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The only thing that tells you that an SACD is loaded is the letter ‘S’ preceding the track number. That’s a shame. The SACD logo is one of the nicest in the audio business. There are small push buttons in the middle of the fascia to serve as the basic controls. Above them is a slot with the drawer hidden beneath a motorized flap which is actuated by pressing ‘eject’. This is a conceptually similar solution to Luxman’s D-08 Luxman where it also serves isolation from the external world by damping outside vibrations and protecting from dust. On the right side a rotary control facilitates menu access
On the back panel there is clear distinction between digital and analogue sections. The latter includes both balanced and unbalanced outputs. The manual states how the balanced and unbalanced circuits are completely discrete to avoid any distortion interaction between them. It would only be fair to say that Accuphase has championed the same solution for years referred to as ‘direct balanced filter’. There are three digital inputs—AES/EBU, RCA and Toslink—which are duplicated by three outputs (Toslink useful only for CD playback). Additionally there is a BNC i/o pair to synchronize this machine with an external master clock. There are also multi-pin power inlets for the digital and analog circuits. All socket and pins are top-quality gold-plated bits - very ‘Swiss’.
As already stated, the 745 differs from the 540 in its internal design. It's most assuredly not a minimalist circuit inside a half empty casing. Rather it's a multi-section multi-level architecture that makes the most of its rather sizable internal real estate. On the right side sits the drive mechanism. Soulution first employed the StreamUnlimited JPL-2580 M in the 740 CD version of this machine. Later they migrated to Esoteric/Teac’s VRDS-NEO UMK-5 which added SACD functionality and turned the 740 CD into the 745 SACD player. 740 owners could/can easily upgrade by replacing the drive.
In either case the drive mechanism is bolted to an anodized copper plate that is decoupled by thick Sorbothane washers from the solid aluminum base. On the left atop a metal can containing the display circuitry sits the upsampling module. This S2 affair is sourced from Edel and contains Anagram Technologies Q5 and ATF upsampling algorithms. Soulution definitely has its own way when it comes to upsampling and oversampling. They use only synchro rates (8 x oversampling) and convert 44.1kHz signal to 352.8kHz and DSD to 384kHz PCM. This circuit also expands 16-bit word lengths to 24 bits which is based on true extrapolation rather than just adding 8 empty bits. That’s why in the 745 the section in the D/A converter handling the same function has been defeated.
In the back are three-tier digital input and output sections and to the side sits the four-tier analogue section. These are very complex advanced circuits with multiple voltage regulators and high-quality passive parts like Dale resistors and Wima capacitors. The Burr-Brown PCM1792 chips always work at their maximum sample rate of 384kHz. These are DSD-compatible PCM chips. Since SACD converts to PCM (true 1-bit DSD converters no longer exist) Soulution opted to convert DSD to PCM straight off the disc. The converters are run in dual-mono mode and supported by an ultra-precise master clock generator. The current-to-voltage 80MHz converter operates in class A.
The power supply face plate is a simple flat aluminum affair without controls or indicators. At the back sit two complementary multi-pin ports for the main unit and an IEC power inlet with fuse and mechanical mains switch. This power supply is really impressive. Inside it sports four large PCBs and a smaller one for the Link-system. This supply delivers 10 discrete voltages to the main unit. Directly behind the IEC sits a large AC filter. The drive mechanism runs off a very efficient shielded SMPS. The digital and analogue sections have their own separate power supplies with four transformers. There are multi-stage voltage regulators and lots of PCB-mounted BC and Elna capacitors.
Technical specification according to the manufacturer:
Power consumption (standby/on): <0.5 W/60W
Output signal (XLR/RCA): 2Vrms/2Vrms
Peak output current: 1A
Output impedance (XLR/RCA): 2Ω/2Ω
Frequency response: DC-100kHz
THD: <0.0002%
S/N Ratio: -140dB
Channel separation: >130dB
Dimensions: 480 x 167+115 x 467mm
