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GREAT NEWS! The Coda Technology new #16 amplifier will arrive this week

I was just informed that Coda's brand new model #16, which is based on the latest generation of improvements used in the #8, will be arriving later this week for review for The Stereo Times website.  Since the reviews I have done on the #8 amplifier and the 07x preamplifier, I have received numerous inquires when I'll get this piece in for review.

This beast of an amplifier, over hundred pounds with one of the largest power supplies in a single chassis design on the market, delivers 100 Class A before it crosses over into A/B. The Coda #8, is in my opinion, one of the best SS amps on the market for under ten grand.  I expect, based on the run Coda is on with their new generation of gear, that the #16 will be a beautiful musical performer.  We shall see! I still find it amazing based on build quality/performance that Coda's prices are so damn reasonable.  Yes, the #16 will retail for around 12K, not inexpensive.  However, I guarantee if this amplifier was manufactured by other high-end American or European companies it would be triple the price. If the #16 takes the already superlative performance of the #8 to another level, it will be truly a "killer" of an amplifier. 




teajay
lancelock
1,094 posts
 
@oem-wheels 

yes, my bank account and my back has suffered but my ears are in heaven.
lancelock
1,094 posts
 

I forgot to mention that the separation of instruments in this dense sound stage is uncanny.


smodtactical
979 posts
 
@lancelock What other amps have you heard (besides coda) that you can compare the #16 to ?
lancelock
1,094 posts
 
@smodtactical,

I have not owned as many SS amps as I have tube amps. The closest I’ve had to the Coda is the Plinius SA125 and a Mirror Image Audio 1.1 SB. The MI amp is about 30 years old and is better than the Plinius overall but can’t match the Coda #16 although the MI is still an amazing amp. You rarely see them pop up used but they are a bargain when you do. I also had a Van Alstine FET 400R but it wasn’t in the same league.

The more I listen to #16 the more I feel like I’m listening to a tube amp. It is so very smooth. I try to find a weakness, grain, harshness or brightness but I cannot hear any such flaw. It has tremendous dynamics, speed and bass slam. I know how cliche it sounds but I can hear sound, instruments in the back ground that I haven’t heard before.


teajay OP
1,694 posts
 
Hey Lance,

So glad to hear that your "sore back" was worth it because of how much you are enjoying the #16! The #16 is completely grainless with an overall liquidity, is the quietest SS amp I have ever had in for review (that's way you are hearing micro-details you never heard before), and delivers timbres/tonality like a tube amplifier. It reminds me very much of the finest SET 211 amps I have had in-house with it's speed and purity of tonality, yet it also has unbelievable bottom end slam/control because of its massive power supply.




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