hi charlie,
sorry for the late response. i still like the 07x very much; i'm now used to the remote and find it satisfactory. i'm still hoping to get my melos back, so i can do a comparison; i was told dec/jan; but haven't heard anything since.
wturkey, you may want to find out the mfr date on your 07x; it's my understanding that a not insignificant change was done not too long ago, but there's no model change - older iterations are still called 07x. i also understand that it's not all that expensive to have on older iteration updated. and, you should be able to program your remote as well, since the 07x comes from the factory with a universal mx-450 remote. you may want to contact doug dale from coda. and, since the mx-450 is a universal remote anyway, maybe you shouldn't be so worried about it taking a beating?
doug s. |
davkobza - well since terry hasn't chimed in, i have it on 2nd hand info that, much as he liked the lta, he liked the coda even more. but i'm sure we're dealing with hair-splitting here.
ymmv,
doug s. |
lrm1jaf - you queried terry about how the coda compares to the microzotl preamplifier. earlier he stated:
"...The longer I have the 07X , in-house for a professional review in the near future, it is becoming apparent to my ears that this Coda preamp belongs in the very special category of "the best of the best". And this is coming from a listener who is inclined to only use tube based linestages. How the 07x does color and space out does my reference tube preamplifier..."
i believe it's the microzotl he's talking about... looks like i have just added another pre to my shortlist for audition. i never thought i'd want to be trying a s/s preamp... doug s. |
terry, here's a question for you - i've seen expired ads for used 07x's dating back to december of 2015 - has this model been out that long?
kindest regards,
doug s. |
hi terry,
so, coda hasn't changed the model number? a 4 year old 07x is different from a new 07x? any idea how to figure out from which serial number onwards, is the latest generation? ask the mfr?
i know other mfr's - linn for example - have made changes to their electronics, w/o changing the model number.
thanks again,
doug |
hi terry,
i *did* converse w/doug d., and mentioned you. ;~) something might be brewing. tho my bias (no pun intended!) still makes me find it hard to believe a solid state pre could provide more air and better staging than a tubed pre. we'll see what happens, and i'll keep you posted.
thanks!
doug s. |
rlovendale - i'm w/you on this one. u-tube is anything but hi-fi. i've been a died in the wool tube guy, especially considering preamps, for ~20 years. fate has conspired, tho, to have me awaiting delivery of a latest-edition-spec coda 07x. a perfect storm, as it were - repair issues w/my beloved 20 year standby, and a decent deal on this unit, where other tubed units would be above my budget. yes, i'm a bit wary, even tho i respect terry and his opinions. and i've heard from an acquaintance of terry's who says that, if anything, terry has understated the sonic abilities of the 07x. but i still have this bias: it's not tubes, so it's gonna be lacking in what terry describes as "pristine timbres-tonality-color/holographic imaging/three-dimensional sound-staging with a sense of air around the individual instruments". my personal tube preamp reference has all that, as well as the "transparency, clarity/low frequency extension-control/micro-details/speed-dynamics" of s/s preamps. so, i'll soon see where this shakes out. holly hippodaze, doug s. |
slamitie, what preamp(s) has this one replaced?
my prior preamp, (which i am still hoping to get back with its gremlins taken care of), is a much modded melos ma333r.
doug s. |
thanks, slamitie. i've heard that the pass preamps are not nearly as nice as their amps. no first-hand knowledge...
doug s. |
hi slamitie,
i should be receiving this next week. looking forward! ;~)
meanwhile, i'd love to hear your comments about yours, other than the fact that you couldn't be happier... ;~)
doug s. |
hi all, (and especially those with any 1st hand experience w/the 07x),
the preamp arrived; i got it into my system last night; unfortunately i was unable to do much listening, but the initial sonic impressions are positive.
i have a question about the gain, though. with my typically louder sources, like my internet tuner and my analog fm tuner, with the 07x’s volume set to ~60, the sound is audible, but quiet. at 75, it’s listenable, but not very loud. and my phono exhibits pretty-much the same, with its gain increased the max 18db, per the 07x’s level-matching for each source.
