Eric : I'm familiar with Soulnote products having heard them many times at Audio Basic.
Kato : (Laughs) The sound quality and price do not have any correspondence. First, I need to have a complete idea of what sound I want to achieve and then I pick the necessary parts to deliver that. Sometimes, the parts are really expensive, sometimes they are cheap.
Eric : What
would you say is the most important part of a component? The circuit or power
supply?
Kato : Simplicity - you
should only use what is necessary, nothing else.
Eric : Out of
your products, which are you most proud of?
Kato : All
of them!
Eric : Sorry,
it’s like asking who is your favourite child.
Kato : But
if you ask me to choose, it would be the E2 phono equalizer. The reason is that
there were many challenges in designing this product, especially the circuit
for the optical cartridge.
Eric : Optical cartridges are special. I tried the DS Audio cartridge last month. What do you think makes optical cartridges so special? Is it difficult to design an optical phono stage?
Kato :
Well, there is the freedom from omitting the magnet. Designing an optical
stage requires special care with the power supply that feeds the cartridge LED. It has a lot of influence on the sound quality. The
amplifier stage itself is comparatively simple.
Eric : I find
it curious that the power supply is conducted through the phono wire which is
so thin. Are there any special challenges as a result?
Kato : The standards are defined by DS Audio. It isn’t ideal, but there are still advantages.
Eric : If you
could have your way, would you have the power supply fed directly to the
cartridge?
Kato : I actually suggested that to DS Audio, but they didn’t accept my suggestion.
Eric : I
suppose there is no choice in order to maintain compatibility with existing
equipment in the market.
Kato : For the E3, there is a special cable with a separate power supply for the cartridge. Just before the cartridge, the power supply is combined. You get much better sound with that approach.
Eric : Can
you share what equipment you use at home?
Kato : I have children at home, so it’s quite dangerous to have equipment at home. I have YG Hailey speakers in the office, Soulnote electronics and a Vertere turntable.
Eric : Do you
have any advice for audiophiles?
Kato : The
most important thing is to have your own direction rather than listening to
what other people say. What may be regarded as a good or high-quality approach
by others may not be suited for a specific individual.
Eric : Great advice! Thank you so much for your time Kato-san.
 |
| Yours truly and Kato-san of Soulnote Inc, Japan. |
 |
| Glass diaphragm speaker anyone? |
 |
| GAIT of Taiwan had a variety of glass cone and dome drivers on display |
 |
| Transparent sound (pun intended), especially at lower to mid-level volumes |
GAIT were showing their glass diaphragm speaker drivers. According to my conversations with them, they are able to make drivers up to 8 inches. The diaphragms are as tough as gorilla glass and able to withstand 20kg of force before shattering. The drive units cover a wide frequency range and have relatively benign break-up modes. As glass is relatively heavy, the downside is lower sensitivity.
Nuprime and Audiomis
 |
| JW Speaker Lab of Malaysia were showing their floorstanding speaker featuring SB Acoustic drivers |
Interesting looking speakers hailing from across the Causeway. The speaker on demo featured a ring-radiator tweeter and ceramic woofers from SB Acoustics.
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| Obit Audio and Diesis speakers. Sadly this setup was not playing music when I visited |
More than one visitor told me that this was the room to visit. Sadly, I was not fated to hear this system.
Ong Radio
 |
| Point were showing their electronics and AC-conditioning device |
A very brave demonstration with bookshelf speakers on the floor, and Youtube as a source. Notwithstanding that, the system sounded quite good, with clear differences heard as the AC-conditioning device was swapped in and out of the system. The gentleman reminded me of my old squash coach that thrashed me playing with a wooden racket in his left hand (he was right-handed).
Richard Mak - Turntable setup workshop
 |
| Sound Decisions were showing Kii's new model, the SEVEN speaker system |
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| Kii Control - the key to connectivity and control over your SEVEN speaker |
Great sound and dynamics. With bass extension that challenges most floorstanders, this little beast represents the way of the future.
Audioline - TAD
 |
| Goldmund, Metronome and Wilson Watt |
