Phono Preamplifiers

As soon as I heard that Soulnote, based in Kanagawa, Japan, was set up in 2004 by ex-Marantz Japan employees, my expectations soared. In practice, Soulnote is the in-house high-end audio brand of CSR Inc, founded in 1991 and run by Mr Norinaga Nakazawa, president and managing director. CSR's design and manufacturing footprint extends to radio comms equipment (for the Japanese fire and rescue service), wireless microphones and amplifiers (for karaoke), plus electronics for the education sector. CSR is also the Japanese distributor of UK speaker brand PMC, which it sees as a good fit for its range of hi-fi electronics.

CSR/Soulnote employs around 50 people, the Chief Sound Manager since 2016 being Hideki Kato, who has been in the hi-fi industry since the 1980s and has experience in both analogue and digital product design. This is reflected in Soulnote's three-tier range: Series 1 is the entry-level line that includes the A-1 integrated amplifier, E-1 phono equaliser, and D-1N DSD-compatible USB DAC. The costlier Series 2 comprises the A-2 integrated amplifier, E-2 phono equaliser, and D-2 outboard DAC. The flagship Series 3 range includes the Z-3 network transport, D-3 DAC and X-3 outboard clock, to partner the S-3 SACD player, P-3 preamplifier and M-3 monoblock amplifier.

Kato-san's design philosophy is a career-long study to find 'the reason why the improvement in static performance and the sound quality in playback did not always correspond'. As a result, conventional wisdom is challenged, Soulnote believing that 'only listening dominates the determination and improvement of circuit, selection of parts and mechanical construction'. Forgive a lapse into sentiment, but I swear I detect the spirit of Ken Ishiwata, Marantz's late brand ambassador. And so it has proven: the E-2 – if it is typical of the company's output – exhibits the clarity of thought and attention to detail that defined Marantz products of the 1990s.