineering. While it's not going to compete on the spec front, I feel like there was a nicely executed tradeoff away from high specs that would likely be wasted on most users, toward solid real-world performance and versatility.
It will even work even when your grandpa comes over all excited about his new Blink 182 CD ;)
SunsetShores
47
Sep 28, 2017
the definition of a high end audiophile is someone who is never satisfied and perhaps spends more time tweaking gear than enjoying music😜 This is an excellent, well made compact system that most can enjoy!!
Cloaca
1906
Oct 20, 2017
TragiqueDepending on your taste in music, streaming doesn't cut it all the time for the esoteric stuff. So I say Poppycock to you! What foolery you speak! Prattle on with your marlarkey, but we know better.
Superdad
7
Oct 13, 2017
Just received the shipping notice for this drop. A couple of weeks ahead of schedule! This is awesome as I bought it as a housewarming gift for our daughter. She'll get it along with a mint vintage Dual turntable, an NAD phono preamp with USB A/D, and a pair of KEF Uni-Q bookshelf speakers--all stuff I have been secretly gathering for her first real hi-fil system.
Hope this Teac sounds half-decent.
bilditup1
80
Oct 21, 2017
I got in on this drop the last time, and have been using it for about a month. It is pretty compelling as an all-in-one unit. Great for when e.g. you're doing OS upgrades and such, like I was earlier this week - just pop in a CD and go. Honestly, when was the last time you even did that? It's a strangely great feeling. Even the noisiness of the loading is comforting, in some way.
I was previously using an Audioengine D22 as my desktop amp. That's a class AB amp with better ratings - those they give here are for 4 ohm speakers, which is far less efficient than most you're most likely going to be using, and at 1% THD, which I don't find terribly honest - and should sound less harsh. If you're buying speakers for use with this unit, get efficient ones. Regardless though, it is probably 'powerful enough' before distorting for normal people not trying to intentionally damage their hearing, so more potentially concerning is the potential harshness. I didn't A/B these with the N22 but I don't think it's that much harsher? unless I use the onboard DAC (which I've tried via the CD function only) and even then I'm not 100% sure. (For computer audio, I'm using an ODAC revB from HeadnHifi Walter). I have found that a CD will sound louder compared to an external 2.1Vrms DAC, fwiw. In any case, I still think the unit is pretty usable, but hopefully will make the time to AB with the N22 soon. Even if it turns out that I prefer the N22 consistently though, I don't think I'd count this as a bad buy at $300 shipped (though not at MSRP; MSRP is absolutely ludicrous). This is a far more versatile, if much more expensive, unit, and can be deployed in many situations in a pinch, thanks to the presence of the CD player, FM radio (we laugh, but it can come in handy), Optical (great with say a bedroom TV + discrete speakers, or a Chromecast Audio, which I plan on trying soon), Bluetooth (3.0, but it has AptX, so I don' think this really matters), and especially the remote. It might be a good fit for, say, our family room, where critical listening is less important than my desktop, but compactness is and ease of use is paramount.
As for the other functions - I tried the radio for kicks, too. It works, I guess, but I don't have a proper antenna setup for FM radio anymore, so reception was very poor. Honestly I would have preferred their including some kind of basic tone control, or even better, a DLNA client. I doubt anybody getting in on this drop is interested in listening to the radio, which mostly broadcasts 192kbps MP3s these days anyway. I suppose for the occasional news segment (and then last I checked the only option nowadays for news on FM is NPR or maybe Pacifica, and obviously neither of those are for everyone). I have not tried the headphone output yet, though I'm glad it's there - though that said, I think I would have preferred a line-level output, so the CD and a DAC could potentially be used as part of a larger system. I suppose using an adapter and pushing the volume near max can work, but that is obviously inelegant and probably won't sound very good.
The remote is a stunted little thing - it works, but I wish it was a bit bigger. Don't lose it, as some functions, like muting, changing display info, etc, can only be accessed by remote, as far as I can tell. Seeking is accomplished by holding down the forward and back buttons - there is a bit of a delay before this registered, more than I'm used to nowadays, but perhaps this how things used to be. I've found the Bluetooth connection to be stable, but didn't really try to put it through its paces - the unit doesn't have an external antenna, so it probably doesn't have great range, but hopefully it's adequate. This unit has a clock function, complete with sleep and wake-on (alarm?) functionality, which is a nice touch, though it's kind of difficult to set.
The screen is nice, but unfortunately on my desktop, where it's ~1 ft away from my face, it appears a bit washed out from above. Viewed straight on it's much more contrasty, but I'd have to move back a few feet to be able to experience that. There is a dimmer, but I find that anything less than max is not legible at normal desktop distance.
