Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fills a market niche for an affordable, user-friendly tuner, September 14, 2005
Per comments in the other review on this tuner, no, the tuner market hasn't disappeared, it's just fragmemented. The trend towards home theater has really hit the stereo component market, pretty much killing the low and middle end sections of it (the high end audio market is still going strong, with plenty of tuners in the $500+ range available).
That's what makes the Teac TR-670 interesting. A low cost component aimed at the universe of music lovers who (a) don't own $5,000 level systems but (b) have a reasonably decent component stereo system and view it primarly as a music, not theater audio source.
The good news beyond price?
Selectivity (the ability of a tuner to pick up a specific station without other nearby channels crowding into it) is darn good for a "cheap" tuner, and that's given the acid test I gave this in a suburb of New York where the FM band is crammed.
Overload rejection and image rejection were also good, another important consideration for a listener like me who lives close to some stations' transmitters (poorly designed tuners run into problems with these stations, with the latter crowding out all the other nearby signals).
Sensitivity (the ability of a tuner to pick up distant, weaker signals) is also surprisingly good; I was happily surprised to actually capture strong signals from some stations in Stamford, CT (a good 100 miles away) that I'd previously never heard!
Like the previous reviewer, I also appreciated all the programming and utility features of this tuner, which are numerous.
First, the tuner allows the use to pre-set 60 stations (30 in both the AM and FM bands), and is also capable of doing auto pre-set tuning, where the tuner scans either the entire AM or FM band, automatically adding the strongest 30 stations on each to the pre-set memory.
It also comes with a remote, which really changes the nature of listening (think about how the addition of the TV remote changed the way we all watch TV, and you'll understand what I mean). Both the tuner itself and the remote allow you to tune a number of ways, including "direct access" (where you punch in the numbers for the station you want, ergo "103.9"), or scanning through the pre-sets, or general scanning. And for those who want to literally curl up on the sofa and fall asleep (or wake up) to the sound of music, the built in clock on the tuner even has timer and sleep functions.
Now, anyones' experience with a particular tuner depends, to a large extent, on the reception conditions in their particular area, as well as their antenna setup (I use an outdoor, three-element FM rooftop antenna, the signals it captures are sent to the tuner through a 75 ohm coaxial cable. Yeah, putting it up was somewhat involved, but for those who really want the best possible signal for an FM radio, this is the way to go).
Or stated another way, the best audio equipment on earth isn't going to get you good FM stereo if you live in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from strong signals (those in that sort of situation really need to look into satellite radio). But for those in urban/suburban and even ex-urban areas, who have component systems and are looking to add or update a tuner, this is a small investment in happiness - for the fun involved in hearing all the new or forgotten music that's still on the airwaves.
One other note: the TEAC cassette deck I purchased back in 1984 is still going strong (yep, I pull out old tapes now and then, the cassette format isn't dead yet), so I have the sense this company builds equipment that stands up. Not that wear and tear is an issue here; outside a few switches, a tuner like this has no moving parts (the things that inevitably wear out), but still, my prior positive experience with TEAC is a significant part of the reason I purchased this tuner.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good tuner, decent price, November 28, 2004
My old tuner recently gave up the ghost, so I got the Teac R670. Can't argue with the price, and it works pretty well. AM and FM reception are both pretty decent, although FM is not nearly as good as my Tivoli Model Two radio. AM is much better than the Tivoli.
All the modern conveniences are here - digital tuning, auto presets, etc. These all function, although the "seek" tuning is kind of irritating. I'd be fine with a good, old-fashioned knob. Hooking it up is simple as could be - one line output, and some antenna connectors. It comes with an AM loop antenna and a typical 300-ohm "T" antenna and a convertor to 75-ohm coax. This seems to me more than adequate if it's in a good spot.
Near as I can tell, the tuner sounds fine. There's really not much chance that the limitiation in the system is the equipment - FM radio transmission is a weak point, and as long as you can accurately tune the station, it's probably going to sound the same no matter what tuner you get. For AM, of course, there's nothing to say, fidelity-wise. There's a reason they only play oldies and conservative talk.
The unit looks very nice with blackened brushed aluminum faceplate, and an electroluminescent display.
The one thing that really surprised me was the *size*. This thing, while standard width, is HUGE. It's a good 3" high. Given that more features get stuffed into car radios, I simply can't fathom the need for the super-giant box. My dad's Heathkit was smaller, and at least they had an excuse - because 12ax7 tubes were 2" tall! I fit it in my rack OK, but I was taken aback by the size, as the tuner it replaced was about 1" high.
i guess the idea of a separate component tuner has become a little passe' (when I went to Circuit City they had NO IDEA what I was talking about "no, not a receiver, a TUNER. And yes, I know you can get a tuner AND amplifier in the same box"), but that's what I needed, and it works. For $117 it's pretty hard to argue with.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
What a first class tuner..first class company, November 21, 2006
First about TEAC...the company. Can you belive that there are actual people at TEAC who....hold your breath...actually pick up the phone and talk to customers? What a concept! Seriously, my first experience with TEAC was great. I had a tech question about the r670 tuner before buying it and was able to reach "Jimmy" from their consumer audio group who was very helpful and knew exactly what I was talking about with respect to my specific tech question (re: RDS function on this tuner). It's rare these days to deal with a company who doesnt seemingly outsource customer service straight away. Such a pleasure to deal with!
Now for the tuner itself. While I am new to component tuners, I still
appreciate good gear being an Adcom system owner for years. Sure, it's not super hi-fi, but it's still worlds above the basic junk out there. Only a few consumer level companies make higher level components these days (Pioneer Elite, Onkyo Integra, etc.) and TEAC seems to be on par with these players. Once again, they're not Krells or Mark Levinson's but still pretty good. First, right out the box, the tuner felt substantial. Solid face plate, simple design, nice buttons etc.,. The packing makes it suspended in the box away from all sides so there's little chance for anything to dent/damage the chassis during shipping. Of course, hooking up a tuner is very easy...antenna tuning/placement aside. I got it up and running and while I was skeptical that "a tuner is a tuner", this thing was impressive. Sure, radio technology is quite mature but most people are used to car radio, handheld radio or radios integrated into their receivers. What a difference a dedicated component makes. It's not CD/SACD/Vinyl audio quality but what can you expect. For radio, it's darn good.
Also, the manual that comes with it is...hold your breath again...printed on nice glossy, card-stock 8.5 x 11 paper written in perfect english. No flimsy untra-thin copier paper here. The instructions are clear and there are supporting pictures for setting the clock, timers, presets etc.
Unlike the Denon TU1500 that I was considering, this TEAC comes with a remote. The Denon does not come with one...how strange. Also, the Denon looks/feels like a $79, plastic component. While it may be technically superior (just a guess based on price) I wouldnt go near it for what it costs (look it up..it ain't cheap).
The only thing missing from the TEAC r670 (IMHO), is a singal strength meter. That would be a nice addition. Oh, and perhaps to have the technical manual available in PDF on their website. Aside from that, this unit is top class and sits well in a system full of dedicated components (amp, DAC, CD transport etc.)
It's so nice to take a break from CDs and Vinyl and listen to hassle-free music.
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