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Moving to Teddy Pardo from non-Naim equipment

F

Flumpet

Member
Dear all,

I have been procrastinating over upgrading my hi-fi system for some time. I currently have a curious (cost-wise) combination of a Mac Mini and Chord Hugo (1st generation) with a 20-year old pairing of a Marantz PM66SE amp and Tannoy Mercury M2 speakers (total cost in 1998 = GBP400). The amp and speakers have a very good synergy but the Hugo surely deserves better.

Teddy Pardo has kindly answered some of my questions on his ST60 power amp, but I've always been reticent to pull the trigger on a purchase. In fact, I now believe I would be better off with the i80a integrated as I would need a second DAC for handling home theatre duties (the Hugo has a noticeable latency which causes lip sync issues, and I cannot adjust lip sync on my TV).

Anyway, one of the reasons I have held back from buying-and-trying a TP amp is that most people (on this forum and others) have migrated to TP from Naim. I've only heard a Naim amp once (a Nait 5i) and it was too edgy for my liking. So this may not be my ideal point of reference.

People regard TP gear very highly in comparison to Naim, but has anyone moved to TP gear from another (if I dare say, less idiosyncratic) brand? If so, can you share your experiences (good or otherwise)?

Many thanks for your information.
 
The main reason why Teddy and Naim are often compared is that Teddy makes a range of power supplies that compliment Naim kit.


As you found Nait 5i a touch edgy, then the more open, detailed, and natural presentation of the Teddy i80a should suit.
 
Surprised that you found the Nait 5i edgy, but I would focus on your speakers first as these will have a far bigger impact on the sound.
 
I would certainly not call a Nait 5i edgy

What it did was perhaps, revealing some issues in the setup more clearly than previous amp.?

Teddy kit is really good too and revealing as well, but make sure to have solved if any setup or source issues firstly
 
I'm not a Naim user, although I have been in the past, but I've loved Teddy's amps the couple of times I've heard them. I generally tend towards hybrid solid state/valve designs, and whilst Teddy's amps are solid state they have the same virtues that I look for; a combination of grip and extension with tonal naturalism; the tone is a little more saturated than solid state designs can generally achieve. I've wanted to hear them in my system for years.
 
Flumpet said:
Anyway, one of the reasons I have held back from buying-and-trying a TP amp is that most people (on this forum and others) have migrated to TP from Naim. I've only heard a Naim amp once (a Nait 5i) and it was too edgy for my liking. So this may not be my ideal point of reference.
Click to expand...

I've moved on from naim, and I started with a nait 5, I never heard a nait 5i or 5i. Looking for a cost effective, and transparent and harmonically rich amp ? Then try a Temple audio Bantam Gold. The only drawback that I see for you, is the latency issue from your Hugo, if you want to use it for HT.
 
Dear all, many thanks for your replies. I'll try to answer them all.

In general I've been very poor at auditioning hifi so I've made various mistakes down the line. The Marantz/Tannoy combination have lasted so long because I spent ages auditioning them and made wise choices.

I then moved from the UK to the Republic of Ireland where hifi shops are almost non-existent outside Dublin. When I bought a house there I wanted to upgrade the Tannoys partly for cosmetic reasons, and whilst visiting the UK I purchased some ex-demo Spendor S3e speakers which sounded great in the shop but (tellingly) not with my electronics. The Marantz amp has not driven them so well (too underpowered?) so the Spendors are in storage.

My only experience of Naim was the Nait 5i which was ex-demo in the UK. The idea was that they would drive the Spendors better when back at home in Ireland. But, when auditioned with a Naim CD5i (and not my Spendor speakers!) the sound was to my ears edgy and aggressive. The CD5i was then replaced by a Rega Apollo in the audition and I instantly much preferred the contribution of the Rega. But for whatever reason I didn't pursue a new amp for the Spendors, choosing instead to once again pair my Marantz amp with the cheaper but synergistic Tannoys. So it is only this one experience and the musings of various forums that has given me a perception of the Naim sound.

The suggestion of replacing my Tannoys with new speakers makes good sense (little sense in pairing a TP i80a with GBP150 Tannoys), but I do still have these Spendors which may benefit from a more capable amp, and I feel that the Marantz amp is only compatible with very easy-to-drive speakers. Hence the plan to upgrade the amp first.

I now live in Switzerland which has many good hifi stores, and I have an accommodating wife, so now is the time to get things right via auditioning where possible!

