Bluesound Node (2021) PS upgrade to Teddy Pardo; is it worth it?


Hi guys, 

I was toying with upgrading my Bluesound Node (2021) power supply with the Teddy Pardo upgrade kit; around £400 with shipping to UK.

I was wondering if anyone here has done this, and was there a significant improvement to SQ?

I don't use the DAC in my Node, I use a Denafrips Ares II; with this in mind, would the TP upgrade be worth the money, or would I be better off putting the money aside and going for an upgrade to the Node further down the line i.e. a dedicated, stand alone streamer?

Thanks very much
128x128painter24

Hi all

Teddy Pardo has just launched its new MiniTeddy power supply, compact size, lower cost and improved performance. Works like a charm with Bluesound Node.

I did the LHY filter board and 5V LPS on a new Node N130.Yes it did sound better. A bit more clarity. But it does not fix the bad USB audio out or the mediocre internal DAC.

I found a PI 4 USB into a Denafrips Aries DAC still sounds much better. Or probably into many other mid-tier DACs from SMSL or Topping for that matter.

But it you must spend money on a Node let me suggest just buying the LHY filter board for $110. I found that once installed the Node did not sound any different with a LPS vs a wall wart so it seems the filter board was doing most of the work of improving the sound. I tried it with a $10 wall wart from Amazon that was 5V and 4A which actually surpassed the power capability of the LPS.

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I use my Node to stream from my Vault.  Does it make sense to upgrade power supply on the Node without upgrading the Vault?  It does not appear that Teddy Pardo offers a linear power supply for the Vault, and I doubt that it has one as stock (?)

Thank you

@gladmo late to this thread.  Don’t know if you are still using a Node as a server/streamer, but I did a comparison of coax cables ranging from $40 to $1,500 between my Node 2021 and a Chord Qute HD DAC with an MCRU lps (supplying the DAC), and unfortunately I could tell a very significant difference between different coax cables.  I ended up buying a used Chord Company cable that cost as much as the Node, with zero regrets.  Looking at the general market for sources, adding an lps to support the Node is next up for me.

I just ordered a Teddy Pardo Dual 5V lps for my Node (2021) and my Chord Qutest DAC.  I will report back on the results.