DENON & MARANTZ SHIRAKAWA AUDIO WORKS Home Entertainment
Denon Sound Master Shinichi Yamauchi.
it be it a primary influence when it comes to sound profile and character? Not really, explains Yamauchi
San. The
Sound Master may have grown up with vinyl but he’s well aware of what digital sources bring to the party. He describes the Denon audio profile as something of a hybrid. Taditional Denon sound was built around the pillars of ‘Powerful’ and ‘Precise’ - but the Sound Master soon added Vivid and Spacious to the company mantra.
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He’s been with Marantz since 1995, originally working as the electrical engineer on CD player development. Models he has overseen include the SACD10, Model10, Amp10, Model 30 and SA10 - all models lauded for their sound quality. He explains that the Marantz sound philosophy
is ‘Pursuit of purity’ which embodies accurate reproduction transparency and non-colouration. “It takes between 5 - 2 years to develop an
AVR or high-end stereo amplifier,” we’re told. Ogata San gets just two chances to tune a product before mass production. “The first sound tuning, at the engineering stage, is very, very important,” he says. “The second chance at tuning is more limited, as the design and componentry are confirmed.” Everything is locked in prior to production. The Marantz Sound Master doesn’t just work on high-end separates. He’s also charged with bringing signature Marantz musicality to the brand’s more affordable lines. “When it comes to a smaller form factor, or entry level product, there are limitations as to what components can be used,” he says. “We need to choose more affordable power supplies and capacitors. Even though they are limited by price, and often size, there’s still the need to develop products capable of producing three dimensional sound.” It’s quite a challenge, he confides. “With lower cost components it’s very difficult to accurately reproduce string instruments, like violins. But I do think we can still reproduce a holographic sound stage.”
The ultimate aim, he says, is to create
enjoyment when listening to loudspeakers. “The younger generation don’t listen with speakers, only headphones,” he says. “If you only use headphones, music is produced in your head. I want to spread the enjoyment of listening to music through speakers.” In the adjoining demo room, Denon Sound
Master Shinichi Yamauchi admits to being an unabashed fan of anlogue audio. Does that lean into the long running debate about sonic differences between the two brands - could
What about AI?! We were curious to learn if AI tools had yet entered the world of sound tuning? It’s being used, Yamauchi San revealed - but not as you might imagine.
“For our development, we need to encourage knowledge sharing with the next generation (of Sound Masters). So the company is now committing to online tutorials, and sharing recording sessions with the younger generation of engineers. This knowledge bank is logged into a cloud system, so that young engineers can befiti from the brand’s accumulated wisdom. Looking forward, Denon aims to remain at the
forefront of home cinema and immersive audio technologies. “We believe there will be better, more spacious content in the future, and we will try to support that as much as possible - it ties in with our brand history.”
Marantz Sound Master, Yoshinori Ogata.
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