Hi-Fi: Teac Reference 300 MK III Compact Component Hi-fi System Review – 72

Here’s a compact hi-fi system with a difference. Unlike many lower-priced consumer products of this sort that look like components but are actually joined at their hips, the Teac really is a stack of separate pieces.

Its heart is the A-H300 Mk III integrated stereo amplifier that puts out 45 watts per side, has inputs for phono, CD, tape, tuner and an auxiliary position, and can be worked from the comfort of your chair via an elegant remote.

On that $500 foundation you can stack other components, namely the PD-H300 Mk III CD player listing at $400 or the T-H300 Mk III tuner at $300.

The beauty of this is that if you don’t want the CD player or have no interest in the tuner, you don’t have to have them. Same thing with the $300 glossy black piano-finish two-way LSH250BL speakers that go with the system; Teac doesn’t mind if you take them or leave them.

You’d sort of expect something like this from a company like Teac, one of Japan’s foremost manufacturers of inexpensive hi-fi gear. Even at the lower price end of the market, it wants to provide quality components that are well built, look good and sound great.

Before you fire off an email protesting that we’re just reprinting what’s on a press release, you have to audition this setup to believe how good it is at its price point, which wouldn’t even buy the cables for a serious hi-fi system.

Tone’s noticed some exceptional sound from modestly priced gear in the last couple of years, perhaps the result of technology marching on and by moving manufacturing to competitive Chinese factories, as Teac has done in this case.

The speakers are quite versatile and clean sounding. They’re good for smaller living rooms and bedrooms, but those with larger areas to fill may want to consider something else. At high volumes they become boomy and begin distorting.

The amp delivers a full and laid-back sound with tone and balance controls for personal tweaking. Some other reviews have criticised the sound for being aloof and uninvolving, but the way it played Diana Krall’s Live in Paris – one of my reference CDs – was stellar. Other familiar tracks flowed through the system with ease. Miles Davis’s trumpet on ’58 Sessions was a show stopper.

As you might expect, this system is at its very best with midrange, which is detailed and rich. The bass is adequate for most occasions but can be a bit loose.

Meanwhile, I was impressed with how well the tuner pulled in clear FM signals using just the indoor antenna. It has its own remote control and has most of the mod cons of a good tuner, including a timer so you can waken to a favourite radio station.

Playing around with the system, I was able to make noticeable improvements by using better quality interconnects and changing to higher specification speakers.

I was also impressed by the build quality; such things as the smooth operation of the CD drawer, the tactile feeling of the knobs and quality binding posts left a lasting impression.

This would be a cracker of a system for a hi-fi enthusiast who needs another system for a bedroom, downstairs, or the bach.

PHIL HANSON

Specifications

Teac Reference 300 MK III Compact Component Hi-fi System

$1395

AMP:

• Power output: 45w x 2
• Harmonic distortion: 0.05% (1kHz)
• S/N ratio: 95dB; 70dB phono
• Frequency response: 5Hz-80kHz

TUNER:

• FM Harmonic distortion:    0.3% (stereo)

• Frequency response: 20Hz­-15 kHz

• Stereo separation: 40dB

CD PLAYER:

• Frequency response: 20Hz-­20 kHz

• Harmonic distortion: <0.02% (1kHz)

• S/N ratio: >90dB

DIMENSIONS: 215 x 93 (110 amp) x 305mm (W/H/D)

SPEAKERS:

• Type: Bass-reflex two-way system, 130mm woofer, 25mm tweeter
• Frequency Response: 50-22kHz
• Maximum music power: 50W
• Dimensions: 190 x 280 x 210mm (W/H/D)
• Weight: 4.2kg each

PROS

• Excellent build quality

• Great value

• Good sound, particularly vocals

CONS

• iPod crowd can’t dock to it

VERDICT

How does Teac do it for this kind of money?

This review is from Tone issue #72.