is this normal for this preamp? i’m used to ~50% volume being very loud on all sources, except phono, where ~60-70% volume is very loud. i did notice that, from the tape (processor) out, feeding a 2nd preamp in another room, the volume there is pretty-much the same as always; perhaps a little bit less loud, but not much.
thanks,
doug s. |
thanks, terry. this is as i'm experiencing; just wanted to make sure it's normal.
doug s. |
jafox, if you are a perceptive reader, you should be able to figure out which tube preamp was tj's prior "reference". i suspect it's still nothing to be sneezed at. ;~) and i still was considering it, even after this review; it was only because i was able to get a great deal on a b-stock 07x that made it more affordable than the tuber, that swayed me to get the coda. if i could have gotten a similar deal on the other unit, i likely would have gotten it instead.
i'm presently putting my new 07x thru its paces, and yes, it's special. as it's been at least 6 months since my seriously hot-rodded melos ma333r has been in the house, i cannot make a direct comparison there; if i ever get it back, that may happen. but suffice to say, this died-in-the-wool tube preamp aficionado is happy w/the sound of this.
i confess i'd prefer a dedicated remote, as the generic remote, while performing all the major tasks adequately, requires you to change screens for the different functions. but honestly, this is a minor quibble, and i suspect a dedicated remote would increase the cost of the unit substantially, for a small mfr like coda. and honestly, how often do you switch sources, w/o going up to your equipment rack anyway? my melos only had remote volume/balance as it is...
doug s. |
hi
smodtactical,
mark porzilli and his partner have been threatening to return my melos any day now - for about the past 6 weeks. ;~) i am hoping to do a comparison if/when i ever get it back. meanwhile, the 07x is getting the job done - it does sound lovely.
wturkey - i'm surprised to hear that coda aren't modding the earlier 07x's; it's my understanding that it's not a difficult mod. maybe they're too busy? maybe they believe it negatively affects sales of the new model? i'd query them again, about when they might be willing to offer it, and/or if there's another tech that can offer it.
doug s. |
hi terry,
your review sample has an on/off switch on the back? 😉
thanks,
doug s. |
|
riley - in fairness, it's sometimes easire to get a comparison, if one's available, than to "try it yourself". (have you gotten one; i know you've been considering it.)
onesign - a reason you may not be getting any replies, besides the fact that no one may know, is perhaps because no one knows for sure what preamp you are talking about? "pre 3"? what is that? afaik, audio research made an sp-3, a reference 3, and an ls3.
doug s. |
onesign, my apologies - i see you called out your specific preamp in your last post - the ref 3. it's been around a long time and it has gotten superb reviews. perhaps terry has heard it...
doug s. |
i'm in agreement w/rlovendale - doug dale has always been up-front w/me in my dealings w/him.
doug s. |
|
davkobza - my 07x doesn't even run warm, let alone hot.
doug s. |
lancelock - i've heard that even w/the $1300 cap/x-former/gain (level-2) upgrade, the 07x still betters it.
doug s. |
|
hi all! re: bleed issue: sorry for late comment about this, but i got no notifications of new posts to this thread. anyway, i noticed an issue w/my 07x, which only occurred when switching from balanced 2 to balanced 1. sometimes i'd get no sound, sometimes i'd get both 2 & 1 playing, sometimes 1 would play at a muted level. (and going from 1 to 2 also worked perfectly) so, when i spoke with doug dale about it, he said it sounded like a relay issue, and i'd have to send it in, as it wasn't a socketed part that could be swapped out. well, i was in no rush; i wanted it fixed, but it wasn't a deal breaker, since going from aux or disc to balanced 1 worked perfectly. and i was waiting to get my melos ma333r back from mark porzilli, so i wanted to wait until that happened, so i'd still have a great preamp in my system. well, mark porzilli is now either (a): no longer mentally competent and/or capable of proper documentation, or (b): an asshole. i suspect it's a mix. it took me a year of back-n-forth emails to get him to finally agree he was responsible for repairing the unit under warranty, (suffering the nasty abuse of him saying i was accusing him of sending out something that wasn't tested, {which it WASN'T}; and accusing me of trying to rip him off for a freebie repair, until i documented events via emails). then, after i sent it out, it took him 25 months to finally return the preamp. and to add insult to injury, instead of doing the proper repair to the balance pot and the special