Review of TEAC NT-505

I agree in terms of sound quality the Teac and the Node don't belong in the same discussion. 

The Teac retails for $2,000, the Bluesound Node 2i for $550. one would expect the Teac to sound "better".  The Node 2i is a solid performer with no quality control issues and a great OS.

Sure, that’s true. Bluesound is good value for the price. If you only have 550 to spend, get the Node for sure. 

But the specific question was whether there were sound quality differences in between the Bluesound and the Teac. The answer is yes, massive sound quality differences between the two.

For that matter, there are also big sound quality improvements of the Teac over the $1500 Cambridge Audio 851n, which I also own. The Teac is just that good

Will there be any sound quality distinction between using the bluesound as the streamer and using the TEAC as the streamer? I've read that the Bluesound doesn't sound great, relative to higher end streamers.

The Bluesound sounds very good at its price point.  The TEAC just sounds a lot better.  The main difference is an increased level of detail, a "warmer", less "digital" sound with no glare, and the most surprising thing to me most was a much bigger soundstage and better imaging. 

The TEAC gets you much closer to the sound of a good vinyl rig and sounds a lot better than a mid-fi vinyl setup. 

The Bluesound isn't going to take you there.  It sounds good if that's your only point of reference but if you listen to it versus a good vinyl setup or high quality CD player the glare and graininess and lack of detail in the Bluesound will leave you wanting for more.  I made the mistake of doing that comparison.  I say mistake, because it highlighted what I was missing. I'm glad I did.  The TEAC plays more in the league of the rest of my sources and I get a lot more enjoyment from it.

Hi all.

For nt-505, a new update has been released with a bug fix for "standby", dated 05/26/2023.

https://teac.jp/int/product/nt-505/download

SYSTEM Firmware V1.53

External clock synchronization is now possible for COAXIAL/OPTICAL digital audio input.

Now you can sync with the same external clock as the PD-505T for playback.

Fixed an issue where the STANDBY/ON button on the remote control could not turn on the power.

On the last point with "standby", I (not only) had problems. What and how this time, it will be necessary to see. While I think, to update or not. In the past reincarnation, I did not reveal any advantages.

In this one, plus for working with the "clock", but I do not use the clock. )