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)

johnah5

Doug at CODA told me that bridging 2 S5.5's is not a good way to use them. I was wondering if you could use 2 bridged S5.5's instead of a CODA #16. The standard gremlins that apply to bridging a 2-channel stereo amp also applies to the S5.5.

BTW - I changed my DAC from a Schitt Yggi+ LIM to the Schitt Yggi+ OG. I moved the LIM to my office. The complaints I had with my CODA #16, lack of detail, is now pretty much resolved. The OG is more detailed while the LIM is the warm and "musical" one.

I am thinking of replacing my Holo Serene preamp with another Benchmark HPA4 preamp on the CODA #16 system.

 

@yyzsantabarbara I had the LA4. It was an excellent preamp. Sorry I sold it. The HPA4 is the same in line stage function, as I'm sure you know.

Just got my Coda S5.5...havent taken it out yet..will do this  weekend..

 

The manual online the speaker terminals seems to be opposite..the left channel terminals are on the right and same for the right channel..

Do I just ignore it? Put the left speaker cables to the left amp terminals and so on?

 

 

@sim_audio_nerd Yes just ignore it.  Put left speaker cables of left side when looking at the amp.  I asked Doug about this and he said this is the way some older amps used to be labeled.  Not sure why they did it that way only for the S5.5 but they did.