1. Home
  2. amps-preamps
  3. 195763-184892

Focal Kanta 2 and CODA 16 amp

Hello All,
My audio system was sounding really good but I felt the need to go further and recently upgraded a McIntosh MC152 amp to a Coda 16. What was missing? A certain bit of clarity, the ability to place instruments in the soundstage, and an amp that is consistent in quality with the rest of my equipment.

McIntosh is one of the amplifiers that pairs well with my Focal Kanta 2s. I thought about a more powerful McIntosh but didn’t go there, heard a Luxman M900u in a dealer’s showroom that was OK, but a demo of the Coda turned my head. The Coda is an eye-opener in the clarity and power it brings to the system, but it has thrown the balance off. I am now struggling to overcome some brightness with certain music (not all), a slight edge that I had previously managed to defeat by changing cables, rolling tubes in my preamp and adding the Mac.

My listening space is not ideal and can use acoustic treatment to tame the highs, but things sounded pretty good before. The focus and bulk of time (say 85%) is with home theatre, but when I play two channel, I want it to be high quality. An obvious path is to correct my mistake, sell the Coda and look elsewhere.  Another alternative is to keep this excellent amp and get a different (warmer?) preamp to better match the Coda (must have HT bypass and XLR connections), or perhaps something like a MiniDSP with Dirac to tweak the sound. I'm even contemplating warmer speakers to replace the Kantas, but that means three speakers (L/C/R) for home theatre.

I appreciate any words of wisdom or solace from Kanta and/or Coda owners on a strategy to manage this issue. Thanks,
Robert

traubr
traubr OP
90 posts
 

When I placed the speakers initially with no height adjustments, the tweeters were pointed directly at my head.  Break-in helped considerably, but adding the footers and aiming the fronts high got the tweeters pointing over my head, which was better.  It's easy enough to go through height adjustments again to check results.

After the Meitner upgrade to 3i, I tried streaming directly to the preamp but I felt the combo of Aurender N200 plus Meitner was better than Meitner alone.  I did not try using Meitner as preamp and bypassing Backert, certainly interested to see what impact that has.

I consulted with Backert and Andy suggested trying a different tube, which I just ordered.  He's sending me a pair of interconnects he's had success with to calm sharpness, will also give that a whirl.  Then, of course, replacing the Coda or the speakers is always an option, albeit a costly one (especially the latter).  Not there yet.

Thanks for the feedback,

Robert

erik_squires
17,559 posts
 

Focals dint do well pointed at your head.  Start with no toe i an increase slightly until center fills in.  if it won't,  they are too far apart

sls883
1,062 posts
 

I've tried a number of different tubes in my preamps.  I'm doing some tube swapping this evening.  There are definitely tubes that are less bright. 

Same is true of some of my interconnects. It's worth a shot. 

I'm pretty confident that the Coda isn't the issue. What amp would you get that has a mellow top end?  That's not the approach that I would take. 

 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
8,041 posts
 

I really dig Meitner direct using its preamp section. I set the input on my Boulder 866 integrated to a theather mode and just use meitner volume control. 
For me the streaming using Meitner in-built network card sounded a bit more lively than using the N200. Difference was negligible and I felt that the N200 isn’t adding any value so I sold it. Got a good Ethernet cable and it’s smooth as butter when streaming. 

knotscott's avatar
knotscott
1,397 posts
 

I’m not a Kanta 2 owner, but have chased some brightness out of my system.  If the amp was new, any chance that the treble will smooth out with more hours on it?  

Other options to try (some mentioned):

  • preamp tube rolling  (Mullard CV4004 worked well for me)
  • cable/speaker wire change (copper replaced silver)
  • felt trim rings around the tweeters (cheap, easy, effective, and reversible)
  • I replaced cheap connectors with pure copper and that helped too

 

 

More to discover