Even the most linear of circuits will look boring once they're packaged in too linear an enclosure. For theirs, Soulution contracted with a professional design firm. Early drafts dating back to April 2004 and protected inside thick plastic sleeves showed various proposals. Picking a chassis finalist and figuring out how to physically build it without showing any screws was its very own challenge.





For 2010, Soulution is hard at work finalizing the first two entries for the new Series 5 range. Here we spy on a hollow mockup of the CD player which sat on mechanical engineer Patrik Wiersma's desk.







With or without heatsink was one particular question under consideration which had this shell sport fins on one side but not the other. Both Cyrill and I fancied the rippled look but the heat sink's necessary depth steals from internal real estate to perhaps disqualify the concept. The first two 5 models will be this player and a 200wpc integrated amplifier.



Here are a few computer renderings that demonstrate design decisions as of December 2, 2009.





With the Soulution logo on the right cheek—Soulution won a Red Dot design award in 2006 for the 710 and 720/721 components by Eulda—the Series 5 components prior to possible alterations are envisioned to sport low-rider fronts and backs to conceal their footers (Soulution was investigating some Finite Elemente parts) and appear to barely float above a shelf.



Back-panel socketry for the player was still incomplete as Schürmann remains on the hunt for superior USB/Firewire-type signal receiver solutions.


Back at the front offices, Spemot's conference room was most unusual for any supplier of industrial motors by flaunting such an upscale hifi system of their own design and manufacture.



Cyril Hammer's home system outside Zürich runs the same Eventus Audio Nebula speakers and Vovox Textura cabling. After CES 2010, he will take home the pair of Magico M 5s Soulution will once again exhibit with to replace the Nebulas in the office system. Soulution's first showing with Magico was at Paris this year. Bi-amped with four 700 monos, Cyrill was most taken with the M 5s' performance. Alon Wolf seems to share that opinion and uses Soulution amplifiers in his personal system. Cyrill's wife most fancies the Magico Mini II and that might be the model Cyrill will end up with for his home system.





Japan and Korea regard Soulution equipment with the highest respect.



I first encountered this particular remote control platform with the Austrian brand Crayon Audio's CFA-1 integrated. It seems molded to one's hand and is both classy and intuitive to use.





Because Soulution offers their own phonostage, this office system also had a Transrotor vinyl deck.



In the building's bowels meanwhile—in the distant past, the Helena Rubinstein cosmetics company had worked there—Soulution had set up a small burn-in area.







In the same basement's endless storage shelving also sat a few coffin crates containing Soulution chassis parts.





The current supplier is Austrian but Cyrill Hammer hopes to contract in Switzerland in the future.