I spent a lot of time this weekend, fine tuning my system. I tested several cables, speaker positioning, and a couple different preamps. Not going to bore you guys with the details but there was one major discovery. My Legacy/Coda 4 channel amp sounds completely different in 2 channel bridged mode, compared to 4 channel mode.
Even though my speakers are efficient enough to work well in either mode, the sonic difference between both modes is staggering. Let me provide some background. I was hoping to use the amp in four channel mode to power my monitors and the subwoofers of my Bamberg Series 5 speakers. This would allow me to eliminate my Aragon 4004 amp from the system. The Aragon is very large and doesn't fit into my audio cabinet.
The amp has lots of power and drives the subs nicely in 4 channel mode but the mids and highs are thin and brittle, and the imaging is blurred and missing the magic. In bridged 2 channel mode, the sound is absolute magic. Speakers disappear and the presentation is wide, deep and very 3D.
I have always noticed differences between different amplifiers but have never experienced anything like this. The amp in four channel mode, even when I'm not running the subs, is just okay (okay maybe slightly less than okay) but the bridged 2 channel performance is magic, among the best I have heard in this price range.
I've seen lots of these amps (Legacy 432 made by Coda), sell for very low prices and think I just figured out why! The 4 channel sound is nothing special but 2 channel is awesome The sonic difference between bridged mode and 4 channel is not small. I was going to sell the amp before I tried the bridged mode. Glad I did! Does anyone have any ideas as to why it sounds so different in 2 versus 4 channel mode?
Cheers!
J