Teac 32-2B

A half-track master recorder that undercut the machine everyone was saving for.

Overview

Teac's own advertising for the 32-2B opened with a jab: "To all those still saving for a Revox." That line says how the 32-2B was positioned. It was a two-track, half-track master recorder built for professional work, and Teac sold it on the argument that a high price isn't the only way to judge excellence. The target was working engineers and informed enthusiasts who wanted master-quality two-track without the outlay a European machine demanded.

The headline numbers, from Teac's published specifications at 15 IPS, are genuinely respectable for the class. Wow and flutter is quoted at 0.03% RMS (NAB weighted), with a peak figure of ±0.05% under DIN/IEC/ANSI weighting — the kind of transport stability you want when a mix is being committed to tape rather than massaged afterward. Frequency response runs 40 Hz–22 kHz, ±3 dB at 0 VU. Signal-to-noise is listed at 65 dB A-weighted (NAB) referenced to 1 kHz at 10 dB above 0 VU (650 nW/m), and that figure jumps to 92 dB A-weighted when the integral dbx is engaged — though dbx is a trademark of dbx Incorporated, and owners should note the noise-reduction story depends on which version and options are fitted. A separate Teac advertisement of the period quoted a broader response window of 30–30,000 Hz ±3 dB and 40–20,000 Hz at 0 VU at 15 IPS, along with S/N of 63 dB (NAB) and 65 dB (IEC) at the 3% THD level and THD of 0.8% at 0 VU, 1,000 Hz, 185 nWb/m. Those are advertising figures, not independent measurements, and they don't line up neatly with the spec sheet above — treat the tighter set as the more conservative, and therefore more trustworthy, statement of what the deck actually does.

The transport is where Teac spent the money. The 32-2B uses a rugged three-motor transport with full IC logic controls, and it carries Cue and Edit functions plus a flip-up, hinged head cover that makes editing easier. The logic-controlled transport and the 7½/15 IPS speed pair, with 10½" and 7" reel capacity, put it in the working two-track category rather than on the hi-fi shelf.

The 32-2B also had a clear place in Teac's own lineup. Teac's literature grouped it with the compact 22-2 recorder/reproducer as machines that "can save you even more money," the pitch being that you didn't have to buy the flagship to get professional two-track. It sat alongside the four-track A-3440 and the eight-track 80-8 in the Tascam Series, and dealers of the period routinely listed it next to the Revox B77 and PR99, the Teac 35/2, and the 80/8 and 85/16B. Those are serious open-reel machines, not budget cassette decks. Studio Sound (May 1982, p.21) ran a pro-audio dealer listing that put the Teac 32/2B on demonstration alongside the Revox B77 and PR99.

For all the "cheaper than a Revox" framing, the 32-2B was not a stripped machine. The three-motor transport, IC logic, Cue/Edit and the hinged head cover are the features used every session, and Teac built the deck around them. The integral dbx version is the one that gets the 92 dB A-weighted S/N claim, and the outboard DX-2B unit was sold separately for buyers who wanted noise reduction without the built-in version.

On the used market the 32-2B turns up regularly, and period dealer listings show where it has sat. A 1982-era ad in Electronics & Music Maker listed a new 32-2B at £499 including VAT, with the matching DX-2B dbx at £199, while another dealer quoted second-hand examples from £400. It was never a cheap deck, but it was priced to undercut the European competition. Buyers should expect the usual open-reel caveats - heads, belts and the logic-controlled transport are the things to check - and the dbx version commands a premium over the plain one.

The three-motor transport, the IC logic, the Cue and Edit functions and the hinged head cover are all working features, and the 15 IPS performance figures are honest ones. Teac sold the 32-2B against the Revoxes of the world, and it made its case on reliability and price rather than badge.