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

Showing 2 responses by soix

soix
10,509 posts
 

But the Coda is not a bright sounding amp and your speakers are, so IMO you’re now just hearing more of your speaker’s inherent characteristics (along with several of the other significant benefits the Coda is providing) after swapping out the more colored/veiled Mac amp and hence why you’re now hearing more clarity and openness.  How you choose to tame their brightness be it through amp, pre, etc. is obviously up to you, but I would not blame the Coda here. 

soix
10,509 posts
 

Given the rest of your system it really looks like it’s a characteristic of the speakers you’re hearing (obviously along with the inherent quality of the recordings).  If I was you the first thing I’d try is a Stack Audio SmoothLan filter given it’s simplicity, low  cost, return policy, and that many here have found it to remove some edge/glare from their digital signal.  Next I’d do a trial of a Snake River power cable to the Backert.  But frankly I think it’s mainly the speakers (and recordings) you’re hearing and as such are now having to jump through hoops to accommodate them.  Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck.

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