Teac TN-200 Belt Drive Turntable With USB Output (Black)

I’ve been looking at turntables for a few months now, planning on spending a lot more ($400–900.) Impulse purchased this turntable on a Black Friday sale for $140. At that price, it is a great value and 100% recommended. At its $349 MSRP, it would be questionable. This review is in the context of the price I paid.There are several very nice features that make this a great budget/mid-range turntable for someone who values quality sound and solid features, but might want a starter table or has a lower budget. TEAK is a Japanese company and this table is made in Taiwan. They are certainly no Rega or Pro-ject, maybe not even the geographically similar Technics, but the brand has a decent reputation for mid-level quality.Five things I like:1. The plinth is a medium weight MDF that I would expect from a higher priced table. I prefer this strongly over plastic. Even a Rega P1 only uses particle board.2. The rubber isolation feet do a nice job of separating the table from its environment. Isolation feet at this price seem like a nice plus.3. Adjustable counter weight, anti-skate and headshell gives me the option of a different cartridge. (See number three below.) Or possibly a different head shell. An Ortophon Omega or OM5e would probably be the most that you would want on this table. A 2M Red would likely be a bit beyond the capabilities of the other components here.4. I know I shouldn’t trust a built-in phonostage pre-amp, but I’m counting this as an advantage for a few of reasons. First, the sound ain’t so bad. When I upgrade to a better mid-range turntable and I pass this one on, simplicity of an onboard preamp makes that easier. Second, there’s a bypass. So future upgrades to a stand-alone pre-amp are possible. Third, there is a USB output. I have not tried that yet, but I do have some very old, traditional Hungarian albums owned by my grandparents that I would like to share digitally with the rest of my family.5. This thing looks like a table costing hundreds more. You can tell that it really wants to fit in with its higher-end European competition. The speed select and start-stop knobs feel heavy and purposeful. The matte black finish looks sharp. Not as sharp as a gloss-black P3, but hey.Five things I’m not so hot on:1. The platter. It’s aluminum—which I knew from the description—but it has a thinner stamped-feel rather than the thicker machined-feel I expected. (The specifications say it is die-cast.) The description mentioned a neoprene platter mat, but the mat in the box feels like a heavier rubber. That heaver mat is needed to compensate for the relatively light platter. I am guessing that replacing the mat with cork or felt would have a negative effect on stability. It also has a drive belt cylinder integrated into the platter as opposed to a separate sub-platter.2. Additionally, the belt seems really basic. Of everything, the platter and belt were the most disappointing things about this table.3. The cartridge is very basic—again, I knew it would be. But being replaceable is actually a plus. I knew going in that I will want to upgrade the cart in the near future. After first-hand with this cart, that might happen sooner rather than later. The tracking force recommended in the manual is 3.0g. That seems heavy to me. I’m a little concerned about that.4. The tone arm feels a bit basic. But I haven’t done any side-by-side comparison with other tone arms in this price range.5. The included RCA interconnects simply should not have been. One look at them and I didn’t even remove them from the plastic bag.Most importantly, the sound. I am really happy with the sound of this table (connected to a solid, but decade-and-a-half-old Onkyo receiver/amp and Polk bookshelf speakers plus sub with a pair of high quality interconnects I had on hand.) Most of the play has been new vinyl and I’m not through the cartridge burn-in period yet. But I do believe that this table will be around through an upgrade to speakers and amp before I start really itching to replace it. Genres on playback have been classic and indy rock (vis-a-vis Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, Augustines, Mumford and Sons.) I have not put any classical to it, yet. It seemed very solid on rotational stability, although I have not measured that precisely.Overall, I would really recommend stepping up to this turntable over anything in the budget (Crosley) range. Even at $200, it seems like a good value with a slew of high-quality features. A great starter table for someone looking to develop an appreciation music on vinyl and wants a taste of the audiophile life.A note on the seller. It was nice to get an email note from the seller thanking me for the purchase, offering to answer any question or resolve any issues, and asking for a review. Solid effort, that.

Set up was easy, took about 20 minutes to finish. Build quality is very good. The pictures here don't really do the turntable justice It looks very nice and the only plastic parts I've found were the dust cover and the dust cover hinge. Sound is great, I own the mass drop edition of the turntable, and it appears to have shipped with a cheaper cartridge than the one shown here but it still sounds good, and I plan on replacing it soon anyway. There is a bit of sibilance but I'm almost positive that is because I have yet to properly align my cartridge. Only complaint I have is the rubber slip mat that came with the turntable. While it feels very nice, It is pretty uneven and makes all of my records seem slightly warped. It hasn't affected the sound to a degree that I can hear so It didn't affect my score but it is incredibly annoying to look and see how uneven it is, especially when the rest of the turntable looks so nice.

I bought this to replace a House of Marley turntable and was impressed by the sound. Connecting via the preamp or direct options both work really well. I haven't tried the USB yet. The only change I'll make is to upgrade the cartridge at some point.

Great product for the $200 or less price point. I had a Stanton T.52 prior to this as my first record player, and there a very noticeable difference in sound and quality with the TEAC TN-200.

Purchased in early January and has been working great for about 2 months so far. Exactly as described. Works great and sounds great. Looks and feels extremely high quality. Very sturdy and completely worth the money.

It is well worth the money. I would suggest keeping the glass case on because it collects dust that would be on the platter without it.

nice clear sound. great for the price.

Didn't work

très bon produit qualité/prix remarquable et livraison en 2 jours

Great sound for the price.

Genial, fácil de armar, el sonido es fantástico !Ya puedo escuchar mis discos viejos!!