Hey Mike,
I'm really glad that you are enjoying the 07x in your system. Last night I wrote my review for Stereo Times on the Coda 16.0 amplifier. Hopefully, it will be published in the near future. The reason I'm sharing this is the combo of the 07x & 16.0 is creating the best performance I have ever had in my system!
Doug and Eric, in this generation of Coda gear has really created something very special and their preamp/amplifier will compete with any equipment regardless of price. |
Just had a listener over who has a base line on my system's overall presentation, based on numerous times hearing it, and brought his own musical selections.
He immediately heard the improvement with the Coda 07x preamp in place of my reference tube based linestage. The lower noise floor you get with SS compared to tubes leading to more clarity and micro-details being more easily heard, along with greater overall dynamics, he expected. He was amazed, as I still am, at the purity and how pristine the timbres/tonality/color of the instruments were, which rivaled any tube based preamplifier he has ever heard. As he said, " we are not just talking about being grainless/dry, but a liquidity/flow I have never heard in a solid state preamp before".
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Sorry everybody, my friend's quote should have read,"we are not just talking about lacking grain or dryness, but a liquidity/flow I have never heard in a solid state preamp before". |
Hey Eric,
Really don't know what Coda piece you say you heard in the past. However, it is irrelevant to this thread. I know you like to be a gadfly on your threads, but please leave this thread alone. If you have no interest in Coda gear, that's cool, however, if you not heard their great new generations of amps/preamps, please restrain yourself. |
Hey Eric,
Nope, I'm not a dealer but a long time AudioGon member and a professional reviewer who likes to share information on great new gear that's reasonably priced for us music lovers.
I chose never to engage on your threads because it seems that you are always trying to start not a positive conversation, but some type of controversy, regardless of the topic.
So, I hope your last statement, "That is all" applies to this thread. |
Hey Al,
Thanks for your kind words regrading the information I share on these threads. You are extremely knowledgeable and have always enriched the forums here with your posts and comments.
I'll inform Doug Dale regarding the db gain number on the spec sheet. One of the great features of the 07x is that you can change the output gain to match the amplifier and to get to the 'sweet spot" on the volume control. I do know, based on a conversation with Doug, this excellent feature is not mentioned in the manual. |
Eric,
Another positive thread that was sharing information about an exciting new product and then you come along to try to hijack-it towards the negative.
To bad you could not just stick to "that is all" regarding this topic/thread and keep creating your numerous own threads on any topic you want to discuss. This is why many reviewers that I'm friendly with don't post on the forums because of the few individuals who make unpleasant remarks about them. Most, of course not all, GON members have given a lot of support and positive feedback regarding my motivation and intention to share information on products that offer killer performance at realistic sane prices. A few examples are Beckert Labs, Linear Tube Audio, Aric Audio, and Tekton Design. I have professionally reviewed these companies products and then shared on threads information about them with the members.
Coda is another company that designs and builds superlative electronics at extremely fair prices compared to the rest of the high-end market.
So, I'm sure you will deal with the "blow", can you just do it on your threads and not this one. |
Hey robertrs,
Thanks for sharing your experience withe the Coda 07x preamplifier. It's interesting that in your systems that you found very little difference between the Coda 07x and the Pass Labs XP-30 three box preamplifier. What a great compliment to the 07x, which costs $11,500 less then the XP-30.
I had the Xp-30 in-house and found it to be dramatically transparent, detailed, and dynamic, indeed. However compared to the 07x, which has all of the virtues mentioned regarding the Pass Labs preamp, it did not have the organic timbres/colors of instruments at the same level and individual instruments/images were not quite as 3D or holographic in the sound stage.
I still have more testing to do, in other systems and pieces of gear for the review I'll be writing, to figure out if what I'm hearing is because of my upstream gear, cables, amplifiers, regarding the beautiful timbres and colors, along with tube like imaging/space is being supplied by my digital front end or a synergy with my amplifiers or both.
Robertrs, would you be kind enough to share what is your digital front end in your systems, and what type of cables do you run in these systems.
