Customer Reviews

TEAC CD-P1260 CD Player with LCD and MP3 Playback

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I think this CD player is getting an undeservedly bad rep in much of the feedback on here.

I should start by mentioning that I am not an audiophile. I have a decent audio setup based around basic stereo (no digital surround-sound) consisting of a Harman Kardon receiver and Sony tower speakers. While these originally retailed for several hundred dollars each, they are far below the price range of the kind of high-end components that an audio expert would own and require.

That said, I currently own about three thousand compact discs, mostly classical, and because of the longterm investment that this collection represents it has remained important for me even in the age of the MP3 to have a way to play my CDs at home, with high quality sound and a system setup that is easy and convenient to use.

For the last several years before I bought this TEAC player I had been using various DVD players to play my CDs. The results were good enough in terms of sonics but my chief complaint was that the DVD players had been primarily designed for playing DVDs. This meant that the most effective way to interact with them (and, for some features, the ONLY way) was by using the remote control to manipulate a menu that was displayed on my TV. The buttons and display on the units themselves were rudimentary or non-existent: just the basic buttons for opening and closing the tray, playing the disc, skipping to the next index, etc., and not much else. If I wanted to know something as simple as which track number of a CD was currently playing, I'd have no way to tell just by looking at the display on the DVD player itself. All it would show was the elapsed time on the disc (another DVD-centric functionality.)

Other things were irritating as well. For example, because DVD players are engineered to expect DVDs as the default disc format, whenever I would insert a CD instead of a DVD there would be a few seconds' delay while the player adjusted to the differently formatted media.

This all led me to finally decide that I would revert back to using a dedicated CD player to play my CDs. Furthermore, I wanted this player to be single-disc. While multi-disc players have a huge advantage for playing popular music due to their effective shuffle-play, for a CD collection that is mostly classical there is rarely a need to jump between random tracks on the same disc, let alone across several discs. Since multi-disc players also take up more space, are a bit more cumbersome to use in terms of inserting and removing discs, and have more moving parts (and therefore more points of potential failure), I decided that a single-disc player was the only way to go.

Given these requirements, in all respects the TEAC has proven to be a terrific player. It has an attractive, straightforward design with a clear, bright display that gives you an immediate sense of where you are in the context of the CD that is playing. The construction is solid, too, with buttons that don't feel cheap and flimsy and a CD tray that opens and closes with impressive smoothness and a true sense of purpose compared to some of the DVD players I've owned. There is also a quick spin-up of a newly inserted CD so that the player is promptly ready to go almost as soon as you've put in a new disc.

Of course there remains the important matter of sound quality, and shame on me for taking seven paragraphs to finally get around to that! However to my ears the sonics on the TEAC are excellent. In fact I could swear that there is added depth and richness to the sound compared to the DVD players that I've used to play my CDs in the past.

I have not yet used the TEAC's MP3-related playback features and I have not yet had a problem with any of my CDs being unplayable. Another reviewer has mentioned the player's "ESP" feature (Electronic Shock Protection). This enables buffering of a disc's data stream so that if the player gets bumped or shaken its playback can continue smoothly. The TEAC user manual says that this feature is unnecessary if the player is used in a stable setup free from unexpected physical shocks. I have played my CDs with ESP both turned off and on and have yet to experience any issues. (ESP cannot be turned off when playing MP3s.) The only possible annoyance is that ESP doesn't remain permanently off once it's set and must be disabled again each time the player is powered up, and the only way to do that is by using a button on the remote control. There is no "ESP" button on the front planel of the unit itself.

As a single-disc player with only basic functionality the TEAC could probably also afford to be a bit smaller in size, with less of a footprint and about half the height, but at a time when low-cost, dedicated, single-disc CD players are a rare commodity, this seems like a minor quibble. My overall rating for the TEAC CD-P1260 is 5 stars.

This is a straight ahead no frills CD player. However that's exactly what I wanted and I was not disappointed. I've had no issues with it playing any discs in my collection as others have stated in their reviews. It has all the basic functions and the mp3 capabilities are a nice addition. The controls on the deck are self evident and the remote works well. If you are looking for a nice dependable unit without a multitude of features you'll never use anyways, this is a great place to start.

Good quality basic compact disc player. No digital output or optical output, but totally not necessary, most people cannot tell the difference anyway. Quality transport and extremely quiet mechanism when playing at low volumes compared to some other compact players that I have owned. Aesthetically, it is a nice looking player, with sort of a throw back look. Overall, money well spent for a very nice compact disc player.

