@speedthrills I can answer this question. I live 15 minutes away from the Coda office in Sacramento and have spoken to Doug Dale a few times in his office and asked this very question to him. Ever heard the expression PAY TO PLAY? The big Audiophile magazines need money from advertisers because they make nothing from subscriptions. IMHO, they prioritize reviews based on the companies who pay them the most money. With my conversation with Doug he said Coda was approached by one of these magazines a number of years ago and it was made very clear to them that money would need to change hands for advertising for reviews to happen.
This would be very difficult for a small boutique company to do. As far as I know Coda only has 4 employees. Doug Dale, the two younger guys who assemble the amps and their engineer who does the designs. All of their products are made in their small office. It’s really unfortunate but when reading these magazines you have to remember their RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS are just from things they have actually reviewed and doesn’t mean they are the best. Also like @arafiq says they are comfortable with the amount of business they do now. Much of their current business is from overseas.