@winalovski If I were you, I would call Doug Dale at Coda. There's a good chance that he knows how that amp would do with your Puppies. He's a strait shooter. You won't get a sales pitch from him.
The new Coda S5.5 amplifier: It's a "Petite Beast"!
I have in-house the New Coda Technologies S5.5 amplifier for review for Stereo Times website. It will be awhile before I write the review. However, I'm so impressed by the performance of this petite amplifier, it only weights 45 pounds, that I wanted to give a heads up to you GON members if you are in the market for a balanced pure class A amplifier, delivers 50 watts @ 8 Ohms, and can drop 100 Amperes of current on a peak!
The world class build quality of Coda amplifiers is on display with the S5.5, along with the most beautiful purity of tonality, precise sound-staging, complete liquidity offered by pure class A design, and what might be the best top end regarding details, decays, and a natural shimmering without brightness or any edge at all.
The S5.5 uses extremely wide bandwidth output transistors instead of the usual TO3 devices used in most transistor designs. I own the Coda #16, which is great, but the midrange/high end is taken to another level of musical enjoyment with the S5.5. The S5.5 has a sense of speed/aliveness that is exciting to listen to that you experience in live music. The amp is dynamic as hell, has driven with ease any speaker I have tried it with, hence my nickname of the "Petite Beast". Remember, 50 watts pure class A, can drop 100 amperes of current and only weights 45 pounds.
Teajay (Terry London)
552 responses Add your response
Has anyone run Wilson Puppy with Coda s5.5 ? Unfortunately i don’t have any possibility to listen this configuration. My present amplifier needs to be updated/ refurbished. I’m not sure if I want to do it. thank you |
I've had Sugden, but not Pass. My S5.5 runs cooler than the Sugden - by how much I can't exactly recall. Bottom line is the S5.5 runs pretty cool in my experience with Class-A. When I turn it off after several hours its warm to the touch, but nothing more than that. I don't drive it that hard so that's a factor too. |
@yyzsantabarbara The Legacy Wavelet II is a pre amp so adding a tube preamp would be redundant. My DAC doesn’t have a volume control. The only source into the Wavelet is the XLR's from the DAC. |
@fthompson251 The real test to see if a DAC’s volume can hang with a great preamp is to listen at low volume. The only DAC that I found could hang with a great preamp was the Lumin X1 with the Leedh volume control. Even that was not as perfect as my Benchmark LA4 preamp but came close. The issue was not really sonics but operational. The volume could not increase at the proper increments at low volume. |
@charliee No I no longer am getting any preamp. I had conversations with dealers that advised it is not necessary with only 1 connection. I would just be adding more into the chain, need more (expensive) interconnects and power cords. Instead I added a end game (for me) DAC. I am very happy with how the rig sounds now, very happy. |
@fthompson251 Wonderful! |
@sim_audio_nerd I bought a new Denafrips Terminator 15th to replace my 3 year old Denafrips Venus II. |
@fthompson251 what DAC did you get? Tube based? |
@sim_audio_nerd I have been thinking the same thing. Well, I don't upgrade very often but since I have made other system upgrades this amp lets them shine through. I just got a new DAC and the change is clearly evident. I love this amp! I've had my amp about 7 months. |
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@charliee No i ssues at all. Have had them in for several months and they are doing great. I also have them in most of my other equipment and have had no issues. I believe Revolution Power is where I ordered mine from. |
I just pulled the trigger on a black S5.5, and now have to wait for it to be built and arrive. I've never heard a Coda amplifier before, but it meets many of the requirements I'm looking for in my next amplifier. The list of my most recent amps is AtmaSphere Class D monos, Pass XA30.8, Benchmark AHB2, Bryston 4B3, and Pass X250.8. I enjoyed each one of these as each amp brings its own attributes to the table and outside of the 250.8 is not crazy priced. I have big expectations for this Coda purchase... :) |
@snapoli2 I saw your post comparing the #16 with the S5.5. What speakers did you compare the 2 amps with? I also recently heard the Luxman m10x and thought it was very similar to the #16, |
@evank Was the Coda a bad match with the Aric, or a bad match with your speakers? |
@evank Wondering about your impressions of the S5.5 in tandem with the Aric Super 6SN7. For me the CODA did not pair well with Schiit Freya+ 6SN7, but that is a cheaper preamp. For now I am using SS pre with mind and eyes open to another tube trial if persuasively recommended. |
Has anyone experienced a channel drop out when powering-on the amp? The other day when I turned it on, the blue lights came on as usual then the left light went out and the sound of static began to grow from the left speaker. I quickly powered it down. Waited a minute and started it again. Worked fine this time. |
