TEAC AS-201 (early 1970s)

The AS-201 is an integrated amplifier from TEAC's early-1970s "Consort" component system. Documentation is thin. The surviving record is mainly a period review and the Consort series advertising that ran through 1971 and 1972, but those two sources are enough to show what the amp was.

Audio (March 1972, p.62) profiled the AS-201 in its Equipment Profiles section. It quotes the manufacturer's specs: 50 watts per channel into 8 ohms, less than 0.5% THD at 50 watts, and less than 0.5% IM at 40 watts. The frequency response spec starts at 20 Hz in the listing, but the upper figure is cut off in the archive copy. That is about all the hard data there is.

The advertising adds positioning. TEAC's Consort ads pushed tape as the system's most important capability. The series was designed first and foremost for recording and playback, and the ads present it with the enthusiasm of a fresh invention. The control layout shown in the ad has source buttons for tuner, phono, Aux-1 and Aux-2, plus Source/Tape-1/Tape-2 monitor switching, which fits a tape-centric amplifier of the period. Other Consort components mentioned in the same ad were the AF-201 active crossover and the AE-201 stereo power amplifier.

Past that, the record goes quiet. No production years, original price, or collector history are documented. The AS-201 rarely comes up in discussion compared with TEAC's reel-to-reel offerings of the same era.

Integrated amplifier
50 W/ch into 8 Ω (manufacturer spec, per Audio, March 1972)
THD: less than 0.5% at 50 W
IM: less than 0.5% at 40 W
Frequency response: specified from 20 Hz (upper limit not preserved)