SOULUTION 541 SACD
Digital sources
After reading rave reviews I expected to be blown away by the digital solution from Soulution. My audio beliefs were supposed to be smashed, my benchmarks redefined and my mind left computing how much money I need to withdraw from my bank account. Nothing from the above mentioned happened. Yet the Soulution 541 is a fantastic CD player that can easily challenge the best vinyl players with something as obsolete as red-book format.
Function and form
The 540 is all aluminum-work with curved side panels that actually make the unit visually heftier than it is. The player exhibits almost Zen purity that is further enhanced by a simple red-matrix display. The 540 is a digital machine so its controlling interface is unsurprisingly digital. I had to accommodate with a single rotary knob and three buttons and, oh so, an eclectic remote controller. And I was not complaining as those minimalist means let me do all I wanted – power up, open the drawer, and control the playback menus.
From the back there are the usual suspects – RCA and XLR analog outputs (one pair each) and SPDIF, AES/EBU and Toslink digital outputs (again one each). The Soulution 541 can be used as a stand-alone high-end DAC so the digital inputs include set of coaxial, optical and balanced connections. To accommodate now highly fashionable computer audio the 540 provides USB connection (up to 24bit/96kHz) and an optional LAN input for PCM (24bit/192kHz) and DSD (1bit up to 5,64MHz). Through the latter it accepts FLAC, WAV, AAC, MP3, ALAC, AIFF and DSF files.
Bass management
I see the SACD compatibility in the Soulution only as an add-on feature; the player has been apparently designed to get the most out of red-book format and this mission was accomplished. Should you want to hear your CD collection like you’ve never heard it before then give a listen to the 541. Should you have been spoilt by any of the top performing SACD players (some of them listed above but there are more in the market) then listen twice. I am not sure why it is like that. The reason could be the automatic upsampling of CD material to 24bit/384kHz (powered by Anagram Technologies chip) which improves CD and automatic downsampling the DSD signal to PCM before it enters converters (Burr-Brown’s PCM 1792 24-bit chips, one per channel) which perhaps affects the SACD? I do not know but the result is what I described: elevated listening experience of standard compact discs and slightly compromised playback of SACD material which subjectively erases the sonic gap between the two formats. I remember I had a similar impression with Wadia’s 781i SACD player that applied the same approach.
Clarity & delicacy
The 541 really is a fantastic performer of old good red-book discs. To my ears it works down to “nano”resolution to extract the least particles of sound and serve them to the listener with elegant musicality. The classical music pieces have not been stripped of colors, they did not lost the timbres and fullness of sound, yet the player managed to preserve the diminutive details and air in between the instruments. It is the sort of reproduction that makes you thinking about how it is still possible, after more than 30 years, improve the CD sound. How does it come that the imaging and sonic acuity asymptotically approaches the real event so much? I do not know - what I can say is that the Soulution 541 is among the three finest players I have auditioned recently – the Accuphase’s DP-720, the dCS’s Vivaldi set up and Ayon’s CDT/Stratos combo.
Tonal accuracy
The player throws unbelievable amount of detail at you but without bringing your attention to it – its resolution power is natural and finely balanced. It has explosive macrodynamics and attacks and is capable of very fine microdynamic shading; sorry vinyl lovers (and I am the vinyl lover too), your turntables are left behind by big margins. The sound is fluid, smooth and free of any digital artifacts, with sonorous and rich midrange, soft-spoken highs and springy deep bass.
Spatial resolution
It can recreate the scale of an orchestra like only few players can. The soundstage is illuminated, breathing and very physical, instruments are real three-dimensional things, they cease to be just sounds.
Recommended resellers
RP Audio, Ostrava, tel. +420 737 366 831
Manufacturer's website: http://www.soulution-audio.com
Associated components
- Sources: TW-Acustic Raven One s raménkem Graham Phantom a vložkou Transfiguration Orpheus, Linn Unidisk 1.1
- Amplifiers: Spectral DMA-150, linestage Gruensch Reference MSL, phono Gruensch Reference Phonostage MCS
- Interconnects and speaker cables: MIT MA, MIT MA-X XLR, MIT V2.1 Oracle
- Loudspeakers: Wilson Audio Sasha W/P
- Power conditioning: Furutech Daytona 303E, Shunyata Research Anaconda Zi-Tron
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