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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
erik_squires
17,558 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
8,034 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
1,396 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

 

 

wswright20
86 posts
 

I have Focals and agree the setup is important to realize the benefits without being fatiguing.  I didn’t audition Coda but I actually moved from Mc to Luxman monos to improve detail/clarity without the harshness I found with several other comparably priced SS amps.  Coda is certainly a great quality product.  Before considering a change I would offer a couple of suggestions.  

1) First refections are always important but especially with Focals.

2) I don’t have experiece with Audience speaker cables but consider Cardas Clear Reflections.  Typically a great fit with Focals.

3) Same comment on pc’s and interconnects.  Clear Reflections may be better fit than Cardas Clear for example.  (Also lower price option, sacrilege I know!)

4) I would not consider positioning speakers way off axis a good fix.

5) I found material benefits from speaker isolation, in my case Townshend Platforms. 

Hope some of this may help, good luck...

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