Other than that...I don't know. I kind of wish the front handle-bars were removable - it's not like they're large enough to grip. I guess it makes the front look less boring, but it's kind of tacky, especially when viewed from above, instead of head-on. As is that stupid Hi-Res Audio sticker that comes on everything these days, which everyone should rip off straight away. I like the grille on top and being able to see into the case , and it should provide for marginally better ventilation. There's a bit a delay of about a second or two when turning this on , comparable to a large AV receiver, which I find annoying compared to something with a simple knob or switch, like the N22. Oh, speaking of AV receivers, according to the spec sheet at least, this doesn't support 32kHz input. In my experience, most AV receivers still do, surprisingly enough. Really though, this won't matter unless you're listening to old long-play DATs, or like. An SNES modded to have an SPDIF output.
Hmm. This turned into a bit of a ramble. I guess I needed to get that out. In any case, I'm glad that this is still being dropped here. It is a sleek little thing with tons of functionality, with nothing else really comparable at this size and price point - even if it isn't perfect. If you don't think you need all the functionality here, or want more power for your money, then you have many other, better options. But if you need an all-in-one machine that's loud enough for most and stylish to boot, well, you've found it.
bilditup1
80
Nov 19, 2017
bilditup1Quick follow-up here. I didn't find the internal DAC+Amp on this to be much different than the ODAC or O2 (using a K7XX, 1x gain, and my regular speakers). 50% on the volume pot on the O2 is equivalent to about...25? on the CR-H101? I'll have to try it again to make sure.
Also, I found that the ODAC does in fact support unresampled 32kHz data, which is not really a documented feature. The DAC of the CR-H101 does recognize 32kHz signals but doesn't play them back properly - there's a lot of distortion and clipping.
bilditup1
80
Feb 14, 2018
bilditup1Quick follow-up! I just tried it again, and if you set the output of foobar2000 to 24-bit, 32kHz plays back perfectly. If you set the output to 16-bit, it'll be full of distortion. As I'm pretty sure? that all that happens when you play back 16-bit streams at 24-bit is that that they're padded with a bunch of zeros, and I'm pretty sure most people will just leave this setting at 24-bit all the time, I think we can say that 32kHz play back is more or less supported!
bilditup1
80
Oct 22, 2017
Indeed it is - love the photo - but this little guy isn't quite wide enough, right? The brackets you'd need to get it in the rack would take up more visual space than the unit itself. It seems like it would look inelegant in there.
eliphas
5
Sep 25, 2017
If this thing had PRE OUTs and/or Optical OUT or THRU it would be AMAZING and I would have pulled the trigger immediately.
TheIzzardKing
359
Apr 19, 2020
RampantBiologiclol, i picked one of those up from ebay not too long ago, it works pretty well, it just sucks we have to go so far back and use some cyber punk CD player to get a decent sound.
lugnut
103
Jun 15, 2017
When I want to do some serious listening, I go to my balanced headphone system, that has a great CD Player. I buy all my music in CD form. There are a lot of us Older Guys that still buy , listen and rip music from CD's.
This unit is interesting, however it has some issues, at least for me. I wish they had gave it more than 26 watts. This is not enough in solid state amps, I have seen a lot of tweeters in speakers fried due to amp not having enough watts and people pushing it for louder music. These days class D amps are small and cheap, wish they had added more wattage or just not added a amp at all and charge less for the unit ! Offer this unit with just CD Player & FM tuner and charge
$ 199.00 and I would be happy to buy one.
trybeingarun
137
Jun 16, 2017
What I meant was a pure usb/spdif dac for the same cost (like the nuforce dac-80) would give much better performance than this unit.
Petronas44
236
Jun 16, 2017
trybeingarunYes it would for sure as a dac but people that have dedicated dacs might even want this for a pretty good multi purpose compact setup in a different spot than they have there high end setup but I don't disagree with you about seeing the dac 80 cheaper than it has been cause I'd love to own that to. I've been really critical of massdrop in the pretty recent past but I really think they are at least trying to change things for the better over the past few weeks so hopefully we'll see some great dacs come up cheap soon
BigCabDaddy
5
Jan 9, 2018
Wow, this thing really misses the boat for me. Here's what I want: USB out. That's a must so I can rip CDs. Secondly, a phono preamp so I can rip vinyl. I don't know what Teac was thinking when they came up with this one. Count me out.
SquidProQuo
1
Apr 26, 2018
BigCabDaddyWow, this thing really misses the boat for me. Here's what I want: a red skidoo with pontoons so I can use it both in the summer on the lake, and winter on the snow. I don't know what Teac was thinking when they came up with this one. Count me out.
BigCabDaddy
5
Apr 26, 2018
SquidProQuoWell, you know, it's hi rez and has a remote so it has to be awesome.
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