Marcel van Overbeek: So finally Copland introduces
its new hybrid integrated amplifier. After the CSA14 and CSA28, timing was just
right to come up with a worthy new model. It has the same stunning looks it
always had, but now redefined with the Copland logo cut out in the front panel.
The amplifier uses two 6922 (Sovtek) dual triodes in the pre-amplification
stage. Output power is rated at 85 Watt per channel into an 8 Ohm load. There
are 6 inputs (one of them is called RIAA, which can be connected to an optional
Phono PCB offered for 225, = Euro, and to be reviewed in near future), one tape
output, a ground connector screw, two DC remote jack’s and a pair of beautiful
(my favorite) Michell type speaker output terminals. And of course the standard
(!) IEC AC input … The 15 Kg heavy CSA29 comes with a standard Euro IEC power
cord, but any sane audio advisor will recommend you a high quality power cord,
such as for example the AH! AC Direkt KB10. The CSA was finally used only with
the AH! Power cord, although I did try my usual powercable test
… So disconnected my old MIT Z-Chord and Siltech “12” from the computer
(where they do a magnificent job) and listened to those for a short time. Yep!
100% score on the test: This amp also is sensitive to the power connection made!
But I had to reconnect the Z-Chord and “12” as quickly as possible, to have
the computer online again! Did I ever
mention that, since the use of the Z-Chord, the computer’s operating system never
crashes or slows down anymore? It’s true!
The system I am listening to is now: AH! Black 2LipS (pronounce:
TjoeLipS; proto-version), AH! Reference Tjoeb with Philips 288CC
Eskjoe’s, AH! Basis Classic, AH! OffsetKiller, AH!
KB10, AH! LS NoiseKillers and a little bit of Shun Mook here and
there … CD player connection to the CSA29 and than connected to the
loudspeakers was done by my own “very flat purple cables”. The CSA29 was
placed on top of the AH! Basis Classic and connected via the AH!
KB10 powercord to the OffsetKiller. Because I
know how much difference the OffsetKiller makes in my electrical
environment, I never listened to the Copland without it … I was very much
tempted to put a set of Shun Mook mini valve resonators on the 6922 tubes, but I
didn’t. I am pretty sure not so many of future CSA29 owners will go this far,
so why bother … The loudspeakers were still on the same location, as they were
at the Audia Flight Pre / Copland CTA 504 trial and I think that’s just the
right spot in my room for them. The speakers were locked on the spot with
SolidSteel SS6 stands. Beautiful stands, but I cannot wait to see the
proto-stands of the Black 2LipS. These are going to be made from solid aluminium
and I am sure that the price is going to be solid too, maybe even more
expensive than the Black 2LipS speakers??? Anyway, I originally found the spot
with a little help from Checkpoint Audio and to be sure I now used their CD
again. To see how much the amplifier effects the stereo performance. I know to
expect many differences, in sound quality and quantity. I am also very familiar
with the fact that no two amplifiers produce the same dimensions within the
projected soundstage, maybe close, but never
exactly the same. So I started with the Checkpoint stereo check again.
There is a male voice telling from what position he should sound. The “tone”
of his voice, also the “form” and the placement is telling me a lot. I
noticed the voice had a warm glowing appearance, with a little too much romantic
sound and a heavy sounding bass in the lowest frequencies of the voice … This
I know from many tube amps and it is not a bad sign; just typical for tube
associated hifi equipment. The “picture” was very tight and was outlined
convincing enough to “fit” within believable proportions. Not to big, not to
small. Then I checked the localization test. Q-sound is used to place the voice
outside the loudspeakers. It was placed very nicely left and right next to me,
between me and the loudspeakers. Only the Flight One did a better job with this
kind of Q-sound tests, but that’s to be expected from such a beautiful and
much more expensive product! But I liked the results and decided not to move the
speakers at all. The next track is a recording of Mr. O. Scholtze, walking on a
podium of the Vienna Musik Verein in Austria. The Copland showed me a big, airy
open picture of this hall. Bigger than I expected for such a small amplifier, driving small monitor loudspeakers. Every step was
easy to follow, and Mr. Scholtze explaining his directions is very articulate
and easy to hear. It gave me the exact details of the dimensions (as limited by
the digital recording itself) and I had the
sound map I needed to find my way
within the Copland’s abilities and properties. Here the low level information
was actually very good; I could hear the traffic outside and the
air-conditioning humming very easily. So far for the Checkpoint stereo check.
It’s time to play some music.
The first CD I found was Steely Dan’s Then
and now, I hadn’t heard in months … Only on parties or just grazy
moments this CD finds its way to the Tjoeb. Why? It’s great music and I am a
big Donald Fagen fan, but it is remastered and completely lifeless compared to
the Steely Dan LP’s. Somehow I suspected the CSA29 to handle this one
particularly well. And it did. On Rikki don’t lose … and Peg, it was
swinging wildly and it had me jumping up and down in my seat. That’s not very
good for stereo image stability …
But it gave so much joy; I played the whole album from the beginning to the end.
Sometimes repeating tracks like Do it again and Babylon Sisters. Just great. I
love it, and Steely is back in my top 100! I had to hold back not
to grab my Fagen “solo” albums …
So was my Jennifer Warnes The hunter
going to sound a little warmer now? I always liked the music, also the precision
of the recording but thought it was too bright, cold and clinical for my taste.
So much for that. I loved the CD on this combo! Whether it’s good or bad, the
Copland added richness to the instruments and added flesh on Jennifer’s bones!
Now I could not only see her mouth
moving, but also feel the voice behind the mouth, which is astoundingly dynamic
by the way. Great songs and I sat the whole CD without wanting me to end it
…again. Is that a good sign? It’s not that the Copland is making things up.
