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

I FINALLY got my Coda S5.5 going today. (I have been without the rig since December 2023!) It was quite an ordeal because yesterday when I got it connected there was distortion! It took me all day of fruitless trial and error. I narrowed it down the the Legacy Wavelet II so I emailed them this morning. (Ed at Legacy is great and answers me quickly every time) It seems that since my Dinafrips Venus II DAC XLR’s were into the Wavelet the gain was too high causing the distortion. Ed suggested I use the dip switches to take the input down and I did -3db then -6 Db then -12Db and that cleared it up! It took some trial and error to get the right dip switch settings. right, I ended up at -6 Db. So now it is finally sounding sweet and burning in. Yesterday I spend hours trying to troubleshoot the problem, trying cables, different configurations to isolate the issue, what an ordeal fearing it was my new amp. I am so happy now! I will report back after I get 100 hours on the rig. It sure shows great potential! Sidebar comment: I also needed some adapters from Silversmith to fit my Fidelium speaker wires into the posts, so I had to use some old heavy gauge Monster cable just to get it going, holy cow when I got the Silversmith speaker cables back in it later today what a revelation! Solid copper isn’t the answer in my case. The change was HUGE! I can already hear the same attributes previously noted in others impressions of this amp. I am transitioning from all tubes to all solid state so a big leap.

@firefly627s 

Thanks for your well thought out explanation, it helps me to understand manufacturer thought processes rating amps.

My rather limited understanding of amp watt ratings was that a true class A amp would run in class A at all impedances.  As you mention, this amp is a class A amp at 8 ohms.

So by my way of looking at things which I believe you are confirming this is a class AB amp once speaker impedance falls below 8 ohms.

No indirect criticism here as I agree what matters is sound and I have only owned class AB amps.

But at 4 ohms the amp is still running in class A up to around 40 watts. AB would then kick in over the 40 watt threshold.

Channel reversal?

I've been in this hobby for decades so owned or auditioned many amps.  I've seen it both ways, logical from the front of the amp and logical from the rear.

But really, the labels are for convenience, you can wire up either way, just so the L/R speaker outputs match the input channels.

If this confuses you maybe you're a candidate for mono blocs?  ;^)

@aolmrd1241 

          Thank you Mark! Yes agree and I should have made that clear. The S5.5 is still giving Class A into 4 ohm and likely lower impedances too but at power below 50 watts. Even 40wpc Class A power is excellent though because that should suffice for most speakers unless the speaker is really tough to drive.

I was looking for an integrated and bought my CSiB in 2023 and really like it. I know the S5.5 would sound better but they each have their pluses.  The CSiB is V-1 so the first 18wpc into 8 ohm is  Class A. It is 150wpc 8 ohm/300wpc 4ohm/600wpc 2ohm all AB. I still get some Class A at 4 ohm but maybe 9wpc or less which is good enough for an 8 ohm Forte 3 speaker. It drives LRS+ superbly but is all AB and the high current is key.  If I feel I need or want another amp though, the S5.5 is definitely my number one choice! Teajay and this thread are very convincing! I just hope Coda doesn't run out of those magic transistors.