First Impressions: Acoustic Image Coda+

[Silentwiz]

I'm going to do this quick and dirty because my time is limited and I need to scoot out of here before I get in trouble... but...

...through the fine folks at J Hale Music, I acquired a Coda+ combo from Acoustic Image. The amp has some very interesting features:

- a 10" ***DOWNWARD*** woofer
- a 5" midrange and 1" tweeter
- 800 W (!!!) through a small head that is removable from a 20 lb cabinet (total weight is about 27 pounds or so)
- 2 separate channels
- Alesis built in reverb/chorus effects

(and a long list of other features available for read here Acoustic Image | Coda+ | Features )

Anyway, the whole downward speaker thing is supposed to spread sound around the room more. My take is that this results in less direct volume so the massive wattage makes up for it. The amp is definitely loud (up there with any of the big solid state combos I've played over the years), but not ear blistering 800W loud.



So, in terms of reviews and thoughts, I believe at the moment that this is the best darn clean headroom 3-d sounding-ist amp I've ever had or played. It's really something special. I have been playing it dead flat with no effects through a single channel and it is just a remarkably transparent sound. So far, I've run my Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II equipped Squire solid-body, an electric bass, and an ovation through it. I also did a quickie coffee shop setup with a mic and my ovation.

In all setups, the amp is remarkably transparent -- there is a lot of tonal versatility there, but I am so darn pleased with the FLAT no effects setting, that I haven't strayed much yet.

Anyway, I wanted to really splurge on myself and because I can't pull myself away from cheapie guitars, I thought I'd do it on the amp. These bad boys are definitely at the top tier of pricing, but I can see why -- this is a remarkably versatile amp that is going to last a lifetime and perform exceptionally well under a huge variety of circumstances. It's in one very handsome little package.

PS -- Jeff Hale is a great guy to work with. Highly recommended.

[TieDyedDevil]

Just a reminder: 800W *shouldn't* be "blisteringly" loud. There's a logarithmic relationship between power and volume.

A doubling of power gives a "just noticeable" increase in volume.

Ten times the power gives a perceived "doubling" of volume.


You also need to consider the efficiency of the speakers; this typically has a much greater impact on perceived volume than does amplifier power.

[Silentwiz]

These are very good points. I had read (and was aware) of the exponential relationship between volume and wattage -- it's easy to forget though! You see numbers like 800W and expect earth movement.

Anyway, I continue to use the amp nightly and am just blown away by the transparency and volume. The nature of the downward facing woofer is fascinating -- it really fills the room in an entirely different manner than a traditional forward facing speaker -- even my small practice space. I can't say enough great things about this amp so far -- years to come!

By the way, I realize that many go for the Acoustic Image / Raezer's Edge (sp?) combo. I went with the Coda+ because I liked a single combo -- especially one with a detachable head. I thought that if I ever wanted to mix it up in the future, I could pull the head out and try it with different cabinets.

AI is offering a great deal now on the 400W standalone head and also the 400W combo without removable head. More info on their site.

[NSJ]

How does it compare with a Henriksen, Evans, Polytone, JazzKat, et al? Were you able to A/B/C/D it? To me, Henriksen is the new standard, but I haven't tried this, admittedly.

[islandfunhouse]

I would love to try that out. I admit I have trouble with the look of it. I have an unexplainable penchant for the vintage vibe, so to have an amp that looks like a dehumidifier is a problem for me.

I had an opportunity to play a Henriksen on a gig and, while it at first sounded nice to me, it got super muddy fast, trying to play over a really-not-that-loud organ trio. One of my friends called the Henriksen a chinese P.A. head in a box, and that struck me as accurate. I went back to using an Evans which has tremendous clean head room, although there are things about the Evans that I would like to change too. The Evans has an incredible build quality and reliability that I didn't get from a mini-brute...although I almost preferred the mini brutes tone in some ways.

It is tough to find the best of all worlds...there will always be compromises.

I have a Peterson p100g (a jazz amp from the 80s, made in England) that sounds incredibly warm...mcuh warmer than many new amps I have tried. But then you're back to a spring reverb and less reliability...although I love the volume/treble/bass/mid1/mid2 setup.

[kawa]

Circamstances in Japan　　　　　　　　 　peterson p100g - Google ŒŸ�õ
Tube like fat & round jazz tone : FET, Ev EVM10L or Em ME10-1008
Enough Power:100W
Compact: Helpful stage work,space(bigband etc),carrying
I'm using now on big band for every events.