@5560 I did replace the main fuses, there are actually 2 12 Amp fuses in the back, not one. I did notice a nice improvement in the sound. I really like the Acme Audio Labs fuses, they sound great and are much cheaper than the SR fuses I used to use. I actually think they sound better than the SR Orange fuses. They sell for $29 each and the company has great customer service, would highly recommend trying a couple and see what you think. |
I’ve experienced a lift sound quality by replacing factory fuses. There is a 12 amp fuse for main power supply, in the back of the S5.5. Four other fuses are on top of the circuit boards inside the amp. Replacing all five fuses would be prohibitively expensive. I’m wondering if anyone has replaced just the back fuse and experienced a bump up in sonics? Hopefully the four internal board fuses have less effect on sound. |
I also have an S5.5 and it doesn't matter which way you do it, but know that tracks that have specific right and left channel content will be reversed. Knowing that and then hearing it myself... I just couldn't do it. Those songs just don't sound correct any more, but I'm pretty OCD with that kind stuff. |
@evank Yes you will also need to switch input cables as well. I just ignore what it says on the back and put the left speaker cable and input cable on the left side and the right ones one the right side when looking at the amp from the front. When I asked Doug about this he said it was fine. |
@teajay do you have any insight into the S20 model other than it being an A/B design? Trying not to heat up my small listening space in pure class A. Thanks |
sim_audio_nerd55 posts Just got my Coda S5.5...havent taken it out yet..will do this weekend..
The manual online the speaker terminals seems to be opposite..the left channel terminals are on the right and same for the right channel.. Do I just ignore it? Put the left speaker cables to the left amp terminals and so on? minatophase330 posts @sim_audio_nerd Yes just ignore it. Put left speaker cables of left side when looking at the amp. I asked Doug about this and he said this is the way some older amps used to be labeled. Not sure why they did it that way only for the S5.5 but they did.
I called Doug today and he told me the same thing, but this can't be correct. The only way this would be right would be if you also switch the left and right input cables. If you use a test track it will show left channel on right and right channel on left. |
Maybe I’m naive, but this is the first time I’ve heard that the major mags require you to do paid advertising to get reviewed. Other than one manufacturer apparently suggesting this, is their other evidence confirming this is the case? It sounds like a pretty serious charge to be making or repeating without such evidencr. To be clear, I hold no brief for the major mags, but would just like to know if what is suggested in this thread is correct. |
I have been holding out purchasing electronics for my recently acquired Focal Sopra 3's. Have read a lot about the Coda value for the $. Am wondering if anyone has matched either of the more budget versions of Coda with Focal Sopra 3's. I"m considering the following: Coda S5.5 with a matched Coda preamp, or CSIB Hegel 590 600 Gryphon 120 |
@evank which preamp will you use?? |
Terry is indeed correct. I have the amp and it may be the best 6k Ive spent on solidstate. For context I had the 16 and I - in my room with my ears - feel like the S5.5 bests it in every way. Imaging rythym nuance and dynamic expression are out of this world. The only amp Ive personally owned that I feel was “better” by a slight margin was the luxman M10x. But only slightly and that’s a $20k amp. Bravo CODA. Instant classic. |
Totally agree, they are very, very bright. I just bought a pack of Black LED Light Dimming Stickers for less than five dollars and they work really well and don't really detract from the aesthetics of the 5.5. The pack comes with many sizes and shapes, so it's easy to find ones that fit nicely. Hope that helps. |
Well mine is for sale. It is a good amp, but for my ears the AGD Tempo and AtmaSphere D mono amps have a more transparent, dimensional, and liquid midrange with better control over the low frequencies and better rendering of textures. The S5.5 gets the nod in the high frequencies. This driving CS Caladans, Fyne F1-8s, KEF Reference 1, and Maggie LRS+. Not a negative comment, but given the glowing reports I was a bit disappointed. My 2¢, my 2 ears, and my 2 remaining brain cells. |
Hey Everybody, Just received three more Emails from Gon members who have bought the S5.5 in the last month or so who are enthralled with its performance, and appreciated the information on this thread and the Stereo Times review that lead to their purchase. So far I have not talked one listener that had even one negative comment on this amplifier. Teajay |
