SOULNOTE is a Japanese high-end audio brand from CSR Corporation (Kanagawa, Japan), founded in 2004 by former Marantz Japan director Norinaga Nakazawa. Led by Chief Engineer Kato—an NEC and Nippon Marantz alumnus who joined CSR in 2005 and took the helm in 2016—SOULNOTE designs source players, DACs, amplifiers, and phono stages known for non-feedback analog circuits, NOS (non-oversampling) digital architecture, and mechanically “free” chassis construction. This purist, time-axis–first approach prioritizes dynamic performance and musical realism over catalog specs. The result has earned top accolades in Japan, including repeated StereoSound awards and selection of the S-3 Reference system as a listening-room reference. With a growing international presence since Munich High End 2022, SOULNOTE’s mission remains clear: faithfully reveal the “soul” embedded in every recording.