The Chord Hugo is wonderful. It's impressive enough through the Marantz/Tannoys, but through headphones it is to my less-experienced ears fabulously natural. So I'm very happy with the source end of things. Yes, the latency is a nuisance because without that I would simply purchase a power amp and use the Hugo digital volume control. This would indeed be my approach without the home theatre requirement.

My interest in the TP i80a comes from the fact that various forum members have said that they see no further need to upgrade. I really like the idea of getting an amp for the next 20 years that is also capable of comfortably driving a wide range of speakers, and can accept DACs that will evolve as digital music technology evolves.

Any further advice is very welcome! Thank you again.
 
Doesn't TP offer a return option? If you bought and didn't like it, you could return it with little loss.
 
The option to return is indeed appealing, but I must first get a feeling for how much money I would lose should I wish to return it. In Switzerland I would need to pay VAT and customs fees (duty if applicable, and certainly a customs handling fee) to receive the unit. Obviously the shipment costs from TP to me and the cost of me returning it to TP are non-refundable. I don't know if I would also permanently lose the VAT and customs fees should I wish to return it. If so, it moves out of the 'low risk' category!

Does anyone have any relevant experience here?
 
I believe, though check this, that if you return the amp you will get your VAT back.
I can only offer you first hand experience going from Naim to Teddy Pardo. Like many people I tried one of the TP power supplies and then over the years have now gone fully TP.
I used to have an active Naim system and now own separate TP pre and mono amps with no regrets at all. The system gets played more than ever and apart from an annual un-plug and re-plug I leave it well alone.
Because, IMHO, my system does exactly what I was expecting, and Teddy doesn't have a Naim-like upgrade hierarchy, I am a very satisfied customer.
I doubt if there will be many here on PFM that have gone to TP from other brands than Naim, but I might well be proved wrong.
 
bob atherton said:
I believe, though check this, that if you return the amp you will get your VAT back.
I can only offer you first hand experience going from Naim to Teddy Pardo. Like many people I tried one of the TP power supplies and then over the years have now gone fully TP.
I used to have an active Naim system and now own separate TP pre and mono amps with no regrets at all. The system gets played more than ever and apart from an annual un-plug and re-plug I leave it well alone.
Because, IMHO, my system does exactly what I was expecting, and Teddy doesn't have a Naim-like upgrade hierarchy, I am a very satisfied customer.
I doubt if there will be many here on PFM that have gone to TP from other brands than Naim, but I might well be proved wrong.
Click to expand...

All of the above for me as well. Good luck in your quest.
:)
 
One of the contributors to this thread proposed that my speakers (I have Tannoy Mercury M2s and Spendor S3es, both of which have their advantages and disadvantages) are the weak point, and after a hifi demonstration yesterday my wife and I are inclined to agree.

One of the other amplifiers I was considering was the new Simaudio 240i (totally different approach, with integrated DAC which would be useful for our TV) , and yesterday I demo'd this together with the outgoing non-DAC Simaudio 250i. We also demo'd the popular (but not everywhere - see another PFM thread) Dynaudio Special 40s. And we brought along both of my pairs of speakers and my Marantz PM66SE amp for comparison.

In summary the 240i (even only as an amplifier) was slightly preferred to the 250i, and they were certainly both more robust-sounding than my existing Marantz PM66SE amp. But of all of the combinations tested (and we tried almost every amp with every speaker), the performance improvement from my speakers to the Special 40s was by far the largest.

I therefore am inclined to believe that an upgrade to a new amp (TP i80a or Simaudio 240i) would be best done after an upgrade to the speakers. I know that a TP amp would be different to a Simaudio amp, but I hear the same limitations of my speakers with whatever amps I test them with, and I would next expect that a TP amp would totally transform their character.

I will think about my next steps, but it is likely to involve choosing speakers which will work acceptably with my Marantz PM66SE but then also not be a bottleneck when upgrading to a new amp. The Dynaudios are currently above my budget so I won't rush into things.

I have learned a lot of interesting and encouraging things from this thread, and I thank you all again for your inputs!
 
The TP preamp I slotted in place of the Naim 52 I was using did totally transform the sound coming out of my speakers. I kept it.
 
Oops - finger trouble!

I meant to write "I would NOT expect that a TP amp would totally transform (my speakers') character".

Sorry for any confusion.
 
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