TEAC is the $h!t in Japan -- they are the parent company of Esoteric, some of the most expensive Japanese audiophile stereo stuff. Chord is a British company of relatively mid-priced to lower priced stereo gear, and I'd make a bet on a blind a/b of their mojo to this any day........Grace is famous for internet radios. I'm joining this drop...........should be great for those really long trans-atlantic flights.............
dbdickerWell, the Chord I know, and I think most people know, makes pretty high end stuff. Stuff priced in the thousands of dollars range.
I, myself, have a Chord preamp and power amp. These weren't mid-priced or lower priced, and they were at the bottom of the range when I bought them. Again, several thousand dollars each. So I think you have an incorrect understanding of where Chord's place in the market is.
Similarly, Grace makes some darned good and not inexpensive products. For example, the $499 Grace Dac/headphone amp that Massdrop commissioned from Grace is one of their affordable products. So again, a misunderstanding of Grace's place in the market.
Also, while Teac may be the parent company of Esoteric, the Teac line-up is NOT the Esoteric line-up. Just as a Toyata is not the more expensive, luxurious Lexus brand, although both are a Toyata company. They are different products made for different market segments at a different price point.
Having said that, this Teac product may be great. It's just hard to tell whether it is without reviews and feedback.
K.T.NI know this comment is almost a year old but since this is dropping again I just thought I would share the Lexus/Toyota may not be the best option to illustrate your point... For the first 16 years of it's life, Lexus was only sold outside of Japan (aimed at western markets). All the Lexus models were just the top trim level Toyota's inside of Japan. Don't disagree with your point but you may want to pick a different analogy.