Hey Joe M,
Thank you for your kind words regarding my posts on AudGon and my reviews as being helpful to you. Yes, please say hello to Doug and Aric for me.
Teajay
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Hey laginz,
To answer your question regarding how the S5,5 presents individual instruments and overall sound-staging:
1) On five different speakers the sound-stage was wide and deep an behind the front of the speakers. It also in my system offered excellent layering and exact positions of the players on the stage.
2) What I call image density or "meat on the bones" imaging was very well done. However, it was not at the expense of what you were describing of having the images thrust towards the front of the other instruments. The individual images stayed accurately placed in the sound-stage.
Teajay
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Hey vthokie83,
Congrats! Both on your vacation and your purchasing the S5,5 amp. Mike Kay is a very close friend of mine and his customers at Audio Archon love to do business with him because he's a straight up guy, carries great lines of equipment, and is very knowledgeable. Please let us know what you hear after you get your S5.5 in the near future.
Teajay
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Hey ddafoe,
I did a review on the Pass Labs X250.8, excellent amplifier, and the bass control on all the Coda amps, including the S5.5, is much better controlled/dynamic because of the loading of 100 amps of current based on their giant power supply sections.
Teajay
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sim__audio_nerd,
Congrats! You are in for a lot of musical pleasure.
I would not call the Coda amps as sensitive, but revealing to the quality of power cords and wires you run in your system. The footers that the S5.5 comes with are first rate. I have experimented with isolation devices and heard no differences compared to the standard Coda footers.
Teajay
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Hey paulietunes,
Your Pass Labs XA30.8 is a great amplifier. I would say the major differences between the XA30.8 and the S5.5 are, 1) The top end is more airy/extended/detailed on the S5.5 without being etched or bright in tone. 2) The S5.5 has a faster more alive sounding presentation then your Pass Labs. Both are great, but slightly different.
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Hey kairosman,
No your question is a fair and good one. I suggest you give a shout out to Doug Dale regarding why he did not change the name of the amplifier from S5.5 to S5.6.
Teajay
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Hey grk,
Forget the diagram. When I face the S5.5 head-on the left channel is on the left and the right channel is on the right, like every other amplifier I have in-house (five).
Teajay
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Hey fthompson251,
Besides the very satisfied owners who have already posted on this thread that they love their new S5.5, I have received another 3 Emails from other individuals raving about what this amp has added to the enjoyment of their systems. So please, when you get yours let us know what your experience. I believe you are in for quite the treat!
I hope to write the review on the S5.5 in the next two weeks. It will be a fun one to write because its such a great piece.
Teajay (Terry London)
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Hey everybody,
I have begun to write my review on the S5.5 for Stereo Times and will be including the comments of participants who have shared their experiences with the S5.5 on this thread. If anyone wants to add new information based on further listening/experience with the amp or new owners that have not posted yet, please do.
Thanks to all of you who have shared, Teajay (Terry London)
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Hey tuckia08,
Yes, I have tried it with several preamps (SS/tube) single ended or balanced with great success. The S5.5 passes on very clearly what "flavor" each line-stage is providing.
Regarding your question about the history of the current S5.5 I recommend that you contact Doug, I'm sure he would be more then happy to provide the details you are seeking, before I give information that might be incomplete.
Don't know what speakers you run, but so far I have tried four different pairs of speakers and the S5.5 makes all them shine with great dynamics and musicality.
Teajay
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Hey ozzy62,
The S5,5 weighs 45 pounds, if that is your question.
Teajay
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Hey curiousjim,
Yes, it has balanced inputs, I believe it retails for around $5,700.
Teajay
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Hey Kairosman,
Congrats you own a great amplifier. I do believe the S5.5 is pure class A, not a sliding bias design, It runs around 110 to 115 degrees, warm but not wickedly hot.
The S5.5 that is being built now has new parts and a redesigned front end. That's why I referred to it as "new". Totally agree that Coda is one of the finest American amplifier companies that build great pieces at very fair prices.
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Hey vinylvalet,
Congrats! I'm sure you will have great musical pleasure with the S5.5 driving your system. When you get it please let us know what you think.
Teajay
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Hey audioman58,
I have no idea what you are talking about. The inputs and speaker wire terminals are symmetrically laid out. The left channel is on the left side and the right channel is on the right side.
Teajay
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Hey gochurchgo,
I believe that the S5.5 has a better top end and slightly more midrange transparency/clarity then the #8. Unless you need the extra power of the #8 I would chose the S5.5. I have tried the S5.5 with different speakers and have had no problems reaching high dB levels without attenuation/distortion at all.
