Parasound vs Coda


All,

I've been doing a lot of research into moving up from my current amplifier (Parasound JC5) and have scoured comparisons of Parasound to Pass Labs and others that I've been considering. Speakers are Focal Kanta 3s, Pass XP22, Lumin U1, Denafrips Terminator Plus. The setup sounds great as is but would be interested in an amp that offers a bit more refinement in the midrange and treble. Coda from all my research could fit that goal.

 

One comparison I haven't found has been users who've heard Parasound and Coda amps (I'm considering the Coda 16 or possibly 8) and would love to hear about what others have heard as far as preference, tonality differences, etc. Thank you in advance!

christianb5s4

@yyzsantabarbara Yeah, I traded my old amp for the No 8.  I'm using it with a Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL preamp.  I like a tube preamp with a solid state amp.  Works well for me. 

 

I like and do the same with my Cary Tube preamp combined in with an alternate Class A 50w SS Pass/Forte' amp I rotate in place of my tube mono block amps.   For my larger speakers I've been eyeballing the Coda S20. Have a note out to Doug @coda, would like to find out how many watts are Class A before it switches to Class AB. Coda is local to me 15m away so might check it out more fwiw.  

@decooney 

Check out the manual: 

The S20 normally operates in stereo mode, providing a maximum output power of 10 watts Class A (into an 8-ohm load) per channel. In BRIDGED mode, both channels act as one amplifier providing a maximum output power of 800 watts.

Thanks @mclinnguy I just checked out the manual.  Also shows the front end never enters class class B operation as-is common with most amps - I'd still need to find out if Class A power doubles with 4ohm speakers.  The only reason I'm interested is they are local and future repairs would be easy, and it's a lighter weight amp compared to all of my other SS amps over the years. Something to check out in any case.  Thx

@decooney Yes, must be nice to be so close. Shipping my 140lb monster will cost $370 CDN each way.

I’ll tell you though, it is speaker dependent of course, not sure what you got, but I am currently running my 4 ohm speakers (98db) with less than 2 watts per side from this little Yamamoto 45 tube amp, and it’s shocking how much output that is, and it is plenty loud- I understand there is a difference between tube and solid state watts, but 10 watts of class A Coda would be overkill for me on these speakers.