Harbeth recommends a Minimum of 45 watts for my C7es-XD and states that 100 watts really needed to bring out the characteristics of the speaker and a also that even more power would yield improvement especially if in a damped room with carpeting, drapes and furnishings. That describes my room. So I’m looking for at least 200 watts per channel. Bridging the 5.5s is attractive but as I expected CODA doesn’t recommend it. So my search will continue. Maybe the CODA 8 but then that’s a lot heavier. The Bryston line and the Pass Lab line are carried by my local dealer and he will deliver and set up for a small fee. Wish there was a local CODA dealer.
The new Coda S5.5 amplifier: It's a "Petite Beast"!
I have in-house the New Coda Technologies S5.5 amplifier for review for Stereo Times website. It will be awhile before I write the review. However, I'm so impressed by the performance of this petite amplifier, it only weights 45 pounds, that I wanted to give a heads up to you GON members if you are in the market for a balanced pure class A amplifier, delivers 50 watts @ 8 Ohms, and can drop 100 Amperes of current on a peak!
The world class build quality of Coda amplifiers is on display with the S5.5, along with the most beautiful purity of tonality, precise sound-staging, complete liquidity offered by pure class A design, and what might be the best top end regarding details, decays, and a natural shimmering without brightness or any edge at all.
The S5.5 uses extremely wide bandwidth output transistors instead of the usual TO3 devices used in most transistor designs. I own the Coda #16, which is great, but the midrange/high end is taken to another level of musical enjoyment with the S5.5. The S5.5 has a sense of speed/aliveness that is exciting to listen to that you experience in live music. The amp is dynamic as hell, has driven with ease any speaker I have tried it with, hence my nickname of the "Petite Beast". Remember, 50 watts pure class A, can drop 100 amperes of current and only weights 45 pounds.
Teajay (Terry London)