Benchmark ABH2 compared to Merrill Element Series and other ultra high end amps

I did own an AHB2 and yes, it’s very quiet, distortion free. I was happy and then a friend brought over his 30 year old Mirror Image Audio amp a to try out. This amp made the AHB2 sound thin and lifeless in comparison. I now have a Coda #8 and It is even better. The AHB2 just doesn’t have enough meat on the bones for me.

I am now using a recently manufactured Coda 15.5 which has the newer low noise input devices.  My perception of a single AHB2 on the CLX are as above  and consistent with lancelock's observations.   The Coda 15.5 is an excellent class A amp and is able to drive the CLX's well with tonal density, dynamics, bass response and excellent detail provided the upstream components including cables can provide such.  My overall impression is that the Coda is more satisfying than a single AHB2, but that the AHB2 may have a small edge in very low level detail retrieval.  In audio, we would like to have it all.

I should add that this small edge was only seen when using an LA4 preamp with the AHB2 input in the lowest gain setting.

@soundhound

I failed to mention that I’ve had the Coda #8 for about 2 weeks and I’m sending it back.  I will be exchanging it for it’s big brother the Coda #16.  I loved the #8 so much that I’m now going straight to the flagship amp as my end game.

I am sure that you will really enjoy the No. 16.  The differences between  the most 15.5's and the new 16 are the inclusion of newer low noise input transistors and an increase in the capacitance in the power supply from 200,000 microfarads in the 15.5 to 280,000 in the 16. I am fortunate to have a 15.5 which has the same lower noise input transistors used in the 16 but I am sure that the augmentation of the power supply will translate to improved performance.  Congratulations.