Teajay
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Hey speedthrills,
To be quite frank, Coda does not spend their money either to get reviews in the magazines (the payola is that you have to sign up for very expensive advertising for a period of time) and does not get rooms at great expensive at shows. They have been in business very successfully for close to 30 years because of the best endorsements of all, "word of mouth".
This is one reason, in my opinion, that Coda builds superlative preamps and amplifiers that compete with any solid state gear, regardless of price, for very reasonable prices compared to other companies. I have written reviews on Coda's FET 07x preamplifier, #8 amplifier, #16 amplifier, and will shortly be writing the review on the S5.5 amplifier for Stereo Times. All these pieces offer reference level performance and I purchased the FET 07x and #16 for my systems.
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Hey tuckia08,
Remember, for certain people not having meters would be a deal breaker! That's why the meters are an option. I ordered my #16 without meters, because I too I'm not attracted to them. The S5.5 does not have the meters, just a half inch attractive engraved faceplate.
I do not experience that the S5.5 sounds like its big brother #16. It has the virtues of the other Coda amplifiers and then adds on a sense of overall aliveness/transient speed and the best top end of any solid state amplifier I have heard in my system. It sounds different then either the #8 or #16, which are both great in their own right, and is turning out to possibly be my favorite of all the Coda amplifiers.
Of the list of amplifiers you mention in your post, which are the "cream of the crop" in solid state Class A amplifiers, I have heard them and still would argue that the S5.5 competes with them easily for far less money.
Teajay
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Hey vinylvalet,
Totally agree, most of the Coda pieces that owners are selling don't last to long before they are bought up. Secondly, most of the owners of Coda gear that I communicate with keep their pieces for long periods of time and then move up the Coda chain, instead of going to a different brand.
Just had my "golden ear" friend come over to hear the S5.5. He's really a tube based listener. Yet, he thought that the level of musicality, top-end air, and mid-range spatiality was rivaling his tube based system!
Teajay
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Hey vthokie83,
Congrats, on your AricAudio Motherlode XL preamplifier. I own the Motherlode MKII and its a great line-stage. If you do purchase the Coda S5.5, you will have a killer combo, indeed! I know because I have heard the combo in-house.
Any speaker you mention on your list would easily/effortlessly be driven by the S5.5.
Teajay
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Hey sim_audio_nerd,
I'm very familiar with your XA30.8 amplifier. Actually your amp and the XA-25 are my favorite amplifiers in the .8 generation of Pass Labs amplifiers.
I don't believe that the Coda S5.5 would be a lateral move for the following reasons. The S5.5 compared to your XA30.8 will have a more airy/open detailed top end, will present more easily heard micro-details because its noise floor is lower, will be overall more dynamic/faster, and have a more controlled/tighter bottom end. If these differences appeal to your sonic palette you would totally enjoy the S5.5. The XA30.8 is a great amplifier, and so is the S5.5, so which is better is based on your personal taste and how each amplifier matches up with the speakers in your system.
Teajay
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Hey hanki,
I would love to answer your question, but Coda only sent one S5.5 for review! What are you trying to power that would require a bridged pair of S5.5?
Teajay
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Hey hanki,
I don't know what your front end gear is, analog or digital, but you would get a very different perspective overall on the music if you went from the Luxman amp to the S5.5. You would unlash the potential of your S5's dynamics/aliveness, along with getting the most out of its great tweeter. The details, shimmer, sparkle would be beautiful with no edge or brightness. Also, the current loading of the S5.5 is vastly more powerful then the Luxman so the bottom end would have more control.
Teajay
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Hey,
To be quite honest I believe the AGD amps are good , but very over rated. A dear friend of mine with very good ears bought the hype about the AGD amps and sold off his Coda #8 to buy one. Very quickly he had great regret. As he said it to me my new AGD amp does everything right, but he never connected on an emotional level with the music and relax into it as he did with the Coda #8 amp. When I listened to the AGD amplifiers I don't find them unpleasant, but theirs still something missing compared to a great Class A amp with a big power supply, like the S5.5 and the other Coda amplifiers.
Teajay
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Hey riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook,
He had the Vivace MKII mono-blocks, which I heard in his system. I heard one of the single chassis models in my system that someone brought over to compare to my Coda #16 and SPL S1200. Don't remember the model number.
Teajay
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Hey riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook,
Very interesting. Your statement, "I can't put my finger on anything specific wrong with them, and yet...". My friend's way of trying to explain his discontent was that the music he loved sounded boring and he found it harder and harder to want to listen to his system.
If your major concern is the amount of heat generated by Class A amps, remember the S5.5 runs warm but not HOT like a Pass Labs XA-25 or XA-30.8. I leave the S5.5 with no problems all regarding being a "heater" in my room.
