The Danish Copland has released the new hybrid on tubes and transistors CSA 100 integrated amplifier.
Tube or transistor, for some audiophiles it remains an eternal struggle. And doubt that sometimes drives to despair. With the Copland CSA 100 integrated amplifier those hifi-enthousiasts don’t have to choose. They find both tubes and transistors in this device. Tubes in the preamplifier and semiconductors in the output stage.
Those who are looking for visible hot glowing tubes, by the way, are deceived: the CSA 100 is housed in a modern aluminium housing that skillfully hides them. It’s all about the sound quality and not frivolities, Copland must have thought. The power of the final amplifier stage is a maximum of 100 Watt per channel in 8 Ohm (180 Watt per channel in 4 Ohm).
MM, MC and DAC with USB input
There is also good news for vinyl enthusiasts. The Copland CSA 100 has a phono preamplifier for both MM and MC elements on board. Furthermore, you will have access to three unbalanced RCA inputs and a balanced pair of XLR inputs. Plus one coax digital input as well as three optical digital inputs and USB. Copland uses an ESS9018 Reference 32-bit dac. Optional is the possibility to add Bluetooth aptX.
A price in the Netherlands is not yet known at the time of writing, but in German cases we see an amount of around €3950 mentioned.