All
Audio-Technica
Website:https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us
Est. year: 1962
Audio-Technica builds phono cartridges, turntables, headphones and microphones in Japan and was founded in 1962 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, by Hideo Matsushita, a former curator at the Bridgestone Museum of Art, and today headquartered in Machida in western Tokyo. The first product was the AT-1 cartridge, and the company has since become one of the largest audio manufacturers in Japan, with regional subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Singapore and China.
Range & what it's known for
Cartridges remain the core. The VM95 series starts the moving-magnet range, the AT33 and OC9 families cover moving-coil, and the ART series tops it with the AT-ART20 at USD 2,900 and the AT-ART1000, whose coils sit directly above the stylus on a boron cantilever and which is finished by hand at a rate of about two units a day. Turntables run from the belt-drive AT-LP60X to the direct-drive AT-LP120XUSB at USD 399, plus the revived Sound Burger portable and the AT-LP2022 anniversary deck. Headphones span the ATH-M50x closed studio monitor at USD 159 through the ATH-SR and ATH-CKR lines to the open-back ATH-ADX5000 at USD 1,999. The microphone side includes the AT2035 and AT2040 for home studios, the AT4033 and AT4050 studio condensers and wireless systems for stage and broadcast. Making pickup coils, styli and cantilevers in-house is the engineering trait that ties the analogue range together.
Who owns it and where it's made
Audio-Technica Corporation is privately held and family-run; founder Hideo Matsushita died in 2013 and his son Kazuo Matsushita is president. Head office, research and the Naruse factory share the Machida site rebuilt in 2015, and Naruse hand-builds the ART1000 cartridge and selected microphones and headphones. A second factory in Fukui prefecture handles volume production of cartridges, turntables, headphones and wireless systems, and a plant in Hangzhou, China, covers the broader consumer range.
The lineup in this catalog
Turntables, cartridges, headphones and microphones (60). Basic turntables and headphones cost about USD 100 at maker prices, while the AT-ART20 cartridge reaches USD 2,900 and the ATH-ADX5000 headphones USD 1,999.
Who it's for
A first turntable, its cartridge and a pair of headphones can all come from this one Japanese brand, and so can a serious moving-coil pickup later on. The VM95E stylus family and the AT-LP60X are the entry point, the AT-LP120XUSB and an AT33 or OC9 cartridge are the middle step, and the ART cartridges and ADX5000 are the destination.
Range & what it's known for
Cartridges remain the core. The VM95 series starts the moving-magnet range, the AT33 and OC9 families cover moving-coil, and the ART series tops it with the AT-ART20 at USD 2,900 and the AT-ART1000, whose coils sit directly above the stylus on a boron cantilever and which is finished by hand at a rate of about two units a day. Turntables run from the belt-drive AT-LP60X to the direct-drive AT-LP120XUSB at USD 399, plus the revived Sound Burger portable and the AT-LP2022 anniversary deck. Headphones span the ATH-M50x closed studio monitor at USD 159 through the ATH-SR and ATH-CKR lines to the open-back ATH-ADX5000 at USD 1,999. The microphone side includes the AT2035 and AT2040 for home studios, the AT4033 and AT4050 studio condensers and wireless systems for stage and broadcast. Making pickup coils, styli and cantilevers in-house is the engineering trait that ties the analogue range together.
Who owns it and where it's made
Audio-Technica Corporation is privately held and family-run; founder Hideo Matsushita died in 2013 and his son Kazuo Matsushita is president. Head office, research and the Naruse factory share the Machida site rebuilt in 2015, and Naruse hand-builds the ART1000 cartridge and selected microphones and headphones. A second factory in Fukui prefecture handles volume production of cartridges, turntables, headphones and wireless systems, and a plant in Hangzhou, China, covers the broader consumer range.
The lineup in this catalog
Turntables, cartridges, headphones and microphones (60). Basic turntables and headphones cost about USD 100 at maker prices, while the AT-ART20 cartridge reaches USD 2,900 and the ATH-ADX5000 headphones USD 1,999.
Who it's for
A first turntable, its cartridge and a pair of headphones can all come from this one Japanese brand, and so can a serious moving-coil pickup later on. The VM95E stylus family and the AT-LP60X are the entry point, the AT-LP120XUSB and an AT33 or OC9 cartridge are the middle step, and the ART cartridges and ADX5000 are the destination.
