Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

ZiggsMBK said:
I've had nothing but success with the Auralex turntable platform. While ugly, it's dirt cheap and effective. Used it in various apartment buildings with parquet and laminate laid on concrete and during my short duration as a homeowner on bouncy floors. I never had a skip, whether from dancing with my wife or GO trains racing past the building with irritating frequency.

If you decide on the wall mount, make sure you can locate studs in your unit before you buy the mount. That's always been a bitch regardless of what apartment building I have lived in. -__- Of course, this could just be me.
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Beauty of the wood paneling in my record room, who needs studs?
 
ZiggsMBK said:
Does anyone have experience with Coda Technologies' amps? I may have an opportunity to buy my local dealer's demo integrated at a good price. I wanted to stick with Canadian-made, and one of my old Ontario dealers recommended Bryston's cubed series as a great match for Verity Audio speakers, however, the reviews seem to put Coda on another level. And even used Bryston cubed gear is painfully expensive.

Coda's ten-year warranty isn't quite Bryston's, but it's not bad either. Though shipping a 55 lb amp from Nova Scotia to California for service is a frightening prospect too.

Thoughts?
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I had not heard about Coda Technologies for a loooong time. I had to look them up - the professional reviews appear good. Working with a 30-year-old company makes me less concerned about whether warranty work can be done, albeit shipping will be high. Although I'm a Bryston fan, Coda looks like a good bet.

hifiart.net

CODA Technologies - Reference-Quality Audio Electronics - Hi Fi ART

CODA Technologies has been building state-of-the-art, reference-quality audio electronics in California since 1985. Available at Hi Fi Art.
hifiart.net hifiart.net
www.stereotimes.com

Coda Technologies Coda No. 8 Amplifier and 07x Preamplifier Review by Richard Willie

It has been over a year since I had the privilege of evaluating the Coda Technologies CSiB integrated amplifier. My experience with Coda Technologies' products continued. Soon after, I was allowed to review Coda's separate components, the No. 8 Amplifier and 07x Preamplifier. Given the...
www.stereotimes.com www.stereotimes.com

Also, you shouldn't have qualms about dropping back to an SST or SST2 Bryston amp to save funds if you want Canadian. I have a 20+ year-old 4B-ST which shows no signs of decline. It's a reliable and durable amplifier that has served me well over the years.
 
Angsty said:
I had not heard about Coda Technologies for a loooong time. I had to look them up - the professional reviews appear good. Working with a 30-year-old company makes me less concerned about whether warranty work can be done, albeit shipping will be high. Although I'm a Bryston fan, Coda looks like a good bet.

hifiart.net

CODA Technologies - Reference-Quality Audio Electronics - Hi Fi ART

CODA Technologies has been building state-of-the-art, reference-quality audio electronics in California since 1985. Available at Hi Fi Art.
hifiart.net hifiart.net
www.stereotimes.com

Coda Technologies Coda No. 8 Amplifier and 07x Preamplifier Review by Richard Willie

It has been over a year since I had the privilege of evaluating the Coda Technologies CSiB integrated amplifier. My experience with Coda Technologies' products continued. Soon after, I was allowed to review Coda's separate components, the No. 8 Amplifier and 07x Preamplifier. Given the...
www.stereotimes.com www.stereotimes.com

Also, you shouldn't have qualms about dropping back to an SST or SST2 Bryston amp to save funds if you want Canadian. I have a 20+ year-old 4B-ST which shows no signs of decline. It's a reliable and durable amplifier that has served me well over the years.
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I should at least be able to arrange an in-home audition for the Coda, should I desire. It's just less effective when I can't do the same for its competition. But yeah, the professional reviews and forum chatter all seem unilaterally positive. Much like what I have read regarding Bryston, most people only move up the range rather than change brands. The idea of shipping it still gives me pause, though.

Good to know about your 4B-ST! That kind of longevity (coupled with performance, of course) is what we're looking for. Having stumbled into end-game speakers, we'd just like to finish the system and only have to worry about LPs and a cart every couple of years. I've noticed the squared series is quite in demand on the used market. There are more cubed amps listed than squared by a fair margin. I will keep an eye out, though.
 
displayname said:
Absolutely. This guy is running Joseph Audio speakers, dual subs, the full Nu-Vista M3 integrated and CD player system, all custom built silver cabling, all devices that don't come stock with a linear power supply have been upgraded to linear power supplies (including his Orchard streamer), power isolation transformer, and as I mentioned his Nu-Vista gear has all be recapped and re-tubed with all premium parts. It really is a super system, and it would be approaching deep 5 figures if he was buying retail cables and outsourcing the work he's had done on the various components. Which to me, really speaks to the quality of the Orchard streaming dac.

He did just move on to an Audial S5 dac paired with an ifi Zen stream. It'll be interesting to hear it and see how long he sticks with that combo.
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All of that and the source is a Zen Stream. I like it!

The ZS (Roon endpoint) is my main streamer. As much as I like the EverSolo A8, I think I’m going to sell it to get cash towards a new cart for the UltraDeck and some new speakers (likely Forte IV).
 
Do we think the SVS sub that just landed is too close to the turntable? The credenza the turntable is on weighs 200lbs.

I'm currently waiting on a 15 inch cable to land for the sub, but for now only have a 6 footer. Once it lands, going to the left side of the center is easy even if it makes wiring messier.
 

