Air Tight

Belonging to the Sport Club (table-tennis) during 1952 - 1956 in his university days, Mr. Miura joined Lux Corp. (LUXMAN) upon his graduation by invitation of Mr. H. Hayakawa his 3-year elder club manager (who became the president later).

Lux Corp. founded in June 1924 by Mr. T. Hayakawa & his brother K. Yoshikawa was the oldest manufacturer in Japan of the electronic components, and already famous at that time for the output transformers & switches. In those days with spread of radio, some of the parts manufacturers such as Pioneer, Sansui and Trio have already started to make Hi-Fi amps.

Though being a 'radio' boy by nature, he has not got an education as an engineer and in the beginning at Lux Corp. he was mainly in charge of purchase and control of component materials, and later took part in building a factory for manufacture of audio amps.

In 1961 he married Mari the eldest daughter of Mr. Yoshikawa, the counterpart of the founders in charge of technical field and the then president, and begot a son and a daughter, thus becoming a member of the 'LUXMAN' family.

As from 1968 he started to lead the Sales Division as the general manager in Tokyo Office for sales promotion in the domestic and overseas markets. In this period he brought up the LUXMAN to be the top-notch brand in Hi-Fi audio, introducing many hit models such as SQ-38, SQ-505, MQ-60, CL-35, etc. to name a few.

During 1977 -1980 he was stationed in New York in the capacity of the president of the US affiliate, Lux Audio of America. At that time, so-called Hi-End Audio manufacturers such as Mark Levinson appeared in the marketplace, which exerted a great influence on his later creation of the Air-Tight brand.Having retired from Lux Corp. in 1985, he formed A & M Ltd. with Mr. M. Ishiguro and started design for his 1st model ATM-1 amp. In those days, all the manufacturers are absolutely for solid-state gears and even Lux Corp. renowned for tube amps was inclined to stop the production. It being a sheer waste to leave on the shelf such outstanding amplifying components as tubes, he began to think to make what he wants if all shift to transistors & semi-conductors, motivated by the existence of such audio precursors as M/S. S. Marantz and M. Levinson he met in his US days.

Since his big senior Mr. H. Hayakawa left LUXMAN Co., Mr. Miura is the only person engaged in this industry. To requite the favours given by Mr. Hayakawa & Mr. Yoshikawa his father-in-law, he is striving to do something contributing to development of the cultural world of audio.

Incidentally, the A & M company was named after 3 acronyms: 1st, the initials of Atsushi Miura himself, 2ndly, Atsushi & his wife Mari, 3rdly, Atsushi & Masami (Ishiguro) his engineering partner

 

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• Preamplifiers

ATC-1

  • Highly reliable 12AX7 valves meticulously selected after ageing
  • 3-stage low-impedance K-K NF configuration equaliser acclaimed for low distortion & wide frequency response
  • Simple, single-stage flat amp for pure sound
  • High-voltage B-power supply with quick recovery diode
  • PCB-free hand wiring
  • Discrete, highly rigid dia-magnetic chassis
  • EL-core power transformer

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• Preamplifiers

ATC-2

  • Valves employed 12AX7 (ECC83) x 5
  • Output voltage rated 2V, max. 15V
  • Output impedance 600 ohm (pre-out, EQ-out)
  • THD 0.05% (phono), 0.02% (line)
  • Input sensitivity phono: 1.8mV (output 1V), line: 150mV (output 1V)
  • S/N ratio 85dB (phono) & 98dB (line)
  • Dimensions 430 (W) x 325 (D) x 90 (H) mm
  • Weight 7 kgs

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• Preamplifiers

ATC-3

  • SRPP line amp with reinforced buffer stage to assure good noise rejection, low output impedance and extended linearity
  • Rich power supply featuring quick recovery diode for high operational speed and low pulse noise
  • Single steel sheet with multi-layer enamel for high rigidity and low noise
  • High quality input/output jacks with detachable mains cord

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• Preamplifiers

ATE-2001 Reference

  • Meticulous hand wiring without PCB in all signal paths
  • 1.6mm thick steel plate to shield all of the internal and external vibrations
  • High mass solid brass attenuator pot that is resistant to vibrations, offering smoothest operational touch with utmost accuracy
  • Output stage composed of a low-impedance, high output SRPP circuit that assures stable function of NF circuitry throughout wide bandwidth
  • Exclusive on-board step-up transformer by My Sonic Lab, featuring high quality core and wire
  • A 6DJ8 single stage flat amp, designed as a no NFb SRPP circuit, that sends stable output signals under low impedance even when the attenuator is activated
  • 3 line inputs and 3 sets of phono inputs that enable you to use 3 different cartridges/tonearms (2 MCs and 1 MM) for versatile listening pleasure

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• Phono EQ Amplifier

ATE-2005

Taking conventional vinyl-discs in no way inferior to contemporary digital discs, the A & M have been introducing a series of analogue-related products such as the ATC-1, ATE-2, ATE-2001. Of late, many of the discerning audiophiles have been taking a new look at the existing vinyl discs, and recognizing anew the real value of analogue-recorded sounds.

