Three thoughts hit me as soon as I switched on the Copland CSA100 integrated amplifier. The first was that it was an all-embracing, do-everything tube/transistor hybrid like the Vinnie Rossi L2i-SE [HFN Jul '20], rated at a similar 100W/8ohm if at a fraction of the price, at £3498. The second was that I want it to kick off a fashion for cool, fully-loaded integrated hybrids because they are the smartest option for offering the best of the tube/solid-state worlds. The third is the realisation that I need to look deeper into hi-fi system building. How did the systems issue pop into my head? Because - as with the Vinnie Rossi and other assorted items - I found the CSA100 forming part of an unlikely combination, one that would not simply emerge intuitively on paper, or be created by market forces as were the old Dual/NAD/ KEF or Linn/Nairn systems that were de rigueur 35 years ago. The Copland CSA100, with its FET/triode tube preamp and bipolar transistor power amp stages, so perfectly suited the 'accidental' mid-priced system in which it was reviewed (more anon) that I realised what a minefield system building remains despite reviewers, retailers, common sense or other aids.
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