But I am getting a little worried about what the added warmth will do to very
well recorded and natural recordings … Rich
can be too rich. So I had to find out
where this was coming from and wanted to define the color.
I had to find out. I took several CD’s with sec
recordings of natural sounding instruments, like piano, acoustical guitar,
violin and cello.
After some Satie, Pärt and Glass, I dropped in the EOS Guitar Quartet Danza
Ritual. This is reasonable good recording on the Biber label, though not
their best. But the dynamics and the guitars sound is well balanced. The
recording also shows some three dimensional information, since the four guitars
were recorded from a certain distance. So I had to check the space between the
players and the room behind them. It was okay, but what was even better, that
the sound cloud around the players was
filling the space around them very convincingly and so left little black in between them. It was simple to focus on the melodic lines
because four guitars playing this kind of music at once can be confusing to stay
concentrated on the musical message. And that’s precisely the strongest point
of this amplifier. It seems to take all the time it needs to explain what’s
happening there! Not only in colors but
also the rhythmical differences and nuances within the music. It seems to have
the right balance in richness and precision, while there’s a slight shift to
the romantically side of the zero line. Danse macabre was exciting and dynamic. There was enough weight
to the guitar sounds to be convincing in the dynamical parts. It had me air playing as usual. Perhaps it should have been a little brighter,
like the Flight One showed me, but it was way too musical to give it a hard time
on this. I suspect this is subjective and my preferences should not interfere!
It still is very transparent, so I am not talking about a blanket on the sound
or something like that … There is just that Copland sound, which I happen to like a lot!
So now it was time to check out large scale music. On LSO live, one of my
favorites is Berlioz Symphony Fantastique. It starts very softly and I had to look for my
chair in the audience … Normally I am somewhere on row 12, but now I am way
back … So there is different illumination here and I needed some time to
adjust myself on this new seat. But I sat comfortable and enjoying a great overlook
on all what was happening. The instrumental groups and the individual players
within these groups were impressively realistic presented: not overfocused or
too blurry at all. Just about what I recall from my concertvisits over time. Some say the typical LSO recording is too dry, but I disagree
… There still is plenty of hall left.
The recording balance perhaps is more focused on the orchestra, assuring you to
focus on the music, not the ambience of it. I think that’s great, although we
audiophiles constantly want to hear the systems capability to reproduce the
recorded space. I really have no
doubts about the CSA29’s holographic
properties; what’s not there will not be reproduced! But what’s there, is
involving, communicating and seductive to convince me.
The step from Berlioz to Radiohead is smaller than it looks … Okay, you might
not agree on this one, but I think Radiohead is classical
music too! So I looked up OK Computer and played it on the same volume level …
It ROCKS! Proving again the hidden quality in the Copland integrated. As subtle
and delicate it seemed to me, also rhythmically correct as showed during Steely
Dan, this amplifier is able to put the pedal to the metal! It scared me to death
and for a second I was afraid to put the Black 2LipS in zone DANGER! Not so!
This was new to me … The Copland showed me another version of the civilized
Black 2LipS. With these typical recordings, I am always afraid to loose control
in such a way that the music starts to loose its air and color. The CSA29
however was in control, keeping the band together and played track after track
with such convincing power, it really amazed me. My old 504 kind of did the
same: keeping it easy all the time, but the tubes did not have the slam
like the semiconductors in the CSA29. It made me wonder what the results
would be if the AH! Black TjoeLipS speakers were compared sec
to the Wilson Watt’s (without Puppy) … You think I am crazy? Maybe. But let’s face it. The cabinet of the Black
TjoeLipS is more or less of same size and very rigid, the tweeter (ribbon) is
also very fast and extended (to 40KHz!), the woofer is small and superfast, the
damping-architecture and overquality crossover is from MasterDesigner Christian
Yvon (of Goldmund speaker fame) and the construction is top of the bill. The
only real differences are the cabinet material used (maybe it’s an idea to
make a Corian version Herman!) and for sure the price you have to pay ……….
Allez, let’s go on with today’s reality …
It brought me Thom freighting close, so close I could check out every
single nuance in his voice. On No Surprises the goose bumps on my back must have
been inches tall … Never, and I repeat, never, experienced the same
feeling with this song like this time. On no other system. Where the basslines
were impressively nice to follow, Thom’s voice kindly intruded my mind and the
second (first half way between the middle and the right channel) and third
voices mixed in, really made me chill … This week I will see them live again
in Arnhem (19-11) and I hope they will play me No Surprises again … I bet I
will prefer the live version, but actually, that has nothing to do with the
Copland’s quality.
So, as I was thinking, it was so outspokenly good on rock, classical and
minimalist music, there should have been at least one single type of music, the
CSA29 would loose its grip. Well: if you find one, tell me about it. Maybe
it’s just a lucky combination with the Black 2LipS. I don’t know (yet). When
I will bring the amp to the shop again, I will check it on Sonus Faber Cremona,
Proac Future .5, or maybe some less exotic loudspeakers, but that is the way I
feel about this integrated amp. I bet it will suit other small monitor-like
loudspeakers just great! It is way better than the price suggests. It can
compete to the bigger and more expensive amplifiers. The price still is serious,
which means it will attract serious audiophiles and music lovers. Okay, sure, it
has this particular Copland way of
sounding, but take that as a
compliment. We are living in a world where the differences are getting smaller,
and colors are becoming more and more uniform. Products like these stand out and
are especially appreciated by those who are not afraid to walk the same walk or
eat the same cake, like so many other people do … At Euro 2600,- it is a
superb product. Match it to the Euro 2200,- upsampled CDA822 CD player and you
will hear one of the strongest combo’s around! Thank you for taking the time
to read my whole story; it ended up being far longer than I intended! Sorry
about that!