One egghead at least

How come that a small Swiss company, which has not yet been serving the high-end market for ten years, can push itself so boldly to the top of the competition? First off, Christoph Schürmann replies stating that the reason for this is by no means a secret: »At the universities various models for the design of an amplifier are being taught. All the pros and cons are presented in a scientifically correct manner. In the audio world we have to deal with five basic principles in a direct succession. So everybody will copy from everyone else then, swapping a few components here and there or modifying dimensions. Real sonic improvements cannot be achieved this way.« So he had always been doing research off the beaten tracks of »pure« doctrine. Then nine years ago Spemot AG – the mother company of Soulution Audio – offered him the breathtaking opportunity to embark on developing a series of high-end devices with no financial limitations. Christoph Schürmann continues: »I’d rather keep silence on our list of failures, but we were also under way in the wrong direction several times on this path. Yet apart from all those countless and unconventional detailed solutions in the Soulution components it is specifically the new feedback concept which has vaulted us right to the first line.«

Turn me on!

This moment was so eagerly expected. After we had let the Audionet VIP G3 source and the Soulution 720 preamp warm up thoroughly, we pressed the power buttons for the first time to smoothly wake up the Soulution 700s. The respect in dealing with the monos is indeed awesome. Upon boot-up the display provides information on the quiescent current and indicates operational readiness. Alright, here we go!

Ultimate performance

Words are not a suitable means to capture the sonic performance of these amplifiers. For what could be able to top superlatives which don’t come easy anyway? Soulution 700 is the adequate answer. Very shortly after the onset of the listening check the company name can be heard once again. This mixture of »soul« and »solution« describes perfectly the reproduction characteristics of these components. It is not only the uniquely outstanding sound quality, but above all the amazement at the acoustic performance the loudspeakers, which the editors are quite familiar with, can suddenly deliver.

They are rising beyond themselves: in the bass range, in terms of spatiality, acoustic timbres, precision and maximum sound pressure level. Incredible. But let’s take one thing at a time. In the listening room the Revel F 52 is present as the sound benchmark at nearly every check – it’s the reference. We know the strong points of these American loudspeakers very well. Or so we thought at least until the Soulution 700s appeared on the scene. After the monos had been integrated into the chain, something unprecedented was going on.