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Teddy Pardo - what's so special?

formbypc said:
Title says it all. PFM appears to be the only place I hear about this brand.

What's the big deal?
Click to expand...

I think maybe the reason that PFM seems to be the epicentre of the Teddy Pardo buzz is twofold. Teddy has always been very open and happy to share his findings about his electronics and power supplies. All this stuff goes completely over my head but I know the DIY guys get pretty excited about his Super Teddyregs… whatever they may be.

The other, bigger reason, for the Teddy fan base here is his alternative to Naim power supplies. He makes alternatives to the Hicap, Supercap and XPS supplies. To many people, me included, these sound better than the Naim ones. They also are in smaller more WAF friendly boxes and don’t need the regular re-capping of the Naim units.

Once convinced by the superiority of his power supplies many of us, me included, have now gone for the fully Teddy amp package. His pre amp is on a sonic level to ones from Naim costing maybe six or seven times the price. His power amps have also found many happy purchasers here.

I’m sure it’s a bit of a PFM micro climate that has caused the buzz around the products from Teddy but there is no denying that he makes some devilishly musical products for not silly money.

I guess that sums up the answer to your question.
 
I wonder if any of the switchers to Teddy have compared like for like with the new DR versions of HC and SC? Interested to hear results.
 
totally agree with Bob's comments.

I do not know anyone who tried Teddy gear, go back to Naim. I am sure there are some, but I bet not many.

For me, I replaced my Nac252/TSC/Nap 300 with a i80a as I feel the Teddy integrated is superior in musicality. The money I saved by selling my Naim gear has been used to purchase a new kitchen ( no need to say my wife is very grateful to Teddy Pardo ;)
 
The big deal is value for money. As Bob Atherton says, the pre-amp is on a level with other products costing far more. Someone once said that Naim, as a an example, has very real resale value and is supported by the factory for a very long time. It's a good point. For me, it's simply about the best sound for my pound.
 
I enjoy reading Teddy's early posts, here and elsewhere - when it was little more than a DIY experiment. He now produces well engineered and reasonably priced products, that work consistently (no recaps etc) and sound great. I've not experimented with the DAC or amplification; happy with Naim in that regard.
 
Teddy is one of the few direct sellers who operates in quality hifi these days. That means he doesn't make you pay a dealer mark up. He has been open and helpful to the DiY community and his products are outstandingly good sonically. Add up these factors and I think the sum of the parts is pretty special.
 
Just to add to what's already been said, TP makes very good equipment at very reasonable prices.

I was on the Naim upgrade path, wanting to improve my NDX, SN/HC, but the cost associated with Naim was beyond what I was willing to pay.

I'm glad to hear, from several owners, that TP outperforms a 252/SC/300. So glad that I sold all my Naim gear and bought a DAC-VC and a pair of MB100's. It sounds very good. Substantially better than before, but that's a bit unfair on the SN. However, the price difference is staggering.
 
The way Teddy engage us on PFM encourage more potential prospect to jump into Teddy Pardo equipment. How many chief engineer of Hifi electronic you have seen engaging us in an open forum? It gives us confidence in his product.
 
formbypc said:
Title says it all. PFM appears to be the only place I hear about this brand.

What's the big deal?
Click to expand...

In 1978 I bought a turntable called a Linn Sondek LP12 that only a small number of hi-fi nerds had heard of.
Today my rack is filled with Teddy Pardo products, flanked by his extraordinary new speakers.
Déjà vu?
Pssss. Pass it on.
 
The TP name seems to come up in quite a few places of late, although this forum does seem to be a hotbed of activity. Which is great for prospective buyers like myself, who are potentially looking for alternative ways to upgrade their Naim systems, and there does appear to be some synergy.

I love the fact that the audio community share their views and passions so openly in these forums - isn't that what it's all about?

The hardest part really is finding out what the TP 'sound' is since you cant easily demo (or at all it seems).

It's interesting how some people seem really upset about people enjoying a product so much that they want to tell the world about it. Not specifically this thread or forum, but across the board there seems to be quite a lot of brand loyalty and antagonism. I wonder what that is? Just curious really.

To those that are saying TP products are good (particularly the amps), please tell more!
How did you audition? What did you compare against? Were you worried about spending X thousand mail order and not liking the product?

That's my main reservation. Apart from the boxes, but then I actually love the look of Naim boxes. But if the TP amps are much better value, I'll get over it!
 
I ordered a TC3 that Teddy graciously modified so that it would power a Headline2 in addition to the Pre-amp.

It was demoed against my new but fully broken in HiCap. This was the HiCap version directly prior to the DR version.

The TeddyCap stayed and the HiCap was sold on.

I also have a TXPS on the CDX2.

Very pleased Canadian owner.
 
There is also a very pleasant direct relationship with TP. You can e-mail or telephone him and ask questions. And he is a very nice man. I also believe that if you buy one of his products and do not like it, you can send it back for a full refund.
 
Teddy is a very nice man & I've used a number of his super-quiet Super-Teddy Regulators in power supplies I've built. His kit's all very good quality and up to a certain level worth comparing with Naim equivalents. It's got a different sound to Naim though so you need to audition it before deciding if it's for you - no different to other bits of hi-fi kit in that respect.

Teddy will happily refund you if you don't get on with his units so don't be put off trying them.
 
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