Dennis, obviously I don't know the technical design details of either the Esoteric OR the Coda, but my 'audio intuition' tells me something will be compromised; and I think I may have now infected you with that notion! Which is OK, because it leads to deeper thinking. Such as . . . .
. . . . after reading your post, I suddenly had this realization that we'd been talking about an older model preamp!! I know money is (always) an issue, but since you're having compatibility troubles with that earlier unit, perhaps you should simply sell it, and ask Roger if he could give you some consideration on the purchase of his latest. I know for sure he'd send you one to compare directly with the Coda, so what could be better!? My 'audio intuition' further suggests the latest model very likely will NOT present any of these matching problems. In fact, it will probably perform as well, if not better than, your 'direct connection' solution. And you can't sneeze at a lifetime transferable warranty (just remember Roger's new company is a one man operation! ;--)
And thanks for the kind complement! By the way, my Wadia T-2000 transport was Wadia's first transport (ca.1990 @ $7500!) and is in fact an Esoteric (TEAC) w/ a separate power supply and the updated TEAC heavy-duty VRDS disc-clamping mechanism! It still works like a charm after 20 years, although I now have a (relatively recent) Wadia 27 DAC.
The one outrageous update ($950 and worth every penny it turned out -- thank God!) to which I treated myself a couple/three years ago was the purchase of one of Tommy Dzurak's tuned aperature, glass fiber AT&T interconnects [url]http://www.auralsymphonics.com/optimism.html[/url] I was blown away, but told no one (because I was just too embarrassed about the price!) and I started getting the same comment over and over: "You have the most analog--sounding digital I've ever heard. What is it!?"
. . . . after reading your post, I suddenly had this realization that we'd been talking about an older model preamp!! I know money is (always) an issue, but since you're having compatibility troubles with that earlier unit, perhaps you should simply sell it, and ask Roger if he could give you some consideration on the purchase of his latest. I know for sure he'd send you one to compare directly with the Coda, so what could be better!? My 'audio intuition' further suggests the latest model very likely will NOT present any of these matching problems. In fact, it will probably perform as well, if not better than, your 'direct connection' solution. And you can't sneeze at a lifetime transferable warranty (just remember Roger's new company is a one man operation! ;--)
And thanks for the kind complement! By the way, my Wadia T-2000 transport was Wadia's first transport (ca.1990 @ $7500!) and is in fact an Esoteric (TEAC) w/ a separate power supply and the updated TEAC heavy-duty VRDS disc-clamping mechanism! It still works like a charm after 20 years, although I now have a (relatively recent) Wadia 27 DAC.
The one outrageous update ($950 and worth every penny it turned out -- thank God!) to which I treated myself a couple/three years ago was the purchase of one of Tommy Dzurak's tuned aperature, glass fiber AT&T interconnects [url]http://www.auralsymphonics.com/optimism.html[/url] I was blown away, but told no one (because I was just too embarrassed about the price!) and I started getting the same comment over and over: "You have the most analog--sounding digital I've ever heard. What is it!?"