Teajay
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Hey sim_audio_nerd,
You are welcome. I have a great SET 2A3 and 300B tube amplifier, both two chassis AricAudio designs-one of my favorite tube companies, and of course you have to use the right speakers with flea SET amplifiers. However, when using the S5.5 on these same speakers, Omega single driver, the Coda does not take a back seat regarding beauty of timbres/tonality, image density, or sound-staging.
Teajay
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Hey Joe M,
First, thanks for the kind feedback regarding my reviews helping you purchase the Coda piece. I would go with using the preamp outs on your Coda CSiB V1 into the S5.5. Please tell Doug hello for me if you contact him regarding the S5.5. As you can tell, based on what has been shared on this thread, the S5.5 has become my favorite Coda amp. I believe the #8 and #16 are still great amplifiers, but this little beasty offers another level of fidelity/musicality to my ears.
Teajay
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Hey Joe M,
First, I think you will be quite pleased with what the S5.5 has to offer. Combined with the Motherlode preamplifier it will be sublime! Let us know what you think after you get both pieces.
Teajay
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Hey Guys,
One of my audiophile friends, George came over because he wanted to hear the S5.5 after reading this thread. He immediately noticed the special high frequencies. His description was, "so airy and detailed with great sparkle without sounding harsh or in your face". He loved the overall clarity and said, "the tonality was very true to nature" and the S5.5 added a "kick" to the system's overall aliveness and dynamics compared to his Pass Labs X-250.5.
Teajay
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Hey Jeff,
Have a great vacation. Congrats on purchasing your S5.5! I believe you are in for a real sonic treat. Isn't Mike great to do business with?
Yes, please get back with feedback after you get some time on the amplifier.
Teajay
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Hey grk,
You did not highjack the thread, just sharing information about other's opinions/experiences with D amplifiers. Yes, indeed Dr. Bump raved about the pair of AGD amps he had in for review. Yet, I have listened to AGD's Vivace MKII amps and at best thought they were competent, nothing special or extraordinary to my ears. Of course this boils down to personal taste and system matching. No right or wrong answer. However, I know at least three buyers of AGD amplifiers who regretted selling off their Class A amplifiers and did not get connected to the music with the D amplifier. Obviously, the Dr. Bump had a very different experience compared to his VAC amplifier.
Teajay
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Hey vthokie83,
Congrats! I truly believe you are in for a great sonic treat in the next couple of days. Please, let us know what you think when you get a take on the S5.5 in your system.
Teajay
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Hey Joe,
Wish I could answer your question about how much current the AGD amps drop into different loads. However, I have never seen that spec on any of their different amp models, As we both know Coda has some of the highest ratings of current loading on the market which contributes to their superlative performance and ability to drive virtually any speaker effortlessly.
Teajay
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Hey Guys,
Just got off the phone with John, who purchased the S5.5 last week and has spent a lot of time listening to it. He is extremely happy with the results compared to his reference tube amplifier. Overall a beautiful silky smooth presentation, airy extended high frequencies, deeper more controlled bass then his tube amp, a mid-range that he describes as very tube-like, and finally a sense of aliveness/energy that is quite exciting to him and his wife on their favorite music. I believe he uses a tube line-stage in his system to drive the S5.5.
Teajay
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Hey christianb5s4,
I recommend you give a call to Mike Kay (Audio Archon) who will give you the specs necessary for a tube based line-stage to optimally drive the S5.5 or the other Coda amplifiers.
Teajay
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Hey vthokie83,
Both the Backert Labs and AricAudio preamps are great pieces and Andy and Aric are first rate gentlemen. I have owned and reviewed preamps from both companies. The Backert Labs,using 12AU7 tubes, and AricAudio, using 6SN7 tubes offer a different presentation. The Backert Labs is lighting fast, quite detailed without being etchy, very transparent, and very pure in tonality. It reminds me very much of the Linear Tube Audio's David Berning sound. The Aric Audio offers those virtues, but because it uses 6SN7s its midrange is fuller and a bit more romantic. It really comes down to personal taste and system matching. I personally love the sound of1940's NOS 6SN7 TungSol black glass oval plates in my Motherlode preamplifier.
Because the S5.5 is so transparent you will hear the "flavor" you inject into the system using different preamplifiers or the tubes you select.
Teajay
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Hey vthokie83,
Please do share! I'm quite interested in what your experience/take will be on the Motherlode/S5.5 combo.
Teajay
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Hey Tim,
First, there should be no problem using the preamp RCA's output to drive the S5.5.
