Home > Consumer Reviews > Teac AG-790 AM/FM Stereo Receiver
Teac AG-790 AM/FM Stereo Receiver
See it at Amazon.com for $105.00Average Customer Rating
(3.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share75 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
A good receiver with (currently) rare features!
(5 out of 5) by nolo contendere on Nov 19, 2005 (South Bend, IN) This receiver has a mechanical on/off switch and a (short 3 day ??) memory on settings. The remote will also turn the unit to 'standby' if the front switch is left "on". The other controls are tactile, but will hold settings if unit is unplugged / reconnected. It is now unusual for a receiver to be controlled (on/off) by terminating the power to it, without losing the previous settings. This was important to my application. It also has a 'loudness' control which is strangely absent on the new receivers. I will not own a receiver without a loudness function!
It also has a 'phono' input which has gone away on all others. Contrary to what the salesmen said, a 'phono' CANNOT be connected to the CD or other input without an additional pre-amp.
I found it necessary to replace a fancy high line Technics receiver after 12 years of faultless performance. This Teac AG-790A was the ONLY receiver on the market that had all the controls operating as I needed them to operate.
As far as the performance as an amp goes, there are doubtless better ones available at higher prices. There are apparently NONE at any price that have the combination of features the AG-790 has, however. It works very well, none the less, and it is inexpennsive. Judging from the size and design of the heat sink and the attatched solid state output devices, I doubt this receiver REALLY has the advertised RMS output. At least not for long. Saying that, however, it WILL rattle the windows if so desired.
I give it a wholehearted 'thumbs up' as it was the only choice I had considering its (somewhat outdated) features missing on other 'new' units. It's exactly what I wanted, and the overall performance is VERY satisfactory.
It also has a 'phono' input which has gone away on all others. Contrary to what the salesmen said, a 'phono' CANNOT be connected to the CD or other input without an additional pre-amp.
I found it necessary to replace a fancy high line Technics receiver after 12 years of faultless performance. This Teac AG-790A was the ONLY receiver on the market that had all the controls operating as I needed them to operate.
As far as the performance as an amp goes, there are doubtless better ones available at higher prices. There are apparently NONE at any price that have the combination of features the AG-790 has, however. It works very well, none the less, and it is inexpennsive. Judging from the size and design of the heat sink and the attatched solid state output devices, I doubt this receiver REALLY has the advertised RMS output. At least not for long. Saying that, however, it WILL rattle the windows if so desired.
I give it a wholehearted 'thumbs up' as it was the only choice I had considering its (somewhat outdated) features missing on other 'new' units. It's exactly what I wanted, and the overall performance is VERY satisfactory.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Ultimately Disappointed
(2 out of 5) by C. A. Steinke on Dec 5, 2006 (Seattle)I purchased two of these receivers. One still functions fine, but causes a distinct hum in my speakers, regardless of input. The second one causes the same hum and the speaker switches are broken after a year of use (and now out of warranty.)
If you are looking for a standalone receiver, spend the extra $$ and get a real receiver. This one is barely passable.
If you are looking for a standalone receiver, spend the extra $$ and get a real receiver. This one is barely passable.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Correction regarding Phone and preamps
(5 out of 5) by Michael Ayotte on Jul 3, 2007Previous commenter stated:
"It also has a 'phono' input which has gone away on all others. Contrary to what the salesmen said, a 'phono' CANNOT be connected to the CD or other input without an additional pre-amp. "
Most (all?) modern phonographs have pre-amps built-in. If this is true in your case, then yes you can hook the phonograph to the CD, tape or other 'line-level' inputs.
If you have an older phonograph that does not have a built-in preamp, then you will either need to hook it up to a 'phono' input that is designed for this purpose, or you will need an additional preamp so that you can connect it to a line-level input.
This is because older phonographs, just like many microphones have a very low signal level. The preamp amplifies this low level signal to 'line-level' that your (speaker) amplifier is used to dealing with.
"It also has a 'phono' input which has gone away on all others. Contrary to what the salesmen said, a 'phono' CANNOT be connected to the CD or other input without an additional pre-amp. "
Most (all?) modern phonographs have pre-amps built-in. If this is true in your case, then yes you can hook the phonograph to the CD, tape or other 'line-level' inputs.
If you have an older phonograph that does not have a built-in preamp, then you will either need to hook it up to a 'phono' input that is designed for this purpose, or you will need an additional preamp so that you can connect it to a line-level input.
This is because older phonographs, just like many microphones have a very low signal level. The preamp amplifies this low level signal to 'line-level' that your (speaker) amplifier is used to dealing with.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Death Star??
(1 out of 5) by Ronald Davis on Dec 25, 2007 (portland)Bought one a year ago. In a matter of weeks the power transformer died. Amazon replaced. Now, just beyond warranty, the power transformer on this one has died. Need I say more?
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
fully adequate when working
(3 out of 5) by Andrew R. Briggs on Dec 23, 2006 (...in the fair and distant state of Oregon)Purchased via Amazon 9+ months ago, and I was satisfied for the first few months. It did the job as my music sounded fine. But problems arose. It has inputs for Tape/Aux/CD/Tuner/Phono ~ and I installed 3 of the inputs (Aux/CD/Tape). Now it won't tell one from another - sometimes it plays CD when you push Aux, or Aux when you push Tape, othertimes it takes a power-off/power-on to find the Aux source. And the volume control is wacko - the volume gauge runs from 1 to 62, and I play cd's at around level 15, the aux. source at around 30 and Tapes at 40 ~ all to the same level of loudness. When switching to CD after an Aux. input I get BLASTED if I don't remember to turn down the volume.
So my sister loaned me a Denon (a higher-end stereo receiver line) and I was surprised at the step up (cost to value.) Suddenly I'm aware the Teac had (at best) a poor surround system, and a poor interface, and no subwoofer, central speaker, functionable surround options. So was the Denon worth $130? Yes, the quality of sound to the main speakers is fine, and worth $130 if it worked properly (I obviously got a defective unit.) But maybe I should have saved up and gotten a Denon (or equivalent higher-end) in the first place ($500) ~ having access to surround, central, subwoofer etc. is wonderful.
So my sister loaned me a Denon (a higher-end stereo receiver line) and I was surprised at the step up (cost to value.) Suddenly I'm aware the Teac had (at best) a poor surround system, and a poor interface, and no subwoofer, central speaker, functionable surround options. So was the Denon worth $130? Yes, the quality of sound to the main speakers is fine, and worth $130 if it worked properly (I obviously got a defective unit.) But maybe I should have saved up and gotten a Denon (or equivalent higher-end) in the first place ($500) ~ having access to surround, central, subwoofer etc. is wonderful.