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By the way,
If anyone is interested in auditioning the Coda 07x preamplifier in the Chicago land area just contact Mike Kay of Audio Archon, who is a Coda retailer, or send me an Email if you would want to hear it in my system. |
Great questions soundhound,
The Coda No. 8 is not in-house at the present time. I'll be getting it back to run that experiment in the next few weeks. I'm also waiting for Coda's new more upscale single chassis amplifier for review, so it to will be matched with the 07x preamp. I'll bet both Coda pieces will be great together.
I run Black Cat Coppertone wires throughout my system. However, I'm beta testing some silver IC's & speaker wires for a company that are quite good. I hear the difference between the wires when I insert them into the chain. So, the system, using the 07x, is very sensitive to the changes made in the wires.
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It's going to be the latest generation, based on the improvements regarding what was discovered in the No. 8, and I believe it will weigh close to hundred pounds with an unbelievable power supply. It will be pure class A or very highly biased into class A.
It will retail for around $14'000. |
Hey audiozen,
I have heard both Spectral preamps and believe that the 07x out performs them. The longer I have the 07X , in-house for a professional review in the near future, it is becoming apparent to my ears that this Coda preamp belongs in the very special category of "the best of the best". And this is coming from a listener who is inclined to only use tube based linestages. How the 07x does color and space out does my reference tube preamplifier.
I'm waiting for the new 16.0 amplifier so I can review both as a combo. |
Hey audiozen,
I don't do videos on Youtube, you will just have to come to my home to hear for yourself! The 07x is a single/safe gain design. |
Hey Doug,
No, the 07x that I have in for review is the latest generation and has not been out until recently. |
Hey Doug,
Why don't you call Doug Dale, tell him I say hello, and ask him the information you are seeking. |
Hey Doug,
See if this helps. For almost all the recordings I listen to the range on the digital read out is at least 67 to 84. To get to the "sweet spot" in my system the volume falls somewhere in this range. Therefore I never run out of volume to get to the ultimate dB levels that I would want to listen at.
So, yes this is normal for the 07X and quite OK. |
Just got through with bringing the 07x preamplifier to another high-end music listener's house who wanted to try it in his system compared to his highly regarded tube based line-stage. His response was a very big WOW! Not only did it produce more natural colors and tonality then his tube based preamp had in the system, it also was superior in 3D imaging, space between these images, and took the whole system to another level with macro-dynamics and bass extension and control.
I think he might be selling off his present preamp to order the 07x linestage. |
Hey Brother Bob,
Let's just say it was 6SN7 based and from a famous English company. |
Hey Jafox,
When I write my review for Stereo Times on the 07x linestage, I'll share what specific preamps I compared it to, to come to the conclusion of why it is a benchmark compared to the other pieces. I have had scores of some of the most highly regarded SS and tubed based preamplifiers over the years in my system. So, I'm in a good position to come to a sane conclusion about how high the Coda fits into the patheon of great linestages. |
The Stereo Times website list of "MOST WANTED COMPONENTS OF THE DECADE" just went up this morning. I placed the 07x on this list and hopefully my full review will be done by the end of this month. It deserves to be on this list! |
Hey Gentlemen,
The full review on the 07x has just gone up on Stereo Times website. If you read it I hope you enjoy it and it provides more details on the superlative performance of this piece. |
Since the review on the 07x went up on Stereo Times I have received numerous Emails regarding how and where to audition the preamplifier. If you live in the Chicago land area you have two choices. You are more then welcomed to come to my home or hear it at Audio Archon (Mike Kay) who is a Coda dealer. We both live about a hour from downtown Chicago. If you live in an area that does not have a Coda retailer, just give Doug Dale a call and he will arrange to get you one for audition. |
Hey Doug,
No, there is no on/off switch on the back of the 07x. That was a mistake on my part. |
Hey fruitloopsr,
I use a full loom of Black Cat Coppertone cables with the Coda gear. It sounds great and is unbelievable inexpensive compared to what I used to use in my systems. Besides the 07x, I put on the Stereo Times "Most wanted components of the decade list" these cables, so take a look for a few more details why they made the list. |
