Coda vs Parasound

Jc5 gets my vote!

I haven’t owned the JC5 but have owned the original Parasound A21 and a Coda No.8 V1. Owned both simultaneously. In my system the A21 sounds considerably more “effortless,” with better bass. However, the Coda was a little more resolving and refined. Ultimately I preferred and kept the A21. 

That said, I actually prefer my Yamaha A-S2100 to the Parasound. It digs even deeper in the bass and has better synergy with my Satori Helios speakers. 

Take a look into the guts and see if you like them. Take note of all the fuses the Parasound uses. Soooo many. Take a peek at Coda and you might find just one possibly two. Coda does not need to back up a back up of a back up to ensure something really bad doesn't happen.

Finally, even though both the Parasound Halo JC 5 and Bryston 3B have higher wattage ratings than the No. 8 amplifier at 4 ohms, neither have the iron-fist control of the bottom end frequencies or the explosive macro-dynamics of the Coda Continuum No. 8.

That’s a weird assertion because in a back-to-back A/B, even my lowly OG A21 had much better grip and bass extension than the No.8 in my system. Dynamic contrasts of the two were very close but the A21 took the lead there too. I did enjoy the No.8 for its refinement but even my Yamaha integrated at 100 WPC has better control over the bass. It was the same issue I encountered with the Ayre V-5XE. That isn’t to say the No.8 is bass-light per se, but it certainly isn’t what I expected from an amp that claims such an outlandish current capability. Certainly the Codas have better build quality, which I imagine might cause expectation bias in some listeners. 

I think most comparisons will reveal the preferred match for a given set of speakers and speaker cables.

I know. I have a amazing grasp of the obvious. 🙂