Integrated Amplifiers

How time flies! Copland, based in central Copenhagen, Denmark, has now been around for three decades, as it was founded in the mid-1980s by Olé Møller. He remains the principal designer, too, but the brand is so low-key that it's easy to overlook what has been a track record of remarkable consistency and innovation – as well as cost-effectiveness. Copland has admirable provenance: Møller began his career in audio working for none other than Ortofon, one of the most important of all makers of cartridges, arms and cutter heads during the history of audio. Working on the development of low noise amps, especially addressing the minuscule signals from MM and MC pick-ups, honed Møller's skills.

Setting up Copland enabled Møller to express his own interests, especially his dedication to valves as active devices. As evinced by his creations since Copland's beginnings, he has advanced the veritable vacuum tube with the latest technology and the new opportunities available for circuit optimisation, through components and processes unavailable to designers in the past. The result? Some of the best-value – and best-looking – valve products on the market.