Coda conundrum

Valinar,

Good question.
Here's some history on this company, if memory serves me..

A talented engineer with Threshold leaves & (co)founds Coda.
Coda makes gear under their own name.
Coda makes gear for Legacy speakers, it is re-badged as Legacy.
Coda makes gear for Inner Sound.

My friend Bill was a Coda dealer when he also sold Aragon.
He then added Pass Labs, YBA, and Cary.
At the time Bill sold Coda, he said it compared very favorably with the other brands. He did add Coda didn't advertise very much.
IF you like the integrated, I'd say try it.
The only caveat for me on a lesser known brand is:
What happens if I want to sell it tomorrow? (For whatever reason, cash, upgrade path, etc)....

Coda isnt really lesser known if you 've been into sound for any amount of time.

Let's de-mystify this conundrum. CODA has developed their major market in Europe. I do not know the orgins of this business approach, but I suspect that the Europeans like the flavor of CODA sonics. Without going into great detail, I would describe my CSi as sounding rather lush. Yet, it has powerful dynamics, remarkable soundstaging and depth. And the silent passages are dead silent at very high volumes.

CODA is quite successful in Europe, and they continue to focus their energy in that market. Check out some high end European websites in Italy and especially France, and you will see what I mean. Further, I suggest calling Doug Dale at the factory. He is one of their engineers who also handles technical questions and purchasing orders. He is very accessible and will gladly answer your questions.

Dealing directly with the factory is something I enjoyed. CODA built my unit with some special features that I requested. I have not had a single issue in 2.5 years of ownership, but it gives me confidence knowing that the factory is located in Sacramento, and anything that may arise can be handled in one shipment directly to the factory.

Good luck

I have a pre amp couldn't be happier.

Valinar,
You can not go wrong with the Coda CSi. I wanted to upgrade from my Primare A30 amp back 12 months ago. After auditioning quite a lot of amps, in particular LSA (muscle amp but too butch) and Ayon Spirit (valve amp, refined but too slow and reserved), I came across the Coda CSi, which my favourite Hi-Fi retailer (also UK importer for Coda) recommended I auditioned. I loved immediately the way it brings the music together with authority, control yet can be refined and precise when required. I have been living with it for nearly a year now and am a big fan of Coda, which I never heard of before.
HiFi Plus magazine awarded Best Amp 2009 to Coda...not the CSi though, it's bigger brother (amp + pre-amp).

I hope it helps.

Good luck
Patrick.

I live in Sacramento.
CODA is made in Sacramento.
I have never even seen a CODA product, but would like to.
I was not even shure if they were still in business, and the web site looks like it has not been updated in years.
I have asked the few local dealers why they don't bring it in?
Once in a while, they will sell demo gear direct, but you need to pick it up at the factory.
I think their original name WAS Innersound and they soon change to CODA and later on they came out with the Innersound brand as a lower cost high end solution.