Room 1632 at AXPONA this year featured products from Axiss Audio, and was stacked with gear from Soulution and Gauder Akustik. Up to this point I’ve been unfamiliar with Soulution Audio, but these source components from Switzerland have now officially shown up on my radar. Digital signal was provided by the Soulution 760 DAC retailing for $80k, feeding the Soulution 757 preamp at $85k, and two 511 monoblocks at $42k each.
Words and Photos by Matthew Partrick
It’s hard to adequately describe how impressed I was with these components in the Axiss Audio room. The Soulution 760 DAC uses dual Burr-Brown chips, without using internal upsampling or filters. There are two dedicated internal power supplies; digital ins are AES, SPDIF, optical, USB, and ethernet with AES and SPDIF outputs. The AES/SPDIFs output up to 24/192, while the USB/Ethernet achieve 1/5.64. The Soulution 511 Stereo amps were being used in a dual mono configuration, putting out 560 watts RMS at 8 Ohms, which was more than enough for the big speakers.
Gauder Akustik speakers were also new to me, and the DARC 250 Mk II floorstanders in the Axiss Audio room were both shocking and absolutely glorious. These four-way speakers with Accuton drivers feature a bass reflex aluminum cabinet with either ceramic or diamond tweeters. The crossover features a 60 dB/octave slope distributed over four separate PCBs. I suppose at almost $250k/pair, they better be–sometimes it’s better to price check after listening.
The digital sound in the Axiss Audio room was precise without being overly clinical, especially while streaming “Comes Love” by Peter Cincotti. The sources did a remarkable job of reproducing the track, and the Gauder speakers provided a magnificent soundstage and image separation. Of all the random non-audiophile tracks available at an audio show, I also listened to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. What a pleasant surprise. I’ve always loved his voice, and the unique timbre Lightfoot possesses really came across in a fantastic way.
These products come in at a very steep price point; that said, this Axiss Audio room was just outstanding and well worth a listen.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2024, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
As I passed their factory building in Dulliken with my bicycle many times when I was working in the nuclear power plant that is very close, I can assure you again it`s swiss.
Swiss, per the bottom of their website: © 2024 · soulution · SPEMOT AG · Dulliken, Switzerland
Soulution is a swiss company. Not that far away from germany but swiss.
Then they must have moved the factory to Germany. I just looked at the website and it’s located in Germany. I checked because I know it used to be Swiss.