TEAC TN-4D-SE Belt-Drive Turntable with AT-VM95e Cartridge

Employing an ultra-stable, direct-drive motor, a classically designed turntable with knife-edge tonearm bearings.

The TN-4D-SE 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.

Its brushless DC motor (with feedback control system) achieves crystal-locked speed stability and smoother rotation while also eliminating cogging. This low-profile motor allowed TEAC 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.

To extract the music from your vinyl, the TN-4D-SE comes with a highly regarded Oyster MM cartridge from Sumiko. 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-SE 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.

The TN-4D-SE uses a sleek, brushless DC motor, offering crystal-locked speed accuracy, regulated by a computer-controlled feedback circuit and achieving low wow-and-flutter levels for a direct drive turntable, especially one with such a stylish, low-profile design.

In collaboration with SAEC Corporation, a world-famous, high-end tonearm manufacturer, the TN-4D-SE's tonearm employs a knife-edge, pivot-point bearing. Unlike the case for tonearms with conventional bearings, any fine vertical movements encountered by this tonearm actually help in delivering a more dynamic sound with excellent resolution. The S-shaped tonearm also employs a universal headshell fitting, allowing users to quickly and easily swap cartridges/headshells, and supports a wide range of cartridge weights (from 14 - 23g / 0.5 - 0.8 oz.)

As you might expect, the tonearm is equipped with a counterweight, for precise stylus-pressure adjustment, and an anti-skating mechanism.

The TN-4D-SE comes with a well-regarded Oyster MM cartridge from Sumiko. Regardless of the type of music, the Oyster cartridge delivers a powerful but insightful performance.

The TN-4D-SE comes with a built-in PHONO EQ amplifier that allows you to directly connect the turntable to the line-level inputs of your existing hi-fi system. The NJM8080 IC from New Japan Radio Corporation is employed for op-amp duties, bringing up the level of the tiny signals received via the cartridge up to LINE level strength without any loss of quality.

In conjunction with the newly developed motor, the high-inertia, die-cast aluminium platter helps to achieve better speed stability.

The insulating feet comprise a machined aluminium shell topped with a rubber cushion that is fixed to the high-density MDF plinth. Thanks to their excellent shock absorption characteristics the TN-4D-SE is very resistant to acoustic feedback.

The TN-4D-SE supports 33-1/3 and 45 rpm for LP and EP records. TEAC's insistence on quality engineering can even be seen in the construction of the rotary control for start-up/speed selection, formed of machined aluminium.