[islandfunhouse]

Wow, that's cool. I gues there are more Petersons out there than I imagined. It is a really cool amp! And with real wood!

Here is a pic of the Peterson I bought from Howard Alden, in a Premier Guitar article.
Two Rare Birds Jazz Guitarists Will Love - Premier Guitar

[kawa]

Verry popular in Japan !!!

also my past posting from "Good Sounds" #136
Two Rare Birds Jazz Guitarists Will Love - Premier Guitar
(P100G is 10" speaker !!!)

Stony op MySpace Music ? Gratis gestreamde MP3?s, foto?s en Videoclips

http://www.harmonycentral.com/products/101806

The peterson amp has two typical problems, bad pots and relays contact.
I replaced to TOKYO COSMOS pots and OMRON relay.

[Silentwiz]

Thanks for all the thoughts, guys. I've been playing this bad boy nonstop for over a week and I am still in the honeymoon phase. Regarding comparisons, I currently have a Cube 30x, MicroCube and Lunchbox. In candor, the Coda+ is on a different level compared to these amps (of course, I believe the Coda+ cost more than all 4 combined with room to spare).

The Coda+ is substantially cleaner and crisper. More "hi fi" sounding with incredible headroom and transparency. Each instrument I try through the amp sounds just brilliant. At this point, I have the other smaller cheaper amps peppered around my house in the event I get caught watching a sleeping baby or something and I want to noodle around. I also, can imagine there will be gigs where a lunchbox or cube is more than sufficient and I'd rather not bring such a pricey amp out.

Regarding comparisons to the pricier amp choices, I have only owned Polytones in the past. The Polytones that I have owned had a leg up on the Roland Cube models in terms of depth -- although some days it felt a bit subtle. I would not be doing the Polytones justice to compare my 3 to 4 year old memory of those amps to an amp I have sitting next to me.

Regarding comparisons to the Henriksen, I asked several musicians (and store owners) point blank if they thought the AI had an edge -- and at the time I was comparing similarly priced AI CodaR and Henriksen JazzAmp models -- and most of the answers indicated that the AI amp had an edge. I believe the AI is also lighter, has 3 speakers (versus 2, right?) and has two separate channels.

Pretty cool either way.

Candidly, I'm still blown away at how NICE $300 guitars and $300 amps are these days -- this stuff is just icing!

[docbop]

Why the AI & AI cabinet vs AI and a RE cabinet or similar cabinet?

[Silentwiz]

Well it's been 9 months since I bought this bad boy -- what a wild ride it's been.

Firstly, the head itself is just plain incredible. It's paperweight light, the removable rubber feet are so clever and the built in effects are top notch (although I rarely use them). I have found it to work extraordinarily well with every single instrument I have plugged in from some real junk to some high end Gibson Custom Shops and a few others. Truly outstanding stuff.

The AI Cabinet is a bit more project-specific. What I mean by this is that if I am playing solo (or even running an acoustic and mic) through the amp, the AI cabinet is by far the best solution I've ever seen for a single "grab and go" set up. It literally fills a room with sound in a way that is nothing short of remarkable. I played an outdoor 200 person wedding on a windy cliff top with me, my acoustic and a mic and it sounded fantastic.

That being said, the cabinet seems to be pretty lacking for traditional group settings, so I ended up buying Redwood Audio single 12" speaker cabinet. In general, I think I like this setup better. It's a bit more traditional for me and still exceptionally light (24 lbs on the cabinet and the head weighs nothing). I also think it's always useful to have a solid spare cabinet laying around.

As I spend a lot more time in groups than otherwise, I think if I could do it all again, I'd buy a used head on ebay and a Redwood cabinet, but I can't say I'm unhappy with my choice. In my elder years, I may decide to go the singer songwriter route, in which case the AI cabinet is a far better choice (one unit, and such an incredible "3d" tone).

As an aside, I have run my Lunchbox through the 12" cabinet and even it sounds wonderful. In fact, if you turn off the internal LB speaker and just play straight through that cabinet, it's amazing.

Anyway, for those of you looking to find "the best", I think it'd be hard to do better than an AI head and your choice of RE or RA cabinet or alternatively the AI cab.

This stuff is the real thing!