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Listening Room<br />
and ran<br />
through a set<br />
of LPs we considered<br />
especially revealing.<br />
The first is one we have used<br />
a lot but never get tired of hearing, William<br />
Walton’s Façade (Reference Recordings<br />
RR-16 or RR-2102). There’s a lot of<br />
subtle musical detail in this remarkable<br />
suite, and we were disappointed to find<br />
that we didn’t seem to be hearing it all.<br />
Were we playing it too softly? Both<br />
Reine and Gerard thought that might<br />
be <strong>the</strong> case, and so we notched up <strong>the</strong><br />
volume and listened again. It was no<br />
better.<br />
What was happening? The instruments<br />
seemed to be lighter, less substantial.<br />
Even <strong>the</strong> piccolo and <strong>the</strong> flute<br />
seemed somehow smaller than life. The<br />
recording’s celebrated depth was vague<br />
and uncertain. Albert called it bland,<br />
and Reine said she had lost interest well<br />
before <strong>the</strong> end.<br />
We continued<br />
with an excerpt from<br />
John Rutter’s Requiem, also<br />
on Reference Recordings ((RR-57).<br />
Well, it was all <strong>the</strong>re, or was it? “It’s all<br />
<strong>the</strong>re but <strong>the</strong> foundation,” said Albert.<br />
“The bass is too lean, but that’s not all<br />
of it. There’s something else missing.”<br />
The organ was certainly missing — we<br />
could barely make it out. Gerard found<br />
Summing it up…<br />
Brand/model: Copland CVA-535<br />
Price: C$4995/US$3295<br />
Dimensions: 43 x 17 x 42 cm<br />
Claimed power: 125 W/ch., 8 ohms<br />
Most liked: Well, it’s got power, and<br />
lots of it<br />
Least liked: <strong>High</strong> end price, mass<br />
market sound<br />
Verdict: Everybody gets <strong>the</strong> right to<br />
stumble now and <strong>the</strong>n<br />
<strong>the</strong> singer’ voices ra<strong>the</strong>r grainy, though<br />
Reine thought <strong>the</strong> amplifier treated<br />
<strong>the</strong> chorale better than it treated <strong>the</strong><br />
orchestra, This was not turning into a<br />
lot of fun.<br />
Nor did <strong>the</strong> fun pick up with our harp<br />
recording, Tournier’s Vers la source dans<br />
le bois. None of us wrote much, because<br />
<strong>the</strong>re wasn’t much to say. Once again,<br />
<strong>the</strong> sound was light, slicing off <strong>the</strong> harp’s<br />
delightful lower registers. “It’s bland,”<br />
said Albert.<br />
With sinking hearts we slipped on<br />
Lady Be Good from Jazz at <strong>the</strong> Pawnshop.<br />
Once again we had <strong>the</strong> impression that<br />
we needed more volume, but turning <strong>the</strong><br />
volume knob didn’t help. The saxophone<br />
was gorgeous in soft passages, but was an<br />
assault on <strong>the</strong> ears when it played louder.<br />
The string bass was all but gone. The<br />
vibraphone was flat, without its customary<br />
resonance. “You might as well buy a<br />
receiver,” said Gerard glumly.<br />
And that’s where it all ended. We had<br />
more recordings, but we didn’t deserve<br />
this. We didn’t even have <strong>the</strong> heart to<br />
run technical tests.<br />
Our conclusion: Copland probably<br />
designed this amplifier because of pressure<br />
by its dealers, who believe that <strong>the</strong>re<br />
is nothing left but home <strong>the</strong>atre. Their<br />
heart wasn’t in it. That’s our guess. How<br />
else to explain that one of <strong>the</strong> world’s<br />
truly great audio manufacturers came<br />
out with this?<br />
CROSSTALK<br />
I won’t say much about this listening test.<br />
I started to wonder why <strong>the</strong> music sounded<br />
so anemic, so heartless. I <strong>the</strong>n asked myself<br />
why I heard so many details in such shallow<br />
depth.<br />
I thought it was me. Was I getting tired?<br />
Of what? We just started, <strong>the</strong> music is great.<br />
Well, it was…<br />
And that’s how each piece went. I kept<br />
looking for what I knew was <strong>the</strong>re and I<br />
on <strong>the</strong>m continually through <strong>the</strong> years.<br />
Such dedication to music reproduction is<br />
rare. Why this?<br />
—Albert Simon<br />
I’ll say this about Copland. It doesn’t<br />
do things by halves. When it gets a product<br />
right, as it has a number of times, it likes to<br />
vault right over <strong>the</strong> heads of <strong>the</strong> competition.<br />
It did this with <strong>the</strong> CTA-305 preamplifier,<br />
time, it does so every bit as spectacularly.<br />
The sound of this amplifier isn’t just wrong,<br />
it’s way wrong. It’s as bad as Copland’s o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
products are good. Don’t expect mediocrity<br />
from Copland. It’s all or nothing.<br />
—Gerard Rejskind<br />
The products of this company have<br />
always pleased me enormously, and I must<br />
admit I am saddened at <strong>the</strong> necessity of trash-<br />
found most of it, all but <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> which was so superbly musical and revealing<br />
ing this one. It throws a bit of a shadow on<br />
music. I wanted Twin to keep raising musicians. <strong>the</strong> volume, that we actually A flute. purchased one. A I can guitar<br />
already<br />
<strong>the</strong> family, I think.<br />
to find more life, more depth and I did, tell you that <strong>the</strong> CTA-306 multichannel tube<br />
How to explain this? Oh, it is not without<br />
occasionally, We but think I <strong>the</strong>n you’ll had to like put up <strong>the</strong> with Labrie a preamplifier, sisters and <strong>the</strong>ir which <strong>version</strong> will be of reviewed light classics. in our Get qualities, at<br />
but I found it increasingly difficult<br />
brashness I didn’t http://www.uhfmag.com/Analekta.html.<br />
need.<br />
next issue, is cut from <strong>the</strong> same (magic)<br />
to concentrate on <strong>the</strong> test. My mind was<br />
I know this manufacturer has produced<br />
some real gems and I’ve seen <strong>the</strong>m improve<br />
cloth.<br />
But when it screws up, as it has this<br />
somewhere else, somewhere more pleasant.<br />
—Reine Lessard<br />
54 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY <strong>Magazine</strong>