tube volume pot that was installed almost 20 years ago for $500, he just ripped everything out and installed a $15 cheap chinese sourced alps pot. it's too bad; the preamp still sounds great, even w/the cheap alps pot, but it sounded better before i sent it back to him for repair. (i'd originally paid $1k for a circuitry mod, which sounded great, but the remote & balance/volume controls weren't working properly when i got it back.) i will likely replace the cheap chinese alps pot with a tortuga ldr pot, a relatively easy conversion, before i can really decide which preamp to keep. (sorry for the diversion, i was less than pleased and just had to vent. mark was always cool in my dealings w/him prior; he's definitely got a screw loose somewhere, now. or maybe he just gets nasty, if he's made a mistake; some people are like that.) after all that, the melos still sounds great & i know it will sound even better w/a tortuga ldr volume/balance pot. the fact that i'm still considering keeping the coda, being a bona fide tubehead, speaks for how excellent *it* is. i thought i'd *never* have a s/s preamp in my main system. anyway, now, w/the melos back in the system, it was the time to contact doug dale and reschedule having the 07x sent out to him to fix the relay. sometimes, it's good to wait - when i contacted
doug
initially, he thought a relay that was soldered to the board was bad; he now said that coda received a bad run of another chip that's socketed, and that it's been misbehaving in some amps as well as preamps, similar to the problems i was having, so it's most likely that chip and not the relay. so, he agreed to mail me the chip as it's not a difficult diy, as long as you're careful aligning the 16-pin chip w/the sockets. worse case, it's something else, (which i now doubt), and i'll have to send it off anyway. i haven't yet put the 07x back into the system, (switching out preamps in my system is a b**ch), but i powered it up and everything works, regarding the switching, anyway. when the 2-to-1 switching problem 1st occurred, the
2-to-1 switching clicked much quieter than any other source selection changes, and i'd initially thought that was indicative of the bleeding/muted sound/no sound problem, so when i installed the new chip, and 2-to-1 switching still clicked much quieter than the source selection changes, i was concerned the problem may still exist. so i called doug about the differing sound of the relays clicking; he said it was mere coincidence that the 2-to-1 click was quieter than the others, and not related to the problem. the preamp's circuitry is such that balance 1 comes on when the unit is turned on, so going from 2-to-1 engages one less relay than any other source selection change, making a quieter click than the others. while not 100% certain the issue is fixed until i try it connected in my system, doug is convinced the chip i replaced was bad, because of my getting either no sound, muted sound, or bleed-thru when going from 2-to-1. he said that issue is directly attributable to what this chip should be doing - especially the bleed-thru. so, all you owners with bleeding 07x's may want to contact doug at coda and tell him you need a new 4094 chip. and hearing about others w/this problem, and only occurring w/the balance inputs, i'm confident it's the issue, and a good 4094 will fix it.
and it's nice not to have to deal with sending the unit out for repair. i will follow up when mine is back in my system. if you look at this pic, the chip that needs replacing is at the far left/center, to the left of the 'coda' logo; above and perpendicular to the much larger chip. https://www.linearsystems.com/lsdata/images/Coda-012216-p-021.jpgdoug s. ps - if customer service is a priority, coda's doug dale is great! he was ready to send me out a call tag to send the unit back to him, before he sent out the chip. |
an update to my "bleed-thru" issue. it seems that my issue is more serious. as sometimes, i’m getting balance-2 still playing fully, when i switch from balance-2 to balance-1.
after speaking with doug dale, i packed it up and sent it off. it very well could be a relay, in my case, after all. but doug did say the bleed-thru i’ve read about here is most likely not this issue, but a simple situation of one or both of the sources being hot, w/a lot of gain. in that case, you could change the source layout to your inputs, or, as folks have indicated, just turn off the source that’s bleeding thru. it seems my issue is something else.
doug s. |
yyzsantabarbarai don’t think normal bleed-thru is an issue that would warrant selling the preamp. simply turn off the source that’s bleeding thru. regarding other uses of the preamp, the only thing i really use via the remote is the volume, so i really an not all that concerned about the other features... |
