Yamamoto Sound Craft at a glance
The Yamamoto Soundcraft Corporation is the HiFi branch of a Japanese machinery company. The large technical possibilities the mother company has, together with Mr. Yamamoto's deep knowledge about materials, and about electronics design has resulted in this wonderful and unique line of products. The special situation here is, that the Yamamoto Soundcraft company does not have to use mechanical parts from other companies. Whatever they need, they make it themself, just the way they want it. Resulting from this is the prestine quality level of the used components.
Until 2003, the company was mainly active in Japan only. With the coming of the internet, and growing interest in tube amplifiers, international sales just "happened" to the Yamamoto company. Until then, the company was mainly known in the Japanese-only tube scene. (which is a scene for itself !) But...the internet changed the way of working. There a lot of awards and articles on Yamamoto products.
Mr. Yamamoto always presented the Audio scene surprizingly beautifull and well-designed HiFi Equipment, made of finest base materials. 
The accessories Mr. Yamamoto designs are genious products, and improve the performance of existing equipment. They are built built to exceptionally high standards: "Handcrafted" as a tag rarely ever signifies this level of bespoke luxury.
Yamamoto Sound Craft makes phono cartridges, head shells for those cartridges, a step up transformer; a phono equalizer amplifier plus a whole lot more. As you can tell Yamamoto-San is a true believer in the joys of vinyl. One of the most demanded Yamamoto accessories is the headshell made from the african ebony wood of the specific gravity 1.4, it is also used for clarinet, oboe, etc. In wood, a clear and forcible sound is the feature because of a very hard and tough material.
--- Shigeki Yamamoto ---
Here, Mr. Yamamoto demonstrates a test record player for the Japanese magazine "Analog". Please don't ask.... it is not for sale. This was only a study, showing the excellent sonic capabilities of the special treated hard wood as used for all products. 
This specially treated cherry wood is called Shashi, and has properties like Ebony wood. So it is the secret tip for Audio products, and of course the #1 choice for the HiFi equipment made by Yamamoto Soundcraft.
Shigeki Yamamoto's professional background includes experience as a high-tech machinist—some of the best and most expensive amplifiers on the planet use his precision-made Teflon tube sockets—and his product gallery is itself a portrait of an audio craftsman with greater-than-average determination: When Yamamoto has an idea for a new kind of capacitor housing—or horn, or moving-coil phono cartridge, or equipment stand, or whatever—he simply gets to work and makes the thing himself. That sort of talent seems out of place in a corporation, or in a field of endeavor that misguided souls have allowed to be dominated by a corporate mentality.
Mr. Yamamoto's music preference is jazz recordings, and he is a very critical listener. His personal experience is, only the finest, natural materials can be used to reproduce the sound in the original way, as it was recorded. For this, no weak elements can be tolerated in the entire sound chain. Only in this way, a true reproduction of the original music will be made possible, with finest details occurring that can not be heard otherwise. This search for originality and perfect materials implicates not only the use of tubes. 
It means every part of the product is subject to a careful selection process. Also the use of hard wood and other natural materials plays an important role in the complete design.
--- The Choice of materials ---
The Japanese Audiophile scene uses only original materials of highest quality and originality, going allways back to the root of the products. There is no interest in new inventions, but allways the search for originality comes first. Japanese tube enthusiasts like to improve products, but never loose the philosophy of the original design. This is how they are. You will find this quality attitude in all traditional Japanese companies like Yamamoto Soundcraft is one. They have a word for this, called Kai-Zen. It means so much as great dreams, small steps.
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