I have since removed the Remote Input Controller and using the phono and line inputs on the Rotel a8 directly.
I discovered the Teac turntable while on one of my recent excursions to Fidelis in Nashua New Hampshire looking at used records. The display sample they had was in a beautifully finished cherry that drew my attention to it. After returning home and searching for reputable reviews on the internet, Noel Keywood of the now defunct Hi Fi World magazine published a very favorable review in 2020 that includes test bench measurements for wow and flutter, rumble, speed accuracy etc., I was convinced that this turntable would be a good addition to the budget system I was assembling. He also published review of the Audio Technica Vm95e cartridge that is included with the Teac at around the same time. He also gave it good reviews and covered the various stylus options that are available. I'm fascinated by the nude elliptical as well as the nude micro line stylus options and will at some point give one or both a try.
Unfortunately, when I returned to Fidelis, they only had the black lacquer in stock which would have been my go-to if the cherry were not available plus the proprietor gave me a substantial discount so ultimately, I'm not disappointed.
The turntable has a serious tonearm except for a VTA adjustment which is no biggie since the Vm95 is a keeper also considering the stylus options. When setting up I verified that the VTA was in fact correct using my alignment block resting on top of my 180gm Hi Fi New test record as well as azimuth. I spent a good amount of time dialing in the VTF with my Shure SFG 2 gauge and discovered that the 2-gram recommended setup as described in the manual was off by a quarter gram. I set the antiskating accordingly at 2 grams.
This deck is the perfect match for the Rotel even with the bonded elliptical there's little distortion, the cartridge arm combination tracks true and there is no detectible wow, flutter or rumble and despite the reviews claiming the drive system runs about 1% fast I noticed no significant pitch anomalies or speed variations on long sustained notes. This set up is fun!
I did have to lift the ground with the provided interconnect when connected to the Rotel's phono stage, so I tried a pair of the old Audioquest Topaz interconnects I have hanging around which was a dramatic improvement but still left some residual noise when the volume control was set a 12:00 o'clock so I tried my coveted Rega Couple 2 interconnects which provide a tighter connection, I can turn the volume control to 2:00 o'clock before hearing any buzz from the speakers. Pretty darn good!