I'm quite familiar with Accuphase's overall presentation, which I'm a fan of, relatively warm/velvety with overall good tonal balance leading to a very musical experience. The Coda S5.5 is more silky, much faster, deeper/tighter bass frequencies, a much more airy extended top end, and it's overall dynamics are quite superior to what you get from your E-380. The S5.5 is never bright or analytical but offers accurate fidelity in both tonality and dynamics.
Hope this helps, Teajay
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Correct, no issues at driving your speakers, not with 100 amperes of current and 100 watts into 4 ohms. I have reviewed/owned the #8, great amplifier, like the S5.5 better for the reasons stated in this thread.
Teajay
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Hey fthompson251,
I'll be writing my review for the StereoTimes website in the next couple of months. I have two reviews to write before I do the S5.5 write up. As I stated at the beginning of this thread I was so impressed by the performance of the S5.5 I wanted to give the GON members a "heads up" on this amplifier. You can read my past reviews on the Coda #8 and #16 amplifiers, along with the 07X line-stage to get information on my experience with their gear. These pieces are superlative in their own right, but the S5.5 is turning out to be one of my favorite SS amps for the reasons stated on this thread. I have gotten feedback from three GON members who have recently purchased the S5.5 who are delighted with its performance in their systems.
Teajay (Terry London)
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Hey yowser,
This was addressed earlier in the thread. Coda did not change the name/generation of the S5.5. However, some recent important changes were made in the front-end and in using different power transistors. If you have questions regarding this just give a call to Doug who will answer any of your questions.
I'm waiting for you guys getting your S5.5 in the near future to share what you hear. So far, all the feedback in conversations and posts here confirm what I'm hearing in my system. The S5.5 is a great amplifier.
Teajay
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Hey jfrmusic,
My dear friend Mike Kay (Audio Archon) is a Harbeth dealer and finds the S5.5 drives them wonderfully. You are forgetting that it's no only the watts but the current loading that makes a great difference in driving speakers effortlessly.
The Pass Labs and Bryston amps pale in comparison to any of the Coda amps, including the S5.5, which can drop a 100 amps. This is almost double the current loading of either the Pass Labs or Bryston.
Teajay
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Hey Jeff,
I'm very interested in what happens going from the Luxman to the Coda S5.5 in your system. Both, excellent, but different. I predict that the S5.5 will bring a sense of aliveness/overall dynamics to your rig. Also, the clarity of micro-details across the board with a much more airy high-end. The Coda overall is silky smooth compared to the Luxman's overall velvety perspective.
Hey vthokie83,
I totally agree with you statement about Mike and Aric. Both are great people, take care of their customers, and are totally knowledgeable about what they either build or sell.
Teajay
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Hey Everybody,
This last night received another Email from a Gon member who had purchased the S5.5 after reading about it on this thread. He is totally enthralled with its performance. He had been using a P/P EL34 based amplifier and took a risk trying this solid state amplifier. As he said, "I got everything that I had with the tubes plus much better extension on the top and bottom, a lot more details and clarity, and, this surprised him the most, beautiful colors and a overall smooth/silky tonality.
I hope other members, including this one, will post their experiences with the S5.5 in their systems.
Teajay
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Hey aolmrd1241,
I agree that was a "one off anomaly". I own the 07x, reviewed it and made it a product of the decade for Stereo Times. It is one of the most quiet/transparent preamplifiers, which allows you to hear micro-details so easily without becoming analytical or edgy that I have ever had in my systems. Great piece.
My experience so far with the S5.5 being driven with either tube based or solid state preamplifiers is that the amp it self is very revealing of the preamp or source gear that is driving it. Therefore, you can "flavor" to your taste by experimenting with the upstream gear.
Please keep posting your experiences with the S5.5 as you get your piece, so far everyone agrees it's a superlative performer, drives all types of speakers effortlessly, and is a great bargain at its price. I'll use many of these quotes in my published review on Stereo Times in the near future.
Teajay
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Hey irave,
Sonus Faber itself recommends 100 to 500 watts, so I don't agree with these "people" regarding the excessive amount of power to drive optimally an Amati speaker. They also are 4ohms and about 90dB efficient, a rather easy load to drive. With what the S5.5 delivers regarding its current loading and class A 100 watts into 4ohms it could be a mighty combo regarding the sound quality it might produce. I'm not a fan of the McIntosh house sound, so I believe the Coda driving the Sonus Faber speaker would be more to my personal taste.
Teajay
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Hey firefly627s,
I have talked to Doug about this a couple weeks ago. The S5.5 doubles down into 100 watts class A into 4 ohms.
Teajay
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Hey Peter,
Great question. The answer is yes, the S5.5 drove a Devore 096, which I believe is a 16 ohm nominal load with a no difficulties at all. So I'm assuming it would do fine with your LS3/5 speakers.
Teajay
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