download the PDF version - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
download the PDF version - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
download the PDF version - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Listening Room<br />
In <strong>the</strong> next issue of<br />
A surround sound tube preamp from<br />
Copland, two amazing CD players, an<br />
astonishing high-powered integrated<br />
amp, a terrific new phono stage<br />
And that’s only <strong>the</strong> start!<br />
Copland CVA-535<br />
This remarkable Danish<br />
company has produced not<br />
only some of <strong>the</strong> world’s<br />
best-sounding products (we<br />
know…we own two of <strong>the</strong>m), but also<br />
some of <strong>the</strong> audio world’s top bargains.<br />
Of late Copland has been moving into<br />
surround sound. In our next issue we’ll<br />
be reviewing <strong>the</strong> CVA-306 six-channel<br />
tube preamp. How does it sound?<br />
Superb (you heard it here first). So we<br />
were optimistic that this five-channel<br />
solid state power amplifier would also<br />
break new ground.<br />
It’s a neat package. You can see <strong>the</strong><br />
inside on <strong>the</strong> next page. The power<br />
supply is gigantic. The five channels<br />
are arranged in individual modules,<br />
though <strong>the</strong>y are not removable as <strong>the</strong>y<br />
are in some amps. For each input you<br />
have a choice of a pretty good RCA jack<br />
or (for balanced lines) an XLR jack. The<br />
output posts work well.<br />
We gave it a few extra hours of breakin,<br />
and <strong>the</strong>n gave it a fairly tough test:<br />
we took it into our Alpha room so that it<br />
could pretend to be a two-channel stereo<br />
amp. The CVA-535 will mostly see duty<br />
as a movie amplifier, of course, but we<br />
figure that it if doesn’t have <strong>the</strong> moxie<br />
and <strong>the</strong> finesse to do justice to music,<br />
it will lose a lot of what’s in a movie as<br />
well.<br />
The 535 looks as though it should be<br />
a first cousin of <strong>the</strong> CTA-520 amplifier<br />
we gave a warm review to in our last<br />
issue. Could this multichannel amp be<br />
just <strong>the</strong> CTA-520 with extra channels?<br />
That would be nice.<br />
But if it were, wouldn’t it have to be<br />
two and a half times bigger? It isn’t…not<br />
quite. Perhaps more significantly, it costs<br />
only about 35% more. That could mean<br />
it’s a bargain. Or perhaps something<br />
else.<br />
We performed <strong>the</strong> test in our Alpha<br />
system, using two of its five channels,<br />
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY <strong>Magazine</strong> 53