We have had this unit for about 15 months. It now gives a "NO DISK" message when a clean, commercially produced music CD is inserted. A call to TEAC resulted in finding out that it would probably cost about half as much just to get a diagnosis as the unit cost originally. Count me among those disillusioned with TEAC.

Unfortunately, I recommend against this unit unless Teac has undertaken a redesign of the tracking system. It worked fine at first but grew progressively faulty until now, after three months, I experience about 90% failure rate on reading of track one; these are store bought commercial CDs here. Either the unit fails to begin playing or if it does play, track one will jump and skip. Teac has authorized warranty repair for the unit but now it's in the shop for three weeks.

I have owned many CD players over the years, and I prefer a single CD player. So I have been using DVD players as CD players for a few years. I bought this player because I like shuffle play. At first it would not play CDs that I made on my computer. I turned off the ESP feature, and now it plays everything. It sounds better than a DVD player too. I am quite picky about sound, and I like it.

First, let me say that I am a long time fan of Teac products. Their tape decks and floppy disk drives have served me well for years. So, I was all the more disappointed by the CD-P1260. This player sounds great when it works but it only reads about 1 out of 10 disks. I tried cleaning the disks and the unit. I tried pre-recorded music disks from several companies and home burned disks both MP3 and CDA made on several burners. I have long prefered Sony burners and Teac claims this unit has a Sony transport. It doesn't like disks from 3 generations of Sony burners.

Some CD units are touchy about temperature or humidity. This unit wouldn't work right at 70F and 60% humidity - well within published specifications.

I was told that disabling the ESP feature might help. It didn't.

The estimated cost of repair (including 2 way shipping) is more than I paid for the unit new (with shipping). (I got a really good deal on eBay for a "New in Box" unit, but it is not eligible for warranty.) Yes, it was in a factory sealed box and I have no doubt it was new.

I'd still recommend Teac magnetic media products but look out for their CD units.

Like some other reviewers, I've had trouble with it refusing to read discs - not just ones I burned myself, but regular old store-bought music discs . My old player could play the same discs, so I'd say this model is a lemon. The problem is only sporadic, but it's annoying enough that you might want to think twice about taking the chance. Too bad, because in other respects it seems well-made. The blue LCD backlight is gorgeous.

I have read the reviews on this unit. All of them. Before I purchased this item. I must admit. There are some folks? you "Just cannot please". One reviewer? complained about "Hiss"....The total harmonic distorian of this unit. Is exactly LESS THAN; 0.03% at (1Hz) Hiss?....I think this reviewer may want to consider cleaning his tape heads? or perhaps demagnitizing them? A CD player cannot "Hiss" as it puts out pure sound. read by a laser beam. This is no "head contact". There is no needle on the disc? so "Hiss?"; I have to question this. The Teac CD-P1260 is made by "Sony" corporation. Both Teac and Sony. have an outstanding reputation of delivering customer satisfaction. In quality low priced units., and or components. When one considrs the "PRICE"; of this unit? It's hard to find fault. Of course anyone can find fault with anything if they look hard enough.
I almost did not purchase this unit based upon this;.... "Hiss", review. Thank God, I know better. I not only purchased one unit? I purchased two units and I am running them into a Sony 125 watt Amp with two 15 Inch Bose Speakers and two 10" Pioneer speakers...For a total of no less than 12 individual speakers in four speaker boxes. I have not heard any...."Hiss?"....I have no problem playing MP-3's either. So perhaps one should consider re-reading the instructions? The unit has 8-times oversampling with a frequencie response of 20Hz Khz +2db signal to noise ratio is more than 83DB (IHF-A) with an out put of 2.0 Vrms Analog through RCA jacks the total power consumption is only 10 watts.
For a "Good" economical low priced unit? what more do you want?....Perhaps a recording studio?
This unit is perfect for the audiophile who just loves to listen to their music with out analizing it or the system they are using. Granted there may be "Better" units out there? but "Not" at this price. Get real !!
Make up your own minds. Base your decisions on "facts".... not; Here say."
If your looking for a good quality inexspensive unit to play at home. This is it. If your looking for a recording studio? Try Hollywood California..,........ "You will pay a lot MORE;"...... there too.

I'm on Amazon.com right now looking for a replacement for this device. I don't call it a player because it doesn't play. I too get the "Can't Read Disc" error for almost all the CDs that I try to play. And I'm just getting tired of listening to the 2 or 3 that it can play. All of the CDs are store bought originals that play on every other CD player that I've tried. Your mileage may vary....