Your Opinion of Coda CSiB Integrated Amplifier?

glennewdick:  I appreciate your thoughts.... though they seem to run counter to what most have said on the web.  I am always amazed at the differences of perception among audiophiles.   I have heard Magico speakers a variety of times, and they have never struck me as all that natural or musical, though always sounding reasonable and clean.  As to what you bought after the Coda CSiB, that combination retails for at least $28,000.  I would surely expect a decidedly higher level of performance for a price increase of 3.5 times.  

Fastcat95,

True, I only got it as an intern amp. It was ok and well built. But the Moon North series for not much more money is a step up in performance, and a way better remote. 641 Integrated Amplifier | MOON - Simaudio  If you can stretch a bit (noting you can get 15-20% off list) this is what I would recommend over the Coda.

I don’t like to slam a company, but I feel there are better integrated amps for similar money out there. I had the V1 version if that matters. I like to have tubes in my system somewhere so taking that into account could be the reason I found it boring. I also did not find it sounded as powerful as you would expect from the specs. My 1969 vintage, fully rebuilt, Sansui 777a (30wpc) is more musically enjoyable, if not even close to as detailed. But has deeper bass which surprised me.

Agreed Magico’s can sound overly neutral, but they respond very well to what’s driving them.

After owning a SimAudio 600v1 many years ago and a 740P preamp for like 10 years, I don’t doubt that many folks will prefer the $11K 641 over the $8200 Coda, but price wise I think the difference is still pretty substantial.  Based on what I paid for a new Coda S5.5 amplifier you should have no problems matching the suggested MSRP discount on the SimAudio integrated, but more importantly you can pretty easily find used CSiBs in the $4500 range (based on audio shark).  I’m guessing it will be much harder to find a used 641 anywhere near that price...

Since our personal opinions are definitely subjective, you ultimately have to try yourself or at least line them up with folks whose system and likes/dislikes match your own.    For instance I know glennewdick’s tastes don’t match with mine as I sold my Magico S1 for Spendor D9s (which I still own and love) and I believe from his previous threads he owned D9.2s and hated them and now owns Magico; we all like what we like :)    I will say my 740P+Coda S5.5 makes a killer pair and the S5.5 for me I enjoy as much as the two previous Pass amps I used with the SimAudio preamp (XA250.8 & X30.8).   Based on reviews and dealer comments I’m guessing the S5.5 may sound different than the Coda No8 which seems to be the basis for the amp in the integrated.   Still for $4500 I’m thinking the CSiB offers good value, and extra so if you have hard to drive speakers that need lots of current.