Parasound JC5, Pass X250.8, Coda No. 8 V2 Recommendation

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/coda-vs-parasound

I owned the Coda #8 v1 and I have heard the Pass amp at a friends house. The Coda is very good, but for my experience, the Pass was a bit more open and airy. Granted this experience was on two very different systems with the Pass being fronted by a tube preamp, and the Coda by solid state. Nonetheless it left an impression. One thing to keep in mind with the Pass, and the reason my friend sold it, it idles at 500 watts. The Coda runs relatively cool.

I don’t want to take anything away from the Coda, I loved that amp, and I recommend it. The highs are beautiful and have a sweet texture to them, I don’t think you would be disappointed. 
 

FWIW, I replaced the Coda with an Audionet AMP 1 v2, it is quite different from the Coda, but in comparison it was the better amp for my system. 

I just sold the demo No. 8 V2 I had in the shop. I ran it with a wide variety of speakers and electronics and it impressed the heck out of me. Extraordinary power yet runs just slightly warm to the touch. Very liquid presentation with extended natural highs and a glorious midrange. Robust build quality and a bulletproof design. One of my clients was so impressed he took it home to try on his Maggie’s. Called me the next day for my wire transfer info. It’s that good and doesn’t break the bank.

The Coda amp is extremely transparent and smooth- heard it briefly in a demo.  I owned the JC5 and next model down Pass labs amplifier.  The JC5 has a pronounced bottom end and is deeply powerful and dynamic but IMO at the expense of midrange.  The Pass labs amp was too colored euphonically in my system.  I wound up with the McIntosh MC312 which is absolutely perfect in my system.  

I had a JC5 for a few years. A good amp, but i also thought it lacked in midrange and back ground. I ended up going for the AGD Duet mono blocks. I ended up with more dynamic and fuller sound in my room. I could hear more of what i was missing when i had the JC5. After owning the AGD,s for nearly a year. I made up a set of power cables with furutech FP-TCS31 cable. After bedded them in for a few hundred hours the music {punk rock} got even clearer.