Teac S-300HR Review (Speaker)

[Vini darko]

Might be ok for surround I guess. Thanks for the new distortion measurment at lower volume Amir.

 

[Vini darko]

Zeos reviewed the LS-301 and Amazon price history shows $150/pair.

Those are very different to the ones Amir is reviewing

 

[Saidera]

I was wondering where is the 25mm Titanium dome tweeter?

As a Hi-Res certified speaker, its performance is as expected. It could be suitable for people who dislike bass, or have neighbours who dislike heavy beats leaking into their rooms.

 

[Chrispy]

I was wondering where is the 25mm Titanium dome tweeter?

As a Hi-Res certified speaker, its performance is as expected. It could be suitable for people who dislike bass, or have neighbours who dislike heavy beats leaking into their rooms.

It's a coaxial design, it's centered in the mid-woofer.

 

[tomtoo]

But nice ornament on the tweeter protection. I have seen before, but where? Tang-Band? Mhh dont know......

 

[cbracer]

I was able to purchase a pair of these for $300. Gorgeous finish yes! Needs a little bass which I agree with. I tried them on my computer desk about 5 feet apart. Without toe-in they sounded much different than pointing then directly at me, but that's expected at over 50 degrees angled out. I see the angled directivity over the frequency range, which must change the tone of the speaker a lot off axis? This should be as straight across as possible so as you move off axis the sound becomes less but doesn't change much. Am I interpreting that correctly?
Perhaps they never heard of bracing inside with a lack of absorption materials.... or they tried to create an instrument from cabinet? I'm excited to try the corrections and plug in my sub.

 

[RichT]

hi Amirm, I see they can be bi-amped, maybe that would improve their performance?

 

[MZKM]

Those are very different to the ones Amir is reviewing

I don't know if they are "very different", they woofer is smaller and the tweeter doesn't seem as nice, but if those are $150/pair, then the ones Amir has shouldn't be much more, maybe Q350 price of $600/pair.

EDIT: Guess I was wrong, around $1650/pair
https://camelcamelcamel.com/S-300HR-CH-Hi-Res-corresponding-coaxial-Speaker/product/B01AL374C2

 

[MZKM]

hi Amirm, I see they can be bi-amped, maybe that would improve their performance?

Only if you fed the bass with more wattage, but the crossover is like 3500Hz, so the midrange would be changed as well.

 

[PierreV]

hi Amirm, I see they can be bi-amped, maybe that would improve their performance?

How and why?

Bi-amping possibility is a useless feature on most speakers.

It looks good from a marketing point of view though, suggesting to the uneducated customer that the speakers must be really serious speakers if they have that option.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Beautiful speakers but I do like my Revel M106s finish better.

 

[cbracer]

I don't know if they are "very different", they woofer is smaller and the tweeter doesn't seem as nice, but if those are $150/pair, then the ones Amir has shouldn't be much more, maybe Q350 price of $600/pair.
EDIT: Guess I was wrong, around $1650/pair
https://camelcamelcamel.com/S-300HR-CH-Hi-Res-corresponding-coaxial-Speaker/product/B01AL374C2

They are likely discontinued or have very little distribution channel. I bought mine new from HiFiHeaven online for $300 late last year.

 

[GimeDsp]

These speaker belong in a cigar shop.

Look awesome, but has a tweeter-on-pole piece set up ever sounded good?
As far as I'm aware physics dictates this design will always have flaws in a full range two way design.

 

[Langston Holland]

Amazing work Amir, thank you for the continuing education. : )

I spent a couple of decades in concert production and came up with a rule-of-thumb concerning maximum loudspeaker harmonic distortion that you might consider/modify as you listen and see what you think. These "just audible" numbers assume that there are no significant other problems, such as port chuffing with subwoofers, drivers bottoming out, hearing overload, etc. Auditory masking allows amazing levels of distortion to remain inaudible at lower frequencies (Keele's and Voishvillo's AES papers are wonderful on this). In all cases I found that the maximum level prior to audible distortion was far below rated loudspeaker maximums (at least 6dB RMS).

Thresholds: Sub passband 24%, 100Hz 12%, 200Hz 6% and 400Hz up 3%.
SINAD Conversions: Sub passband 12dB, 100Hz 18dB, 200Hz 24dB and 400Hz up 30dB.

Just my experience, YMMV. : )

God bless you and your precious family - Langston

 

[bakker_be]

Here's a pair listed at 699 € https://www.klang-form.de/produktwelten/lautsprecher/teac/s-300hr.html
but without the stands. The woofer (paper) is 130 mm in diameter, the tweeter (titanium) 25 mm
https://www.klang-form.de/produktwe...load/97_f11f06f2dc8bae7d2b0f9860e6784bb3.html

With stands, 1199€ http://www.hifi-tours.com/boutique/compactes/enceinte-compacte-teac-s300-hr-799-euros/

 

[pseudoid]

I am beginning to wrap my head around the great KlippelNFS presentation' with SmithCharts, colorful waterfall dispersion and contour directivity graphs. A reference(benchmarking) speaker data, super-imposed on these plots, would go along way.
Surprising findings.
I am wondering if this set of Teac speakers were part of a multi-speaker 'system'; as Teac usually does not skimp on (industrial-grade) construction.
I wonder what types of construction shortcuts they resorted to: No internal cabinet bracing? No 1/2" MDF? It would be telling to peek inside.
The wood-veneer seems like putting lipstick on a farm animal... instead of spending the $$ for feeding the poor thing!
The old "W.A.F." only used to apply to large floor-standing speakers...

 

[laudio]

Thanks for the review, Amir! They do look the part. The finish reminds me of the cherry red Quad 12L's I used to own. Another good example of stunning looks yet underwhelming performance. Just like me, actually.

View attachment 150368

The 22Ls are pretty good and agree about the finish.


.

 

[pierre]

I am beginning to wrap my head around the great KlippelNFS presentation' with SmithCharts, colorful waterfall dispersion and contour directivity graphs. A reference(benchmarking) speaker data, super-imposed on these plots, would go along way.
Surprising findings.
I am wondering if this set of Teac speakers were part of a multi-speaker 'system'; as Teac usually does not skimp on (industrial-grade) construction.
I wonder what types of construction shortcuts they resorted to: No internal cabinet bracing? No 1/2" MDF? It would be telling to peek inside.
The wood-veneer seems like putting lipstick on a farm animal... instead of spending the $$ for feeding the poor thing!
The old "W.A.F." only used to apply to large floor-standing speakers...

You can generate comparison easily here.

Ex: this Teac (solid) against Genelec 8341A (dashed) another coaxial of the same size, much more expensive with much better measurements:

 

[ezra_s]

...I must say the finish on the S-300HR is one of the best if not the best I have seen on a speaker...

PS: amirm going crazy!

 

[respice finem]

How and why?

Bi-amping possibility is a useless feature on most speakers.

It looks good from a marketing point of view though, suggesting to the uneducated customer that the speakers must be really serious speakers if they have that option.

One exception being active speakers with active crossovers, where the power stages are between the low-level analog-active, or digital-active crossover and its corresponding driver. But there it's a necessity and not a "gimmick" like bi-amping / bi-wiring in passive speakers.