When I first heard the company name for the A-2 Integrated Amp, I thought of the Italian jazz record label that released over 350 records from the likes of Bill Dixon, Mal Waldron, and Cecil Taylor.
But this Soulnote, all one word unlike the Italian jazz label, is based in Japan and they make a line of interesting products reminiscent of classic hifi with their wood side panels including monoblock amplifiers, a preamplifier, phono preamps, a pair of integrateds, and a host of digital products. We learn from the company’s website that SOULNOTE is a high-end audio brand of CSR Corporation (Kanagawa Prefecture), which was established in 2004 by former Marantz Japan director Norinaga Nakazawa. The company employs about 50 people. Those wood side panels make even more sense with the Marantz connection in mind.
The Soul Note A-2 Integrated offers 100 Watts per channel (into 8 Ohms, doubled into 4) in a fully discrete, balanced design that employs no negative feedback. The A-2 can be run in a number of ways selected via switches on the rear panel:
Stereo pre-main amplifier
BTL monaural pre-main amplifier
Bi-amp monaural pre-main amplifier
Stereo power amplifier
BTL monaural power amplifier
Bi-amp monaural power amplifier
There are a total of six line level inputs (3x balanced, 3x single-ended) and a single pair of speaker binding posts.
The ribbed aluminum front panel houses a selector knob, volume control, and a centered volume level display over the Soulnote logo. The included remote offers these same functions plus additional controls for use with other Soulnote devices. The power switch is embedded/concealed in one of the ribs. Much care has been taken in the A-2’s chassis design to control resonances, e.g. the top plate ‘floats’ on the chassis housing, touching down on only three points to eliminate unwanted resonance.
The company offers a lot of interesting information on their design philosophy in terms of measurements versus sound. Here’s one tasty tidbit—Somehow we have come to think of sound quality in terms of the Frequency axis. And somehow we forgot about the Time axis. I call this the Fourier’s curse.
And here’s some information on the A-2’s internal design from Soulnote:
SOULNOTE’s original perfectly balanced non-NFB channels have been fully optimized and incorporated to give sound quality the highest priority. Voltage feedback has been completely eliminated in the output stage, the voltage amplification stage, and in the power supply circuits. Because of their impact on sound, DC servo circuits and current mirror circuits have been eliminated, while both the constant current circuits and the bias circuits in the voltage amplification stage employ simple circuitry layouts that only use constant current elements (2SK209) [JFETs] and constant voltage elements (LEDs) carefully selected for utmost sound quality. The power amplification stage is perfectly balanced all the way through the emitter follower output. All this in relentless pursuit of vibrant, expansive, clear, and lush music playback.
There’s more to say about the design of the A-2 Integrated, and more importantly its sound, which will happen in the review proper. Stay tuned!
SOULNOTE A-2 Integrated Amplifier
Price: $7999
Company Website: SOULNOTE
US Distributor Website: Fidelity Imports
Specifications
Rated output: 100W×2(8ohm), 200W×2 (4ohm), 400W (BTL MONO 8ohm)
Total harmonic distortion: 0.03% (50W 8ohm)
Frequency characteristic SPEAKER (8ohm 1W): 3Hz to 240kHz (±1.0dB)
Input sensitivity/impedance: LINE 1,2,3 (balanced): 700mV/16kohm , LINE 4,5,6 (single ended): 700mV/8kohm
S/N ratio: 110dB (IHF A network)
Power voltage: 220V AC 50Hz(A-2H), 115V AC 60Hz(A-2T), 230V AC 50Hz(A-2E)
Power consumption: 355W, 125W (during idling)
Maximum external dimensions: Main unit: 455(W) × 162(H) × 423(D)mm
Weight: 20.5kg
Included accessories: Remote control, Spikes, Power cord