It’s been some time since I did a write up review, so as I’ve been living with the TEAC PE-505 at home for around six months, it made sense to give it a bit of love in the form of an official write up. I’ve had a few phono stages at home over the past year from Project and Musical Fidelity, but having taken on Esoteric and TEAC earlier on the year, it made sense to have a look at what the TEAC PE-505 offers for vinyl playback in my system at home. In that time, I tested the TEAC PE-505 with both the new Technics SL-1200GR2 and my Technics Worx modified SL1210mk2. The cartridge was a Nagaoka MP300 a cartridge which is an impeccable performer at a reasonable price.

Design & Specifications

The design of the unit is industrial looking and comes in a smaller form factor than standard width hifi equipment. It comes with a bank of switches on the front along with a couple of handles and has a nice illuminated subsonic/impedance dial in the centre. The unit also comes with the classic TEAC pinpoint support feet. These support the unit and reduce unwanted vibration, greatly eliminating heaviness and muddiness in low and medium frequencies. This method also improves resolution and stereo imaging, which contributes to defining individual sounds. A small bonus in terms of design but as I’ve experienced on the rest of the TEAC range, these really work.

The main head amplifier, buffer amplifier and final output stage employ a fully balanced circuit through all of the stages it amplifies and equalises. It maintains the signal purity of even the most extremely faint audio signals picked up by the cartridge. This effectively means it able to drag every little piece out detail off the surface of the record.

There are the three usual EQ curves which are typical on decent phono stages, however TEAC have introduced a newly developed NF-type equalising amplifier which achieves less than ±0.05dB of RIAA deviation across the audible range of 20Hz to 20kHz. Again, the accuracy of this implementation of the RIAA curve which is the setting in use 90% of the time, can only help with playback, ultimately making the most of the signal passing through it.

There are two unique features on this phono stage I’m yet to see on any of its peers at this price. Firstly, a load-resistance measuring function for MC Carts which allows the user to select an appropriate load-resistance by pressing the “measure” key on the front panel. This then will show the total load-resistance value including cable resistance on the gauge. The second feature is a very handy quick demagnetise function, not only for magnetised iron cores of MC cartridges but also any step-up transformer. This can be used by playing back a vinyl record for as short as 30 seconds with the DEMAG position applied.

Ultimately, this is probably the best built most feature rich phono pre-amplifier I’ve tested at this price.

How does it sound?

There are so many variables in a turntable ecosystem it can be sometimes tricky to put an accurate estimate on which areas make an improvement and which areas don’t. In truth everything needs to be in balance and with most things in the world of Hi-Fi, you need to trust your ears. If it sounds good within the first song of a demo, it probably is. If you need to go looking for the improvement, it probably wasn’t there to start with, so there is no point in forcing it. The TEAC replaced the Project Phono Box RS2 in my system which has been my go-to phono stage at this price for quite some time. For the reason that, it just sounded right with everything. Phono stages under £1300 I find are much of a muchness, few of them really sparkle. When you get into £1300+ you can really hear what they are adding to the party.

From the get-go, the TEAC really sparkled, it has a huge soundstage with weight. It is very involving but it also sounded like it really is taking everything in its stride, very composed. I tested the TEAC with a few tracks in my system I know well for this write up and re-referenced the Project RS at the same time for balance. The main track I tested was my Mo-Fi pressing Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. Flamenco Sketches has been a demo track of mine for years on all formats and the stereo version of this track is very difficult to render correctly. The TEAC locked the instruments in the correct positions, not spreading them too far apart. It also added a distinct immediacy to the sound which wasn’t as immediate on the Project, almost an addictive shine to the sound, something which enthralled and added to my listening experience. Of the two live albums I tried, both reproduced fantastically well. The Doors Album, Live at the Aquarius was a record store day release a number of years ago and has garnered a reputation all of its own for its sound quality. Probably the best live recording of The Doors bar none. It shines even more on the TEAC than usual, pulling you even further into their performance. I rattled through several other albums which I will list at the end, but was left with an overriding feeling that I just wanted to listen to more and more music of all different styles. I’ve had this before from a few products in the past, Tannoy Kensington GR speakers, the Soul Note P3se preamplifier, Amphion Argon 1 speakers, the new Technics SL1200GR2 and to some extent the Project RS2 phono stage which made its way into my system some time ago. Fundamentally as a one box system I do think the TEAC is a better preamplifier than the Project, but there isn’t a lot in it given the Project is a little cheaper. I think if you were to add in the RS power supply on the Project, it would probably be too close to call. Some systems may also work better with the less forward Project sound. The TEAC certainly has a better physical feel to it and is better built and I’m always a sucker for a wobbly analogue dial with a needle on the front. In its single one box guise, the TEAC also gives the impression that it could take a much higher end cartridge on it, which is hardly a surprise. The danger with that though is a serious case of upgradiitus could set in. Overall, it’s a fantastic phono stage which I can wholeheartedly recommend. The TEAC PE-505 is currently in store and available for home demonstrations upon request.

Tested with the following vinyl albums.

Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (Mo-Fi Pressing)

Liam Gallagher – Live at Knebworth

The Doors – Live At The Aquarius

Entombed – Wolverine Blues (FDR Version)

Herbie Hancock – Headhunters (Single LP Version)

Ocean Colour Scene – Moseley Shoals (Re-Issue)