TEAC’s new AI-303 is an integrated stereo amplifier, including a DAC and in a compact midi design.

If you are looking for compact hi-fi equipment, the new TEAC AI-303 is a nice starting point with its width of only 21.5 cm (about the same length as the short side of an A4 sheet of paper). Besides the two analog line inputs, the integrated amplifier also has four digital inputs: optical and coaxial S/PDIF, HDMI-ARC and USB-C. To the latter you connect, for example, a notebook or smartphone. The built-in DAC then converts the digital data stream to – hopefully – pleasing sounds. Bluetooth is provided too, supporting the aptx-HD, LDAC and LHDC codecs.

The actual digital-to-analog conversion is arranged by an ESS Sabre 32-DAC chip. With this, a maximum PCM quality of 32 bit/384 kHz is achievable while DSD up to DSD256 is supported too. For those who love it: MQA is no problem either. The power amplifier circuit delivers a power output of up to 2 x 50 watts. The TEAC AI-303 costs €899.