Integrated Amplifiers

Is Scandinavia the centre of the hi-fi universe? It can sometimes feel like it, because the area has birthed a number of well-known brands, including SEAS of Norway, Genelec of Finland, Primare of Sweden and Denmark's Dynaudio, DALI, Jamo and Bang & Olufsen. And then there's Copland, another Danish company but one whose history has seen it cross the Øresund Bridge into Sweden, but then later return. One constant throughout this time has been the presence of Olé Møller, founder and principal designer.

Møller began his audio career at Denmark's Ortofon, where he worked on the development of low-noise amps, but an interest in valves led him to build his own hardware, and establish Copland in the mid-1980s. By the following decade, manufacturing had shifted to Sweden to meet growing demand, and the brand was under the ownership of Xena Audio, which had also formed a partnership with Primare. During the '90s Copland and Primare products were crafted in the same facility, albeit by independent teams, before a split saw the former return to Copenhagen and a dedicated factory. Both companies remain famed for their marriage of sound quality and smart design. Maybe they compared notes…