In our October 2020 dossier ( #693 ), the CSA100 hybrid integrated received a golden tuning fork for “his music which springs up, pure, liberated, embodied as rarely”. The CSA150 followed, bringing a power boost. The latest creation from Ole Møller, the designer of Danish electronics Copland, came to us in the fall in the form of the more affordable CSA70, equipped with a Wolfson WM8740 DAC that only processes 24-Bit/192 kHz PCM signals and not the DSD, against an ESS ES9018 chip in the CSA100 and 150, armed for 32 Bits/384 kHz and DSD128. As an option for an additional €390, the CSA70 receives an aptX HD Bluetooth receiver, very practical if you don’t have a streamer, but limited to the performance of‘ a smartphone. Another important difference is that the circuits of the CSA70 abandon the hybrid tube-transistor topology in favor of a 100% discrete component scheme. Copland claims even lower distortion (<0.01%) and states that the CSA70 uses the same power amplifier technology as the CSA100 and 150, with a faster feedback loop than conventional amplifiers. The final stages deliver 2×70 W into 8 Ω with a frequency response of 10 Hz to 200 kHz at -3 dB. In addition to the very complete DAC with its four inputs including a USB-B, the CSA70 includes an MM phono stage and a good level headphone amplifier. The manufacture, of excellent craftsmanship, integrates box, solid feet and aluminum buttons.
It doesn’t take long to realize that the CSA70 is playing “in another league”. On our listening notes, regarding Bin Wang’s piano (A big river by Chu Wang Hua, Bayard Musique), we wrote “perfect copy”; in question, the solidity of the notes, the speed of execution, a breadth and a depth of the instrument that one finds only on much more muscular electronics. Same observation when listening to the percussions of the nemeton by Matthias Pintscher (Ensemble intercontemporain, Matthias Pintscher, Alpha Classics) where the energy of the strikes and the keeping of the notes over time are phenomenal. Confirmation again with theAndante of the Symphony No. 3 d’Honegger (Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Stéphane Denève, Naxos), which appears posed, massive and breathing at the same time, the sound of the horns there pierces the thick atmosphere of the strings and the timpani in a luminous way. Superb interpretation of this movement so difficult to translate. Note that the Wolfson DAC does not play the utilities at all, no doubt this is due to perfect integration – a DAC is not only worth the D/A chip but also a lot of the filtering and current/current conversion circuits. tension. Same positive observation about the phono section which gratifies us with a beautiful depth, a great delicacy and an exceptional right/left separation. Perfect copy, until further notice…
