This is an oldie but a goodie. I love the hybrid tube design that gives me the naturalness and open clarity of tubes and 60 watts of good usable power. The amp is dead silent, and handles all types of classical music, jazz, vocals and acoustic folk/rock with total ease. And not a moments trouble in 20 years. Finally, one last plus-- the initial 6922 tubes I put in back in '98 are still working. I have not changed the tubes once! That has got to be a sign of great design. It has MM and MC phono capability which I would love to try one day. The sound has been described as a bit "soft" by some... I don't know about that. It is not bright, or etched or analytical, and thank the Lord for that. I hate a lot of "modern" speakers that sound dry, aggressive and analytical. This amp is non-fatiguing, and I do feel as though I am in a music performance venue at a concert when i listen to music on the Copland 28. I was on the fence with the Bryston B-60 and the Copland, and picked the Copland as just as fair, and having perhaps the advantage of not being as well-known as the Bryston, so I think I chose the amp less taken.

No headphone jack; and the remote hasn't worked for years. I really can't complain about the lack of a jack since I knew it didn't have one when I bought it, but I think I might want one now.

Hi, That's my second hybrid amp. The first one was a Kora Explorer 150sb paired with Epos es14 speakers. Nice vocals, good bass and detail (that is what I thought).. Now I have a setup with Coopland and ProAc Response 1.5 speakers. In direct comparison with Naim 5i the last one was just blown away. I have many reasons to think that Copland plays in other ligue comparing with Kora too. With other words: Copland just put you in the middle of the soundstage and when you close your eyes you certainly know where exactly is playing every member of the orchestra. Good timing, lively and deep, the vocals have the right texture - just wonderful!

The remote is a bit old school - bulky.

Its a stunning amp if you want to hear whats on the recording and very little else. The CSA28 is not going to add much, nor is it going to take much away. If you want to hear the vocal quality, the instrument tone, the ambience of the recording room and microphones, this amp will deliver it through the right speakers. If the recording is poor, or the production has been unbalanced, the amp will do nothing to warm it back up. I went to listening rooms in 2001 and listened to many products to replace the hifi I used to have as a student. That first hifi had a Rega Planar 2 turntable, Lux solid state amp and Tangent TM1 speakers. It rocked, sucked you in, and sung sweetly ! I had listened to many CD systems, and they had a certain clarity, but often sounded brittle, dry or clinical. A few products seemed to resolve some of these problems, Marantz CD players, Arcam and Naim amps, B&W speakers, or the amazing Elac 310 speakers. After a lot of listening I decided that I liked the clarity in the mid tone of B&W CDM1-SEs, but they still sounded a bit dry with the Arcam and Naim amps. Enter the Copland - after a few hours in a listening room I complained to the salesman that the music still sounded fragmented, unintegrated and a little lifeless. Ah he laughed - why didnt you say so - I thought you came in here to buy hifi, but actually you want music. Away went the Arcams out came the Copland and suddenly the sound is sweet and smooth and clear and one piece. Swap the standard CD player for a Micromega T-Drive and T-DAC. And finally add some Transparent cables. Dont forget the last step - the change is remarkable. The speaker cabinets disappear and the recording is left hanging in the air. Thats the magic of the Copland. I cant tell you precisely what the frequency stuff is, I dont have enough experience to compare. It sometimes sounds a little thin and over polite at the very top end, but sometimes it doesnt. The bass and slam are stunning, the mid range is breathtaking, also guitar and percussion. Brass and strings sometimes sound a little nice, but it depends a lot on how they are recorded, and I suspect the effect is mostly in the B&Ws not the Copland. Some rock bands with simplified sounds simply dont work well with the clarity of this system, REM is a particular example. But any music that is rich in tone, dynamic, texture, etc from Faure to Floyd will come flying out the speakers and move your heart - which is what I am looking for in a system. Worth every penny.
£1100 in 2001.

