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

@irave I was running Moon 390 pre with the 330A amp few years back.

In my opinion, there is no comparison between the Moon 330A and the S5.5. The S5.5 is in a different league.

I haven't heard the Moon new "North" line though but again they are very expensive

@sim_audio_nerd

How is the gain between pre and amp, does the pre and power amp make any noise when turning on or off ?

Does the sound ever get bright ? And does male voices have gravitas, off course more depending on speakers. 

@gryphongryph The Supratek is a high gain pre. Inspite of that, both the preamp and the Coda is quiet as a mouse. No noise when music is not playing and components are turned on. I went close and put my ears against the tweeter and there is dead silence. No "clicking" noise when pre or amp is turned on, but of course you can hear the tubes engaging when the tube pre is turned on.

The sound is not at all bright and no sibilance with female vocals.

Hi @johnah5 Terry

Thanks for sharing your reviews here with this community. I for one find your reviews honest and educational. I bought my SPL S800 after reading your review, without auditioning it and I have been very happy with it. I then bought the SPL Elector as the preamp to go with the S800 and the pairing is very satisfying. However, the urge to upgrade has got hold of me and I am thinking of upgrading to the SPL S1200, which you also reviewed to be a great amplifier or this CODA 5.5 which you also seem to like a lot. If you had yo choose one between the two which would you pick purely on sonic quality alone. In terms of my preference of sound signature, I obviously like the S800 but i am looking for more speed/tighter bass/ even better dynamics/aliveness/punch. Will i get more of all that from SPL S1200 or Coda 5.5? Sorry, my speakers are Legacy Signature SE (92db / 4 ohm). Many thanks !

Hey charan,

First, thanks for your kind words regarding my reviews. With out copping out, both are great amplifiers with slight differences. The SPL S1200 has an overall smidgen of warmth (velvety) while the S5.5 is more neutral and has what I describe as a (silky) overall presentation. Both have great top ends. However, the shimmer/details of the Coda S5.5’s high frequencies is still something very special compared to any solid state amp I have tried. If you have speakers that can get a bit bright/forward sounding the S5.5 might not be a great match-up. Both are great at producing large sound-stages. Each is very musical and the antithesis of being analytical. Regarding overall speed, dynamics, bass control, and a sense of aliveness both amps are reference level. If you love your SPL S800 you would really dig the S1200, keeps the mid-range magic and adds on to it. (If you read my review on the S1200 it gives the details of these wonderful additions.) If you want a slightly different "flavor" the Coda S5.5 would provide that in your system. By the way the S5.5 matches great with the SPL Elector preamp.

I love to use tube analogies to describe the sonic differences between pieces of equipment. For my ears the S1200 is slightly towards the warmth of a great 300B or E-34 tube, while the S5.5 is slightly towards a great 2A3 or 211 tube. These are exaggerations, but give a taste of the differences that people can relate to if they have heard the different tube "flavors". So, it really does come down to personal taste and system synergy.

Teajay (Terry London)