Teac CR-H260i

[Yesfan70]

I bought this compact receiver a few minutes ago.

Here's a video from Teac's website about it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms6H0T0vm_E[/youtube]



For under $250, I think it's going to have all the right things for a nice little setup for outside. I have the Denon 3803, but that thing's freaking heavy and too big to put on the shelf in one of our closets for the winter. This thing looks fairly small so that along with my Squeezebox should make them both easy to store during the cold months.

The only thing I worry about is the 35W/ch rating. My Yamahas are rated at 86dB/w/m at 6 Ohms, so I don't know if the Teac is going to be able to push them well or not. It looks like it has a sub out (I hope so), so a future outdoor sub might help out a lot. Bluetooth, SD card and USB inputs as well as having audio ins/outs and speaker binding posts have me hoping this was a good buy. More to come.


EDIT: Can someone fix my YouTube link? Is there something different on how to post them? I used to be able to post them this way with no problems. Thanks!

 

[Botch]

:handgestures-thumbup:

 

[lulimet]

I like it. Good solution for a little office or outdoor system.

 

[Yesfan70]

Thanks Botch and whoever edited my post.


I'm hoping it comes in before the weekend.

 

[walls]

I agree, great product for what you want to do with it. And 35watts will be plenty I'm sure.

 

[Yesfan70]

Got to play around with this last week, sorry for not posting sooner. It sounds a bit tinny on the high end, but I don't know if it's more my speakers than anything else. I plan on hooking it up to my Klipsch speakers downstairs and see how it compares to the Onkyo in the HT.

Some of the pros right off the bat is the footprint. It's very small and light compared to your traditional 100W/ch receiver. I loved using my Denon 3803 for outside, but that thing is just too big and heavy to lug around up/down the stairs. The Teac will allow me to easily store it on a closet shelf for the winter along with my spare Squeezebox. The other thing is having actual binding posts. It's nice to know I don't have to change the fittings on my speaker wire. There's also the subwoofer output and audio inputs and outputs. I don't know if I could hook up an external amp or not with the Teac's audio outs, but that would be cool if I could if I felt I need more juice for my speakers. I do like that I can hook up the Squeezebox though, but that's one of the main reasons why I bought it too.

Some of the cons are navigation when using SD cards and USB flash drives. It is a bit cumbersome as you have one line of text on the receiver's front panel. Also, you can press the display button on the remote to have the receiver display that info in three different ways but when track/folder advancing, it goes back to its default setting thus requiring you to press the display button again to get the front panel info the way you had it. USB based HDDs don't work with this unit either, so that's a bummer. That can be good or bad as the more music you have, then the more confused one can get trying to navigate through a collection using the Teac's remote. Also, I don't see where there's bass management settings for the sub output. Is it fixed at 80Hz or can you adjust that setting? I'll have to just fiddle with it more to find out.

Bluetooth works well on it, but again the display issues for the track info are close to the same as with the SD/USB inputs. You could always just navigate by phone to make it easier, so I'm not going to be as picky about it. I'm pretty sure the receiver remote's transport keys will navigate music on your phone too. CD operation is about as basic as it gets, so no issues there. I didn't go through the receiver's FM/AM abilities since I can't get good reception where I leave.

It's not the holy grail of micro stereos, but I do think it's worth what I paid for it. I just wanted something smaller and easier to store that would allow me to hook up my Squeezebox. I think it's a solid 3.5 stars out of 5 if you ask me. Those dependent on the SD and USB drives for their music streaming might differ though, and rightly so. For me this receiver will be more than good enough.

 

[BrianZ]

cool unit. last winter i got the Yamaha CRX332 for a small bedroom system. looks to be nearly the same animal, altho your Teac has a lot more i-inputs and that sub out so that' cool. i only use mine for radio and Zune playing thru a pair of small PSB bookshelf speakers so i didn't need all that, otherwise i was considering the Teac as well. i still wonder if i made the right choice because the Yamaha is pretty noisy when using the aux input (3.5mm), which is how i connect my Zune. have you tried the RCA Aux inputs on yours? though being outside you might not notice noise as much as i do in my quiet bedroom.

 

[Yesfan70]

.............Have you tried the RCA Aux inputs on yours? though being outside you might not notice noise as much as i do in my quiet bedroom.

Not yet. I plan on hooking it up to my speakers downstairs in the HT, That would be better than to give it a run through on the outside setup. If I don't do that tomorrow, I may take it to a friend's house as his system is on par (more likely better) than my setup.


I doubt I'll use the sub out, but I do like the fact I have the ability to add a sub if I decide to buy an outdoor unit or make one myself. The other inputs are nice in case I have that one friend come over who wants me to hear something he has, be it disc, flash drive, or SD card. The main thing was having something smaller and lighter than the Denon I was using before.