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The new Coda S5.5 amplifier: It's a "Petite Beast"!

I have in-house the New Coda Technologies S5.5 amplifier for review for Stereo Times website. It will be awhile before I write the review. However, I'm so impressed by the performance of this petite amplifier, it only weights 45 pounds, that I wanted to give a heads up to you GON members if you are in the market for a balanced pure class A amplifier, delivers 50 watts @ 8 Ohms, and can drop 100 Amperes of current on a peak!

The world class build quality of Coda amplifiers is on display with the S5.5, along with the most beautiful purity of tonality, precise sound-staging, complete liquidity offered by pure class A design, and what might be the best top end regarding details, decays, and a natural shimmering without brightness or any edge at all.

The S5.5 uses extremely wide bandwidth output transistors instead of the usual TO3 devices used in most transistor designs. I own the Coda #16, which is great, but the midrange/high end is taken to another level of musical enjoyment with the S5.5. The S5.5 has a sense of speed/aliveness that is exciting to listen to that you experience in live music. The amp is dynamic as hell, has driven with ease any speaker I have tried it with, hence my nickname of the "Petite Beast". Remember, 50 watts pure class A, can drop 100 amperes of current and only weights 45 pounds.

Teajay (Terry London)

johnah5
johnah5 OP
219 posts
 

Hey yowser,

This was addressed earlier in the thread. Coda did not change the name/generation of the S5.5. However, some recent important changes were made in the front-end and in using different power transistors. If you have questions regarding this just give a call to Doug who will answer any of your questions.

I'm waiting for you guys getting your S5.5 in the near future to share what you hear. So far, all the feedback in conversations and posts here confirm what I'm hearing in my system. The S5.5 is a great amplifier.

Teajay

jfrmusic
123 posts
 

Harbeth recommends a Minimum of 45 watts for my C7es-XD and states that 100 watts really needed to bring out the characteristics of the speaker and a also that even more power would yield improvement especially if in a damped room with carpeting, drapes and  furnishings. That describes my room. So I’m looking for at least 200 watts per channel. Bridging the 5.5s is attractive but as I expected CODA doesn’t recommend it. So my search will continue. Maybe the CODA 8 but then that’s a lot heavier. The Bryston line and the Pass Lab line are carried by my local dealer and he will deliver and set up for a small fee. Wish there was a local CODA dealer. 

vinylvalet
836 posts
 

Please audition Bryston in your stereo before you consider buying. Often in reviews, Coda is compared with Pass as both designers worked together years ago at Threshold. In most cases, the equivalent spec but much more expensive Pass (someone has to pay for all those full page color ads and other marketing) is close but not preferred over the Coda.

johnah5 OP
219 posts
 

Hey jfrmusic,

My dear friend Mike Kay (Audio Archon) is a Harbeth dealer and finds the S5.5 drives them wonderfully. You are forgetting that it's no only the watts but the current loading that makes a great difference in driving speakers effortlessly.

The Pass Labs and Bryston amps pale in comparison to any of the Coda amps, including the S5.5, which can drop a 100 amps. This is almost double the current loading of either the Pass Labs or Bryston.

Teajay

dodgealum
1,398 posts
 

As a former long time owner of Harbeth C-7s who tried a number of different tube and solid state amps I can assure you that they do like power. However, focusing solely on WPC misses the mark and a high quality amp like the Coda will deliver plenty of juice—I suspect the 5.5 will work very well with the C-7s.

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