The inevitable history
But blessedly short. From mid-fi separates gradually up to a Naim 5 series (CD5, Nait5, Flatcap 2, Intro2). Added a Rega P3-24, Phonomena II. “Downgraded” (more on that some other time—in some ways it was an upgrade) to a Naim Unitiqute because of relocation.
I'm now interested in boxes again, and the plan is to gradually make more and more of the all-in-one Unitiqute redundant. Eventually, the new separates system will be in a listening room, and the UQ either sold, or forming the heart of the TV/living room system.
Preferred music is the happy eclecticism that's common on audio forums, but with nearly no classical. Lots of prog rock and jazz, and a fair amount of electronica.
Why Teddy Pardo?
I get on well with the Naim sound and philosophy, and liked that so many Naim-owners had moved to TP. I heard about TeddyCaps a long time ago on the Naim forums, so I knew about Teddy's beginnings in unofficial association with the Naim brand.
I'm also a sucker for companies like this—small ones run by a single, passionate person, without the costs of marketing and distribution. Companies that give you a chance to own a product of a far higher quality than the price would suggest, but also requiring a bit of a leap of faith.
My concerns before purchase? That many reviews on the TP website talked about 3D sound and imaging, so I was worried that the amps would be too “hi-fi” for me. Consider that I still live with my Intro2's, bought new in 2003... either I know nothing about speakers, or I'm really hooked to that dry, forward sound. (Probably both.) I am however, sick of the treble of these speakers, best described in an old thread on the Naim forum as “scary”. But I do not like that very lush, bloated sound that's stereotypically described as 'American' in the whole British vs. American hi fi debate (one I'm given to understand is now dated and simplistic?).
Given the Naim connections, I took the chance anyway (plus there's the whole 14-day return policy), and I'm really glad I did.
Oh, one more thing—I was actually in the market for the ST60 plus speaker cables. But after hanging out on the Harbeth forum (strrrrange place, but I learned a lot) I decided to go with more power. Alan Shaw's views confound me somewhat, but his 3L vs 1.6L car-engine analogy made sense, so I decided to stick with my NACA5 for now, and get a pair of the MB100. I'd be going from the UQ's 30+30W to 100+100W, instead of 60+60 with the ST, well, 60.
Enough lead up, what does it sound like?
Going vaguely in order of discovery, these are the things I noticed.
1) Eminently crankable
I don't have neighbour issues, so like to listen fairly loud. I've never been able to turn a system this loud and not wince at distortion. It plays clean at a crazy volume—I suspect the limit is either driver excursion or my pain threshold. Not that I listen that loud, but even at lower levels, there's a sense of smoothness and effortlessness to the sound.
2) Dynamics
I never really understood this term until I heard what the MB100's were doing. For example, listening to a snare drum, it has the eye-blinking snap to the sound that a real drum has. This is obvious even at low levels or with the drum deep in the mix. In places that a lot of stuff suddenly happens very fast—say, the bass, drums and horns kicking in loudly, I was accustomed to the sound sort of crumpling up and become a blaring unit. Now, it all stays clean and separate.
When it comes to dynamics, it's tempting to think of just drums and cymbals, but you can hear it in voices as well. And plucked strings. And pianos. And Hammond organs. The leading edges of all sounds seemed clear and real—there's a sense going from silence to noise as quickly as things do in real life.
4) Detail
Even though these amps are being fed by a box that combines streamer, DAC and pre-amp (with a now-redundant power amp in there as well), there's a huge increase in detail. This is both stuff going on in the background of recordings, as well as a greater texture to both instruments and electronic sounds. You can separately hear the rattle of snares on snare drums (on good recordings of course). You get a sense of the different strings on guitars, and the pick or fingers on those strings... this is far harder to describe, but is really easy to hear. If you're listening to electronic music (or to Pink Floyd) with lots of sounds buried inside, such as voices or sound effects, these stand out a lot more. I've thought, “Oh that's what they're saying!” on many occasions. In fact, with S&G's Silent Night and the news, the famous mash-up that pre-dated the idea of mash-ups by decades, you can hear what's being said as soon as the news begins, which I found distracting. When I was a kid and used to listen on my mom's battered HMV player, I liked not being able to make out the words until just before the story of the Chicago nurses. That's just an aside though... on the whole, I quite like the detail, thanks!
5) Bass
Bass goes lower, and has more detail and a lot more punch. The UQ is surprisingly capable, so it wasn't as night-and-day as I expected, but it was a significant improvement. I think more than actual lower bass, it's control over the bass that's better. Low sounds that used to bloom, now have texture, and clearer start and stop points.
6) Imaging
With Intro2 speakers and a huge bookcase between the speakers, there's very little soundstage going on here. But I did notice that sounds are very stable in space... there were times it really did seem as if Paul Simon was stuck in the bookcase, and I knew exactly which books I needed to take out to make his face appear.
Realism
All of these things come together to create a high level of realism. This was one of those words that made me nervous, after all, it's something that people who are into giant 3D soundstages talk about. “The musicians were in the room!!” In truth, it's not so much that musicians seem present, but that everything sounds much more believable. Whether the decay of cymbals or the sustain of a piano note, or even the throatiness of a voice, there's a sense of immediacy, and a natural quality that just draws you into the music.
Before this, my hi-fi, however nice it has been for my ears, has always sounded like it's presenting an event that happened at some other time and place. For the first time, and when my Intro2's aren't being scary, I'm getting a feeling that what I'm listening to is being made right now, right here, just for me. When it all comes together, it's a moving experience.
I know that pretty much all of these improvements would have been experienced by any quality amp upgrade. That very little here tells you to choose Teddy Pardo over, say, LFD. Or Naim. That's why I'm not calling this a review—I'm just sharing what I heard, and that I like what I heard enough that I'm planning to go for the TP pre and DAC when funds allow.
I have TP speaker cable on the way, so will be able to comment on the change from NACA5. I've never been much of a cable upgrader or tweaker, so I'm worried I won't hear enough of an improvement to justify the cost... but again, there's that return policy.
I definitely plan to change the speakers, no idea yet where I want to go. I keep being drawn to Harbeth, but have just read through Bob's thread here about the Teddy Pardo speakers, and thinking I might just go Teddy Pardo all the way!
Thanks for reading, but more important, thanks for writing... I've never had to ask a question in my years of lurking, all the information I've ever needed has been here!
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Going Teddy Pardo
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