The new Coda S5.5 amplifier: It's a "Petite Beast"!

@firefly627s Specs do matter to me. I spoke to Doug about getting the S5.5 for my Yamaha NS5000 and he said it may work since it is a 6 Ohm speaker. 

I told him the 100-watt Benchmark AHB2 does work with it to some OK volume level. However, the amp is almost at 90% volume, and it seems to be pushing it.

On my Sanders Magtech amp, the sound was bigger and louder. That amp is 500 | 900 @ 8 | 4. On my CODA #16 it was similar to the Sanders with some sonic differences that I cannot remember now, essentially a Class AB vs A thing.

After those comments Doug said the S5.5 would not be a good choice for me. That is how we eventually ended up with the topic of the new CODA SYSTEM 150 coming out next month.

I may have a buyer for my Sanders amp and the AHB2 may also go. I will use 2 CODA amps on my 2 systems, but not the S5.5. 

BTW - I thought the #16 was 50 watts Class A in 4 Ohm. Though that is an old recollection.

@yyzsantabarbara 

       Thank you for your helpful comments as always! Much appreciated!

       To all from my previous posts, Doug may have been extra conservative with me because I am in a Magnepan LRS+ phase. I really am not a specification person at all and it's odd I even raised this question. I believe it was  truly intended to help others on this thread, in case any of us were placing a specification as a key criterion for purchasing the amp, that there were no unintentional or inadvertent oversights,  misunderstandings or false presumptions here . There certainly doesn't appear to be any. And would it even matter if there were any? Probably not!

        The S5.5 is hitting the ball out of the park  for everyone, so that has much more practical value to us than specs or what is printed in the manuals. I totally agree with YYZ though that specs are important; however, the bottomline is how a component sounds to each user, in their room with their equipment and their music. Teajay loved the sound these S5.5's were producing and everyone else does too. That says it all! I am not chancing it with Maggies though. Doug steered me back to my CSiB.  Enjoy the music! YYZ thanks again for chiming in! Best, joe

@yyzsantabarbara 

        On your last point on the #16 and this is from the manual as well as Teajays past review on the 16 powerhouse amplifier.

  No.16 is 150wpc/8 AB, 300wpc/4  AB with the first 100watts being pure Class A into 8 ohms or 4 ohms. When CODA states the No. 16 is "100 Watts of Pure Class A Precision Bias Operation" , with no impedance qualifiers, it translates to the amp being  a 100 Watt Pure Class A amp for 8 ohm or 4 ohm loads. Above 100 watts at either impedances, transitioning enters into Class AB as per above spec maxima. 

Added HP in the #16,  so the amp does not stress at lower impedance is; 3Kv power supply, 280,000 uf capacitance and of course the Coda magic; >100amps current.

Hi guys.  Sorry for the long silence on my part. Quick explanation is that we had a heavy snow storm here on Saturday and we lost power which caused a big power surge that took our both of my components on one circuit. Unfortunately one of them was my 3 DAY OLD Coda amp!  Not to worry but, it took a few days to figure it out and it only blew out an internal fuse in the right  channel. I didn’t realize at first that there are two fuses per channel inside. The only fuse I knew of is the one you can see on the back which is the only fuse mentioned in the owner’s manual. 
 

Moving the good fuses from one side to the other indicated that all is good. The problem is that I’ve can’t find the correct fuses locally so, I had to order them online and won’t receive them until Friday. 
 

yyzsantabarbara: before the incident I did play the amp continuously at about 84db and the amp didn’t seem any warmer to the touch. I was going to try it at 90db when my wife wasn’t home. It will obviously have to wait a few days. 
 

irave: surprisingly with its published power numbers I don’t feel that it is lacking in power at all driving my somewhat inefficient speakers. It plays way louder than I need with no strain or excess heat. The bass is just as deep as my Luxman m900u but different. The bass is tighter and more tuneful. I was thinking when I first ordered the amp that it might be a bit under powered but I was completely wrong. It has plenty of power for me and my speakers. 
 

I hope this helps. 
 

Jeff

My S5.5 arrived today!  Plugged it in and waited about 2 hours before listening.  I know it will take some time to break in but I couldn't wait 😀.  Initial impressions compared to my Accuphase E-380 integrated (still using the Accuphase as preamp):  Bass is much tighter, cleaner and there is more of it!  Top end is much more detailed and clear, my Accuphase tends to roll off the highs a bit.  I find the S5.5 to be just slightly to the warm side of neutral, the Accuphase is slightly warmer.  Both sound really good.  Overall detail and clarity easily go to the S5.5 as well as a blacker background.

I will let this break in for a while and report back, but so far it is looking very positive!