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DownIsTheNewUp said:
Do we think the SVS sub that just landed is too close to the turntable? The credenza the turntable is on weighs 200lbs.

I'm currently waiting on a 15 inch cable to land for the sub, but for now only have a 6 footer. Once it lands, going to the left side of the center is easy even if it makes wiring messier.
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kvetcha said:
Nah, it's fine.
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Agreed. It doesn’t look like an issue, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so play some bass heavy music and see if you notice any issues.
 
Looking for opinions on Pass Labs, particularly the integrated options. I've been in a research rabbit hole looking at the int-25 and int-60. I've never heard a pass labs product, but looking to change that soon hopefully. A purchase like this would be a ways out, but these have captured my interest lately. Just adore the looks on these and I'm honestly kind of hoping the sound lives up to it.
 
displayname said:
Looking for opinions on Pass Labs, particularly the integrated options. I've been in a research rabbit hole looking at the int-25 and int-60. I've never heard a pass labs product, but looking to change that soon hopefully. A purchase like this would be a ways out, but these have captured my interest lately. Just adore the looks on these and I'm honestly kind of hoping the sound lives up to it.
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I’ve heard the XA-25 and XA-30 amps these use and they were great once warmed up. The INT-30 has drool worthy aesthetics, and Wayne Coburn knows his way around preamp circuits. Pass get warm, but they’re built like tanks.

I’m very happy with my XP-17. If I hadn’t gone with my Lux L-509X I probably would have gone with Pass. The time to warm up to sound their best was my only concern.
 
SnowmaNick said:
I’ve heard the XA-25 and XA-30 amps these use and they were great once warmed up. The INT-30 has drool worthy aesthetics, and Wayne Coburn knows his way around preamp circuits. Pass get warm, but they’re built like tanks.

I’m very happy with my XP-17. If I hadn’t gone with my Lux L-509X I probably would have gone with Pass. The time to warm up to sound their best was my only concern.
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The looks, build and class A nature are all very appealing to me. I already run class A tubes, so I'm no stronger to heat and warmup time. But a little extra power and reliability would be nice, which is what has caught my eye.
 
Is there a prevailing thought on what the best power conditioner/surge protector under like $3000 is? Any particular brand people trust? I currently use a big burly SurgeX on the upstairs system and it's been great but it's more of a gear protector than it is a conditioner, although it does do that too.. Just looking for what I might use on the new rig.
 
Mather said:
Is there a prevailing thought on what the best power conditioner/surge protector under like $3000 is? Any particular brand people trust? I currently use a big burly SurgeX on the upstairs system and it's been great but it's more of a gear protector than it is a conditioner, although it does do that too.. Just looking for what I might use on the new rig.
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I really like my PS Audio Dectet. It’s been discontinued but there are still plenty over here available for sale. I’ve heard positive reviews of the audio quest ones too.
 
Mather said:
Is there a prevailing thought on what the best power conditioner/surge protector under like $3000 is? Any particular brand people trust? I currently use a big burly SurgeX on the upstairs system and it's been great but it's more of a gear protector than it is a conditioner, although it does do that too.. Just looking for what I might use on the new rig.
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I bought two of these.
They work excellent and I'm not sure there's anything additional to gain SQ wise by spending more money on this section. Lots of people while claim otherwise...


 
Jbraswell said:
I bought two of these.
They work excellent and I'm not sure there's anything additional to gain SQ wise by spending more money on this section. Lots of people while claim otherwise...


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That's interesting, I remember you looking at these before. How long do the batteries actually last if there's an outage? I looked around but I couldn't really find any information on that.
 
Mather said:
Is there a prevailing thought on what the best power conditioner/surge protector under like $3000 is? Any particular brand people trust? I currently use a big burly SurgeX on the upstairs system and it's been great but it's more of a gear protector than it is a conditioner, although it does do that too.. Just looking for what I might use on the new rig.
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I use a couple Furman (Elite 20 I think, and a chunky power strip) in the theater and an Audioquest Niagara 1200 on main 2-ch. I have some inexpensive Belkins on the other systems. I can’t say I’ve noticed any audible benefits, but the Furmans were designed by Garth Powell before he went to Audioquest and remade theirs. The Furman Elite 20 amp has saved/protected my gear through some crazy lightning storms and brown outs. Those all were at or under $1k USD when I bought them.

The PS Audio regeneration models look cool, and are intriguing, but expensive (to me at least). I’ve heard systems with them in, but can’t tell you if they made a difference or not. The Stellar PowerPlant 3 regenerator sells for $3k USD direct from PS Audio. I’d imagine well under $3k used.

Stromtanks are also Oh My Gawd expensive but at least look cool.
IMG_3071.webp
 
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Mather said:
That's interesting, I remember you looking at these before. How long do the batteries actually last if there's an outage? I looked around but I couldn't really find any information on that.
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It will run the system 15-20 mins. Enough to finish a LP side and the cocktail without interrupting. Most importantly it lets me power everything down properly.


Where the second unit becomes really handy is for the router. We lose power but the Internet can stay on for almost 2 hours after an outage with the UPS. Fiber is supplied by the power company but it's obviously on some separate supply from the electric utility. Seems like you would lose both but no.
 
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