Consistently sticking to analogue format employing vacuum tubes as amplifying components, now grandly introduced is the almighty phono equaliser amplifier ATE-2005.

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• Power amplifiers

ATM-1S

  • Simple, elegant outer appearance composed of 8mm extruded aluminum front panel, milled aluminum knobs and name plate, and a 4-layer coated chassis with glossy, custom color finish
  • Front input made to bypass shielded wires, and is coupled directly to first stage tube to ensure unimpaired reproduction of digital information
  • All units tuned to optimum operational point with 100 hours aging after alignment, thus insuring absolutely reliable performance
  • No printed circuit boards - 100% hand wiring throughout for superb sonic quality
  • Hashimoto output transformers, acclaimed for their dynamic sonic quality
  • Copper-plated chassis and oxygen-free copper wires
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• Power amplifiers

ATM-2

  • Renowned KT-88 output valves for high power
  • Bias adjuster for optimal operation of output valves
  • Cathode follower direct drive circuitry under UL connection
  • Total hand-wiring without PCB
  • Full OFC wiring and copper-plated chassis & bottom plate
  • Dependable Tamura output transformers with large input capability exceeding 100W
  • CD direct input enabling unimpaired digital reproduction

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• Power amplifiers

ATM-3 Mono

  • 6CA7 output valves for high reliability and affluent musicality under triple push-pull configuration
  • Selector between UL and TRIODE modes enabling to match the amp operation to type of speaker used, or the sound to your personal taste
  • Bias adjustment enabling each and all valves to exhibit the same operational performance
  • Removal of PCB for vivid, natural sonic reproduction
  • Large power transformer with heavy duty choke coil and reputed Tamura output transformer
  • Muting delay system to protect output valves

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• Power amplifiers

ATM-300

  • Legendary musical charms of jubilee-long reputed 300B direct-heated valve
  • Self-biased Class-A operation at 300B output stage
  • 3-stage triode amplification for sublimate musicality
  • DC-driven heater to reduce noise inherent in direct-heated valve
  • Bias/current meter to check optimum operation of output valve
  • Damping selector control to create one's favourite sound
  • Lavish employment of second-to-none, custom-selected components
  • Copper-plated chassis to remove magnetic distortion
  • Attenuator on direct CD input

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• Power amplifiers

ATM-211

  • Unprecedented high power 22W derived from broadcast-oriented 211 valve with direct-coupled cathode follower stage
  • All-stage triode driven non-NF Class-A operation to achieve pure, unimpaired sound
  • Independently coiled transformer for amp-stage, bias, heater & relay circuits to remove mutual interferences
  • DC-driven heater filament to eliminate hum of output valve
  • Relay activated muting circuit for long life of electrolytic capacitor
  • Bias meter to check operation status of output valve

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• Integrated amplifier

AM-201

Those who has actually seen and touched an Air Tight amplifier will appreciate its build quality. These works of art are being created by a very small team of experienced engineers and technicians, by hand, one piece at a time, in Japan. Unfortunately that makes Air Tight amplifiers out of the reach of most music lovers; to answer their calls, Mr. Miura started another brand: Acoustic Masterpiece, so as to preserve the integrity of the Air Tight name.


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• flatner

DF-01E

A flatter record will track better and sound better.  The Disc Flatter is a very cool device that will flatten the surface of an LP, without damaging the grooves.  LPs can and will warp if not stored properly, are subjected to warmer temperatures or high humidity! So, the folks at Air Tight came up with this wonderful device that resolves most warps safely and quicker than stuffing your records in a bookshelf for two years.


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• The Reference Cartridge

PC1

But actually for these 30 years, nothing has been noticeably improved in respect of technical data; to the contrary something adverse has been done in the light of the above-mentioned principle "output voltage vs. internal impedance". Certainly, compared to the samarium or cerium cobalt magnet used 30 years ago, the neodynium magnet forming today's mainstream is enhanced by as much as 3 times in terms of energy product, but it does not help augment the output voltage.

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• MC Phono Cartridge

PC3

Employed is a multi-structure cantilever composed of boron and aluminium. The preeminent feature is to realise high-quality sound with wide range reproduction spectrum under an outstanding S/N ratio.

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• Loudspeakers

Bonsai

The Bonsai - a jewel of a speaker from the company that brought you the magnificent ATM-211 SET monoblocks comes a speaker that only the Japanese can do - miniture perfection. The MSM-1 has been a long time in gestation with much R&D spent in driver technology. This is decidedly not a speaker with OEM parts, clobbered together and slapped on with a manufacturer's badge. In their search for the ideal driver they realise that many existing materials use for the diaphragm do not meet their design goals. Thus, a wholly new cone driver was born, made out of hybrid material.

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