I patially agree whith alan9: Csa28 is a fine integrated amp (for the money), but not a definitive one. It's strenghts lies in clear and open midrange and detailed, but not over agressive treble. Slight dissapointment could be a bit lean and weak bass region, limited dynamics and not as firm, detailed and deep soundstage, as it could be (regarding price). A bit of middle-of-the-road performer, who won't offend anyone, but on the other side, won't pump your adrenaline either.

everthing, sound, build, looks, and very heavy 10kg after 4 hours listening it stays very cool.

must play in for two weeks

after listening meridian 507 cyrus cd8 and arcam cd 33 I say it is the best in everthing. I've read reviews about this copland cda 822 and it is all true!My systeem is bw 804 speakers and copland cda 822 cd player and a arcam a85 integrated will be soon change that for something with heavy power about 200watts! the copland is something very special go and listen for your self

Similar Products Used:

cyrus cd 8 very bright, meridian 507 very normal player, arcam it s ok.

Open treble, fine midrange.

Lean, not detailed bass, limited dynamics, maybe to polite.

Csa28 is a fine integrated amp (for the money), but not a definitive one. It's strenghts lies in clear and open midrange and detailed, but not over agressive treble. Slight dissapointment could be a bit lean and weak bass region, limited dynamics and not as firm, detailed and deep soundstage, as it could be (regarding price). A bit of middle-of-the-road performer, who won't offend anyone, but on the other side, won't pump your adrenaline either. Maybe to polite for some (my) tastes.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity A300

Mid range ! Price ! The ability to switch btween sources bypassing the remote control delivers better sound.

No pre outs ...:(

Amazing integrated amp !!! I can't talk enough about this gem. What made me choose this amp over others was it's mid range which is warm and so natural. Very accurate, it will sound the way your source sound - very transparent !

Similar Products Used:

Quad, Primare, FMJ 32, Arcam A85, Classe, Morgan audio

large and present soundstage, bass and rhythm control, natural treble, low level listening, phonostage

Not possible to connect o power amp No matching tuner

After listening to the below mentioned amps this Copland amp became my favourite. It handles deep tunes with more control than any other amp I have listened to. The treble is natural and more to the silky side, than to the very dry side which is often exaggerated in british amps. The difference is easily spotted when for instance listening to a live CD/record. When people clap their hands it simply doensn't sound natural when the sound i too dry. The Copland is much more natural. If any coloration it would be to the warm sides. 3dimensionality, air, and opennes is outstanding and the soundstage is "larger" than any other integrated amp I have listened to. The only time I heard something that could beat the Copland CSA 28, was when I listened to two sets of Linn's 5 -channel power amp, where we used 6 channels, in order to drive each membran in the speaker. On top of everything this must be a world champion when it comes to listening at low volumes! And it keeps control when turning up the volume too. It seems like a lot more than 60W. The CSA 28 has good phonosteage as well. No drawbacks then? Yes, one. You can't connect it to a power amp. It seems like a silly mistake to me, when they have done everything else so right. Exceptional value!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Kolektor/LK140, Linn Kolektor/AV5125, Roksan Caspian, Roksan Kandy, Rotel 1070, Arcam A85, Arcam A22, Arcam A32, Primare A30.1

wow, i've had this amp for nearly two months and it's simply amazing. i don't know how amazing it is at its new price (about 3,000), but i didn't pay near retail. so anyway, if you haven't heard it, i'll do my best to describe its sound and what it does. it's super smooth and never hardens even at really high volumes. i seriously doubt you'll ever have to turn it up more than half way, but nevertheless, it will go loud if you need it to without the smoothness disappearing. it plays all sorts of music with equal ease. and just for the record, it does rock! i know a lot of north americans will probably never get to experience this amp because stereophile doesn't write about it (and everyone knows that stereophile has a tremendous helping hand in swaying one's opinion of what people like and dislike), but if you're looking for something in this price range, try to find this one. im sure online dealers would be willing to ship it out to you so you could give it a try. anyway, goodluck.

Joe says it all (below) and there is little I would add. It's a great amp both in terms of sound and build quality, it feels like you could throw it from a 4th floor window and it would still work, OK, I suppose the valves would break, but we're in metaphor land right :-). This is my first venture into quality audio equipment and I wish I had made it sooner. In my case the amp is working with the Copland CDA266 CD and Vienna Acoustic's Mozart speakers, the overall effect is stunning! Who needs a TV?
PS - regarding distribution; mine was purchased in Warsaw, Poland and cost around $1,500.