The TEAC TN-4D is a direct-drive, analog turntable with an elegant, low-profile design, made possible by the use of a newly-developed brushless DC servo motor.
Article continues below
Their new brushless DC motor (with feedback control system) achieves crystal-locked speed stability and smoother rotation while also eliminating cogging. Cogging is a phenomenon in which the periodic attraction of the armature and rotor inside the motor is dependent on the rotation angle, resulting in a fine pulsing. For example, if you turn the axle of a motor with your fingers, you'll feel the rotation occurring in steps. This phenomenon is known as cogging.
This low-profile motor allowed us to design a plinth that’s extraordinarily sleek and stylish compared to that of most other direct drive turntables. The new tonearm employs knife-edge, pivot-point bearings, developed in collaboration with SAEC Corporation, a world-famous, high-end tonearm manufacturer. The result is an insightful, high-resolution sound quality that tonearms with conventional bearings can’t match. Partnering it is a carefully designed PHONO EQ amplifier that allows you to directly connect the turntable to the line-level inputs of your existing hi-fi system.
A high quality NJM8080 op-amp, specially designed for hi-fi applications by New Japan Radio Corporation, is employed to convey the finest of musical detail. Additionally, a USB port on the back panel allows you to digitally archive your vinyl collection via your PC/Mac. To extract the music from your vinyl, the TN-4D comes with a highly-regarded Oyster MM cartridge from SUMIKO – a legendary American cartridge manufacturer. Noted for its innate musicality, the cartridge comes pre-installed on the headshell at the factory, allowing near ‘plug and play’ operation.
The S-shaped tonearm meanwhile allows for quick cartridge/headshell swaps, so users can alter the sound quality by experimenting with different cartridges, if the desire takes them. The TN-4D is an analog turntable that achieves highly accurate rotational speeds and is very distinctive, for a direct-drive design, thanks to its sleek and stylish aesthetics. TEAC once again showed why it's among kings of autdio technology and that old technology can be improved and be superior to new digital way of listening. At list, that's what we think. ■
