This Codia has a major surprise in store. The most obvious departure lies in the redesign of the shelves. Gone are the routed slots. They have been replaced by an unbroken solid surface. This may seem retrograde but there is more vibration management wizardry than meets the eye.  If you examine the bottom of each shelf, you'll see that Codia have retained their stalwart Baltic birch ply, then added a big acoustic resonator in the middle to dissipate energy more effectively than the slotted predecessors. This concept of the resonator has a proven track record.

To test the 3000 BAB, I performed a wholesale transplant of the existing Stage 1000 rack. I also removed and substituted isolation devices at various points to see how the new flagship would interact with different additional vibration management tweaks. The system was comprised of the Tortuga Audio LDR preamp, Wyred4Sound Music Server and DAC2 and the Bel Canto Evo 200.4 amplifier. The Paradigm Servo 15 subwoofer was used for portions of the duration and bypassed for others to assess susceptibility to subsonic bleed. Tidal streaming factored for some music. To keep the musical selections more relevant to the younger crowd, I threw some new titles into the old mix. "Cactus in the Valley Lights" from Siberia Acoustic: Lights [Last Gang Records] acquits itself with distinction. Known generally for heavy and dense synth accompaniment, this one is a radical departure. Fully stripped down to an acoustical minimum, the album is disarmingly intimate and reveals a wealth of maturity and nuance in lyrics and delivery. The recording is squeaky clean to preserve instrumental texture and tonality although vocal dynamics are a touch subdued on some cuts.

After 3:00 A.M. at Quarks by Andrew McCarthy has the film and television composer/musician show wide stylistic influence. It's deftly infused in this solo piano piece and derived from his own Star Trek DS9 theme. It runs the gamut from rich classical to hot bluesy jazz captured in an intimate and tastefully recorded setting that manages a careful balance of instrument and venue. This is a little gem that will surprise. "Swordplay" from the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack [Sony BMG] has composer Harry Gregson-Williams build a musical structure both lush and powerful which contrasts light and delicate instrumental lines against dark and brooding passages. There is excellent use of choir in full-on period religious mode with orchestral sweep that is given believable dynamics and large sense of scale. "The Single Petal" from Keep it Dark by the Joe Haider Jazz Orchestra [Deutsche Media Productions] showcases Haider who is considered to be one of the most important musicians in German jazz. This 2016 recording marked his 80th birthday and pulled together a massive amount of talent via six winds, a rhythm section and a string quartet. The recording is open and lively, opting for a tasteful multi mike approach to accomplish instrumental texture.

Next I will lump two soundtrack cuts together. Lana Del Rey brings her abilities as the queen of sultry to breathe life into two recordings which place her in a deep and dense acoustic with a rich orchestral tapestry. She has the unusual capacity to stylize yet enunciate with absolute precision. Recording quality is quite good and the venues, though artificial, go for expansive. The tracks are "Young and Beautiful" from Baz Lurmann's soundtrack to The Great Gatsby; and "Once Upon a Dream" from James Newton Howard's soundtrack for Maleficent.

When the system fired up, it was time to see if Codia's flagship was significantly better than its lesser priced sibling. Remember that a quality isolation device should simply remove resonance obstacles, not create its own sound. My test merely demonstrates how overall system sound was affected by the introduction of the premier new Codia product. For tonal balance, there were minor shifts. The system maintained its former midrange neutrality but was slightly leaner in the lower mids and upper bass, making for a comparatively drier presentation. By contrast, the 1000 was a touch more romantic in that range. If we compared speakers, I'd call the 1000 in the British school, the 3000 BAB more in the American style. The upper frequencies through the 3000 BAB kept composure in superior fashion, staying more detailed with a sweeter balance. Lower frequencies were about equivalent, showing that both designs responded without bloat or exaggeration. Dynamic behaviour and resolution showed the greatest divergence. The 1000 was dynamically somewhat more exuberant, displaying greater range especially in the upper mids. The 3000 BAB was the more accurate by carving out more gradation and adding greater dynamic complexity. Both had superb transient attack, with the costlier rack winning out with even greater control.