New Amp on the Way

M

Mr Peabody

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Nov 19, 2013
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Location
St. Louis, MO, USA
I should wait to post but I'm anxiously waiting. I placed the order for a Coda Technologies 8 power amplifier.

If this amp comes close to the description it should be outstanding. Coda's website is under construction and has been for a while. Could be part of the reason they keep under the radar. Destination Audio is one site that has Coda's amps listed. I was able to secure at least a 2 week audition window but was told none has come back. The 8 is said to have a super low noise floor due to the type of FET being used.

Something else I learned and not even mentioned in the reviews, there are actually 3 versions of the 8, then you can actually choose whether or not you want the meters. I think it's only a couple hundred dollars difference one way or the other for meters. I chose to get them although I can't really see them, I thought the amp would look better with them.
v1 = 150x2 into 8 ohms up to 18 watts Class A
v2 = 250x2 into 8 ohms up to 12 watts Class A
v3 = 400x2 into 8 ohms up to 6 watts Class A

I got version 2. All versions are the same amp just biased differently. You also have choice of silver or black and color of buttons, gold, silver or black. I was real tempted to just to get the version 1 but went with a bit more power.

"The $6,200 Coda No. 8 is very musical yet very detailed in ways that make me think that a fairer comparison would be my $13,5000 Pass Labs XA-60.8 monoblocks, which is a significant accolade for the Coda No. 8, as the Pass 60.8s are mean competitors costing far more money." -Read the review, here

150 watts into 8 ohms

300 watts into 4 ohms

The first 18 watts of power is pure Class A

20 individual output transistors per channel, with a combined power capability of 3,600 watts and 75 amps with a bandwidth of 10 MHz

150 amperes on dynamic peaks

Damping factor of 200

Distortion rating- .0089 % THD

1 Pair XLR Inputs

1 Pair RCA Inputs

62 pounds

5.5 inches high by 17 inches wide by 14 inches deep
 
I would imagine it is still the same company that has been flying under the radar for at least a few decades? Much like Audible Illusions, Coda always offered a tremendous sonic bang for the audiophile buck. I’ve owned a Coda and AI many years ago and they were both solid performers.
 
Coda Technologies are what's left of the OG Threshold Audio going back to the René Besne/Joe Sammut/Nelson Pass era. This is purely aesthetic but I like the gold plated PCBs they carried over from the threshold days, the internals of FET 10 preamp for example was a thing of beauty and current Coda gear is built to similar standards.
 
Cool! Congrats. Looking forward to your impressions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Congrats on the new amp! You weren't kidding about the website. You would think that with the amount of research people do before stepping foot into a dealership (if there is even a dealership to step into), a manufacturer would want a way to present their products in the best light possible. I feel like I stepped back into the late 1990s with their current site.
 
Coda originally were Ex Threshold Corp employees , those generation Threshold amplifiers are still competitive today ..


Regard ..
 
Thanks for the support.

I still have one of Coda's CSX amps and had a Threshold 300i Stasis. The Threshold was a really nice amp, I think I put it on my components I loved list, however, the Coda amps, even the CSX far exceed the performance of the Threshold I had. I could live with the CSX but I want more bass detail and maybe not so polite.

Coda is waiting for some faceplates to arrive, my amp should ship this Friday/Saturday, so I know what I will be doing on my 3 day weekend. Yeah, I'm lucky enough to get Columbus Day.
 
I got my amp in on the 13th, a bit of delay waiting on the faceplate.

Out of the box the amp was super quiet and transparent, quick response, however, I was impressed with some Jazz recordings but other popular stuff didn't wow me. There was also a bit of energy in the upper mid/lower treble that made strings, cymbals and snare sound a bit off to me or glossy. I listened for several hours that day and left the amp on, out of standby. I've gotten into the habit of doing that now, leaving my amps on. I listened a bit yesterday and left a playlist playing low while I went to do something for about an hour. When I came back I noticed the amp sounded different, better, and I didn't hear that "glossiness". I did a couple things on my phone and put it down.

I listened to a couple tracks off the playlist that sounded really good, then went back to tracks I played in the last couple days to see if I hadn't lost my mind. Well the amp has exceeded all expectations, simply amazing. The review compared the amp more like Pass XA60.8 monoblocks but but to my memory of a short audition the 8 sounds more like MSB except the detail on the 8 is easier to hear from what I remember of the MSB. Of course, not apples to apples as different gear, room etc. What is similar I am hearing a very large sound stage beyond my room boundaries, beautiful music emerging from an absolute black background, it's the feel or character that brings back the memory of MSB.

The 8 is a steal at the price, I hate to bring price into the discussion but I am in shock as to the level of performance I was able to get. I liked my 532h that retailed $8500.00, the 8 sound is different but I'd say on a whole next level from the 532h. It's crazy.
 
I've had electronics break in and change before, the Pass XP10 comes to mind, where it was quite a bit better over time. I can't remember any electronics transforming as drastic as the 8. Some speakers come close but not electronics.

I sat up last night just listening in aw and wishing I didn't have to work today :)

I couldn't edit my original post, the website and place I got the Coda from is Destination Hi Fi, not, audio.
 
As I stated in a prior post, if anyone don't believe in break/burn in I'd like them to hav an 8 out of the box listen for a month or so an then tell me they don't believe.

So, now the amp no longer rminds me of MSB. I can understand some comparison to Pass but the 8 is quick and don't give me such a feeling of being polite like Pass.

I finally got around to putting the 532h back into the system. At first I was pretty excited about the 532h having sharper leading edges and better attack. I listened to a few songs I listened to prior with the 8. Then I went back to the 8 and realized it provided more macro/micro type dynamics. For example, piano flowed nicely on the532h an notes were clear, with th 8 the notes weren't quite as present but along with the note I got more of the body of the piano information, so piano on the 8 was more natural. I think the notes may have semed more present on the 532h due to that lack of additional textural information. On the 8 multiple horns were more separated to where individual horns were heard, less smeared together.

The 532h was always fun to listen to but the 8 brings mor of the performance information to me. The 532h has more prominent top end but the 8 has more ample and powerful bass while remaining detailed. The 8 has nice top end it's just a bit more recessed by cmparison. Vocals have mor nturl tone on the 8.
 
That is excellent and congratulations. Sounds like fantastic amps! However:

:einstein:

You know the rules.... we need pictures :).
 
I'd like to post pictures but don't have much luck using the phone for that, the phone is easier since that's where the pictures would be.
 
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