Price Paid:  $600.00 from Hanoi, Vietnam

Summary:
Wow! That babe really a century deal! I cann't believe what I heard form such a 600$ cd player. Much better than many other players under 2,000$.

An affordable cd player that can play classic music is always be the problems. Hanoi - Vietnam inst a potential hi-fi/hi-end market so far (2006). So my choice is limited with some brand such as: Marant, Accuphase, NAD, Denon, Sony... with the price under $2,000. None of them can persuade me when they play classical music.

Everything seems to be nicer and easier to listen with Accuphase DP55 (cost more than 2,000$)but afer several song, the famous brand name Accuphase show it bore. NAD, Denon and Sony easily make me tired for their brightness, cool and vacant.

On the other hand, I've heard and read about TEAC cd players: both positive and negative review. Some say it clear, lifelike but some say that so coars or lack of temptation.

But once I heard TEAC VRDS 10 at a used hi-fi shop, my back neck hair upppp! I have never heard any thing so clear and lifelike like this. I know, I missed so many thing from my Sony 555 ESJ player.

TEAC VRDS 10 will tell you exactly everything from your cd player. Now I understand why some people dont like TEAC:CLARITY.

TEAC 10 doesnt cover the weakness of the record or your system, it is the TRUTH TELLER. It worth alot for those who consider "Truth is the Art." I believe TEAC VRDS 10 will stay so loooooong in my system.

A true hi-end for low cost.

Bravo TEAC manufacturer.

My hi-fi system:
Speakers: Chario Syntar 100 Tower
Amplifier: Marantz PM 88 SE
CD player: TEAC VRDS 10
Inter connection, speakers wire: Triangle

Strengths:
Clarity, lifelike and powerful. It spend most of my home time for listening music.

Weaknesses:
TEAC stop develope this product line. It cost lots of money to improve for some thing that a little better.

Similar Products Used:
Onkyo, Denon, Sony

Price Paid:  $550.00 from Edinburgh UK

Summary:
This is actually for TEAC VRDS-7 CD player, but this site is not allowing me to add this model for review, so I am adding this to its nearest one VRDS-10. I do not know the reason for this, but it is annoying.

I had been using Denon DCD-1015, but I was upgrading my amp to top notch Valve amp, so I thought I will also upgrade my CD player. I asked the shop what they had, and they showed me 3 models. They were Naim CD3, Quad 77 and TEAC VRDS-7.

Naim and Quad are so famous that even 6 year old my wee girl knows it, but upon contemplating this, I felt that both Naim and QUAD had problems.

One I did not like Naim's old age - parts maybe scarce, fortune to repair?

QUAD - looks horrible - it is so tiny and funny colour, it just did not attract my attention.

I am sure both are fine sounding, but these points just made me to look at the TEAC.

TEAC is massive in size and heavy, and looks very tough and serious. It is also very simple - minimalist design especially for Japanese origin.

VRDS system is for some rigid disc clamping system, and you can feel that it is built for that, when you open the disc - it gives you that solid and serious feel.

On sound quaility - I thin it is devine. It is detailed, clean and warm. SOme folks may that bass may lacking, but I think that is due to some other parts in the system like - amp, cables, speakers - mind you all these components will affect the sound quality finale.

But what I was really impressed about was - the amount of reality it presents from recording, and it is very very revealing player.

And it will read even broken or damaged CDs without any problems, which other CDP will just give up, this one just juggles for a few seconds and keeps playing.

I did not even know what year it was produced, but with all these points it was the winner.

I hooked up to my new system, and it absolutely sings. It matches very well with my Valve based system, and it looks tough, heavy and serious.

It is best valuve for money - I think it is better than players costing 2 to 3 k in my opinion.

My two thumbs up!!

Strengths:
Realistic, detailed, rich sound. Revealing - you can tell poor recordings straight away.

Build quality, Great looks, and ability to read any CD (even damaged ones).

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Naim CD3, QUAD77, Denon DCD-1015, Technics SLPG-580, Marantz CD-50SE, Marantz CD-63KI

Price Paid:  $996.00 from Audioville

Summary:
With the right cables and in the right system this player will satisfy a music lover. Speed and cohesion makes for a musical experience. It favors classical music as a standalone player. Its weakness is in reproducing percussion especially light sounds like symbols triangles etc which tend to get congested.

For the audiophile there is some tweaking to do. Get it off its feet and place its belly onto a cushion. I use foam backed carpet that is layered (many pieces) to make a one (1.00) inch thick platform. This works for many players in sheet metal cases. Then get a good DAC. Get a true 75 ohm cable and connectors (2 feet of Audioquest VSB-1 was a good match. This deck is very sensitive to cables. The digital output is especially frustrating. I tried more than ten different types before I settled on the silver plated co-ax VSB-1 ($2.00/ft). This gives it a more balanced response and reduces the heaviness in the highs but maintains its pace and great image. If you cannot make the cable yourself find someone who can. Do not waste mega bucks on cable.

This is an aged model and I bought it as a demo unit. Tweaked it can give great performance as a transport at low cost. The value rating reflects this fact.

System:
OCM,Copland pre,SimAudio Moon, Bryston amps
Acoustic Research DAC 5
Wireworld Equinox, XLO, AR cables
DIY speakers with Scanspeak/Focal/Morel drivers all 1st order x-overs.

Strengths:
Bass definition, rhythm and pace, coherent, build quality

Weaknesses:
Congestion in the highs, sensitive to cables, coloration

Similar Products Used:
NAIM,Revox,ARC,Meridian,Rega

Summary:
I found the Teac VRDS 25 provided the most accurate musical timing of all the cd players, which I have listened to. The player also provides excellent levels of detail, this is particularly obvious in the bass regions of complex passages on classical music recordings. The VRDS 25 I found to perform better using the XLR analogue outputs rather than its RCA analogue outputs. When using the XLR analogue outputs the sound stage opens out to encompass a much bigger area.

Using the VRDS 25 as a transport only, feeding electrical digital signal in to D/A converters costing twice as much as the VRDS 25 did, produced results which only one of the other players which I listened to could come close to and again it was in the bass region where I detected the greater difference. This became a selling point to me as it enabled various upgrade paths in the future.

Few cd players are constructed in the manner of this Teac, it could be considered overkill by some people. I choose the dark finish over the gold for personal reasons though my decision to buy this player was made entirely on its sound quality, it plays all music well but excels at playing close miked rhythm driven acoustic music accompanied by vocals. For me the quality of the digital output was a plus in my finial decision. All the cd players that I lstened to cost approximately the same +/- 20%, +/- haggling.

Strengths:
Timing, detail particularly in the bass region, dynamic with a very open sound stage and build quality.

Weaknesses:
Fussy about some minor scratches on discs, some players image a little better.

Similar Products Used:
Meridian, Linn, Copland, Niam, Primare, Arcam.

Summary:
Although the converters are a little dated now this is still a confident player which has a sonic to match its impressive build appearance. Its not quite as well built as one would expect though and doesn't quite match the build of some high end players, although for it's price it represents fantastic value for money. I got mine ex demo for about half the list price and it looks the buisness together with my valve Amplifier. However I have yet to find a CD player which is completely silent on playback. I still find myself frustrated by the whirring when listening to the likes of Feldman or Cage!

Strengths:
Build, Dynamics, Transport, Solid definition and bass

Weaknesses:
Laser can be a little choosey with slightly flawed discs. Still a little whirring from the transport

Similar Products Used:
Arcam Alpha CD, Sony 777ES(?)