All
Soulnote
Website:https://www.soulnote.co.jp/
Est. year: 2004
SOULNOTE is a Japanese high-end audio brand from Sagamihara in Kanagawa prefecture, owned by CSR, Inc., a company formed in 2004 when it took over the wireless communications division of Nihon Marantz in a management buyout. The brand covers integrated, pre and power amplifiers, DACs, CD players, phono stages and speakers, and its signature is fully discrete amplifiers that use no overall negative feedback and for cases built to float rather than be screwed down tight.
Range & what it's known for
The range is split into three tiers. Series 1 and Series 2 each offer an integrated amplifier, a phono stage and a DAC, while Series 3 is the reference line with the P-3 preamplifier, the M-3 mono power amplifier, the A-3 integrated amplifier and the E-3 phono stage for optical cartridges. The A-3 puts a P-3 type preamp and two M-3 type amplifier blocks into one case, with completely separated left and right ground, relays switched through photocouplers and a top plate that is left loose. At the other end, the A-0 Ver.2 is a 10 W per channel integrated with the same four-stage Darlington output design as the A-3, plus a headphone output.
Who owns it and where it's made
CSR, Inc. is a private company headquartered in Sagami-Ono, Sagamihara, which also makes professional radio equipment, karaoke systems and music education devices. It registered the SOULNOTE trademark in 2007, and in July 2023 set up a group company, SOULNOTE Inc., to run the high-end audio business on its own. Product design is carried out in Japan.
The lineup in this catalog
SOULNOTE amplifiers and DACs, from around USD 2,000 to beyond USD 15,000.
Who it's for
SOULNOTE is for systems built on Japanese electronics with simple non-feedback circuits, where spare front panels and few extra features are no drawback. The A-0 or a Series 1 integrated is the way in, Series 2 is the middle step, and the P-3 and M-3 pair is the end point. Vinyl owners with an optical cartridge have a dedicated phono stage in the E-3, which is rare among amplifier makers.
Range & what it's known for
The range is split into three tiers. Series 1 and Series 2 each offer an integrated amplifier, a phono stage and a DAC, while Series 3 is the reference line with the P-3 preamplifier, the M-3 mono power amplifier, the A-3 integrated amplifier and the E-3 phono stage for optical cartridges. The A-3 puts a P-3 type preamp and two M-3 type amplifier blocks into one case, with completely separated left and right ground, relays switched through photocouplers and a top plate that is left loose. At the other end, the A-0 Ver.2 is a 10 W per channel integrated with the same four-stage Darlington output design as the A-3, plus a headphone output.
Who owns it and where it's made
CSR, Inc. is a private company headquartered in Sagami-Ono, Sagamihara, which also makes professional radio equipment, karaoke systems and music education devices. It registered the SOULNOTE trademark in 2007, and in July 2023 set up a group company, SOULNOTE Inc., to run the high-end audio business on its own. Product design is carried out in Japan.
The lineup in this catalog
SOULNOTE amplifiers and DACs, from around USD 2,000 to beyond USD 15,000.
Who it's for
SOULNOTE is for systems built on Japanese electronics with simple non-feedback circuits, where spare front panels and few extra features are no drawback. The A-0 or a Series 1 integrated is the way in, Series 2 is the middle step, and the P-3 and M-3 pair is the end point. Vinyl owners with an optical cartridge have a dedicated phono stage in the E-3, which is rare among amplifier makers.
