Accuphase

Accuphase

Music is an oasis that refreshes us in our journey of life.

Music can be soothing, exciting, exhilarating. It can move our hearts and enrich our lives, which is the goal we at Accuphase seek through audio technology.

This was the idea behind the slogan "Enrich Life through Technology" which originally brought together the group of very highly skilled audio experts who conceived and today produce the successful Accuphase line of audio equipment. It is the guiding principle behind all Accuphase components whose high grade can be considered extravagant. Just as there are exquisite musical instruments that are especially highly prized, we believe that the same applies to audio components. This belief forms the basis of our design concept. It is the reason why we strive to build extra value into each of our units so that they will display fully the merits of hand construction.

The name ACCUPHASE was adapted by taking the prefix ACCU from the word "accurate", and combining it with PHASE which is a most important factor in audio technology. We feel it is a very fitting brand name to describe our products that fully portray this and other important characteristics, which penetrate the innermost depth of audio technology. Our endless pursuit of quality requires a very high degree of processing which persuades us to avoid the use of mass production systems. Consequently, production volume is limited and Accuphase products are available only at a restricted number of specialized stores.

Accuphase equipment is not subject to the whims of market fashion since they are made, above all, to achieve true high fidelity sound reproduction. This is the foremost reason why our products have enjoyed long-run production.

Air Tight

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

Audio Research

Audio Research

Audio Research is one of the oldest continually operating manufacturers in American audio.The company was founded in 1970 in Minneapolis with one goal in mind: to advance the state-of-the-art in music reproduction. Today, Audio Research remains a performance-oriented company by philosophy and design. New product introductions are driven only by genuine advances in technology and performance -- the HIGH DEFINITION that is the hallmark of the company's products. The company has grown steadily over the last quarter-century, with a network of top audio specialist retailers across North America and country-by-country distributors throughout Europe, Asia and South America.The company occupies a 48,000 square-foot, technically-advanced production plant and administrative headquarters in Plymouth, Minnesota, where approximately 50 technical, assembly and support staff guide the product line from concept to finished goods. A research-only facility has also been established in Palm Desert, California.

Audio Research was instrumental in refocusing the audio industry on designing products for musical performance, and not merely for the sake of new technology or mass-market pricing. Audio Research was founded by William Z. Johnson, who began designing custom audio electronics in the early 1950's and who also operated a specialty audio retail store until the mid-1960's. Johnson's efforts almost single-handedly revived vacuum-tube designs at a time when major industry manufacturers had abandoned this technology in favor of low-cost solid-state devices which were markedly inferior in terms of musical accuracy, a fact widely acknowledged today. Many industry observers consider Johnson one of the true originators of the entire concept of "high-end" audio as it exists today -- an area of technological expertise in which American companies remain the clear innovators and leaders on a global scale.

Audio Research prides itself on manufacturing only those products which will provide genuine enjoyment for as long as the customer cares to own them. In company practice, this means that Audio Research technicians can still repair, refurbish and restore to original performance standards, any product ever manufactured during the company's quarter-century history. Indeed, 25-year-old Audio Research designs continue to provide exceptional musical enjoyment daily in music systems around the world. These products are workhorses, not museum pieces.

Audio Research products have demonstrated lasting residual value after purchase. More than a few models have acquired legendary "collector" status and continue to resell for as much or close to what they originally cost. The Audio Research customer does not have to fear instant, marked depreciation as is the case with most other audio components. Used Audio Research equipment is quickly absorbed on the open market because savvy enthusiasts know the company is interested in providing service and support for older models on an ongoing basis.

Much more than a mere carriage-trade brand name, the Audio Research marque has come to represent stellar performance and lasting value for music lovers and audio enthusiasts everywhere.

Bauer Audio

Bauer Audio

Willi Bauer, maker of the dps turntable takes ‘does what it says on the tin’ product naming to new heights of clarity, or at least he does when you realise that dps stands for der plattenspieler or the record player.

Willi is a Bavarian from Munich, home of Europe’s finest high-end show and blokes who wear leather shorts. Willi as far as I know, does not wear lederhosen, but he does have a fascination for turntables, setting up his first one at the tender age of 15, culminating in 1999 when he started producing der plattenspieler.

Cardas Audio

Cardas’ cable design incorporates patented, Golden Ratio, Constant Q, Cross-Field, pure copper Litz, conductor technology. Why should I use it? What will it do for my system?

It is said, wire is just wire. In reality, a high-end audio cable must balance resistance, capacitance, inductance, conductance, velocity of propagation, RF radiation and absorption, mechanical resonance, strand interaction, high filtering, reflections, electrical resonance, dissipation factors, envelope delay, phase distortion, harmonic distortion, , structural return loss, corrosion, cross-talk, bridge-tap and the interaction of these and a hundred other things. As a high-end cable manufacturer, Cardas Audio strives to address every detail of cable and conductor construction, no matter how small.

An elegant solution deals with quality, not quantity. Cable geometry problems are resolved in the cable’s design, not after the fact with filters. George Cardas received U.S. Patent Number 4,628,151 for creating Golden Section Stranding Audio Cable. It is truly unique. George introduced the concept of Golden Section Constant "Q" Stranding to high-end audio, but Golden Ratio, 1.6180339887... : 1 is as old as nature itself. Golden Ratio is the mathematical proportion of life itself, the heart of musical scales and chords. "Discovered" by the Greeks, but used by the Egyptians in the Great Pyramid centuries before, man has employed Golden Ratio to create his most beautiful and naturally pleasing works of art and architecture.

Chord

Chord

The Chord Company has been designing, manufacturing and selling interconnects and speaker cable for almost 25 years. Every cable that The Chord Company supplies is designed within the company and apart from a couple of exceptions, every product is assembled and tested at the company's facility, set deep in the heart of Wiltshire.

The Company was started in 1986 to produce and sell the Chord Chrysalis interconnect range. Never was a product so aptly named. The Chrysalis cable had a remarkably well-balanced set of performance characteristics and from this, The Chord Company's outstanding range of interconnect cables has emerged and grown. The product line-up has evolved naturally but always with reference to existing Chord cables. This makes the Chord interconnect and speaker cable range remarkably consistent. The essential balance of performance characteristics is maintained throughout the range.

The Chord Co believe that anyone who listens to their cables should be able to clearly and easily hear the benefits that their cables can bring to the enjoyment of music and film, and that these benefits should justify the cost of the product.

High quality products should be backed up by high quality customer service. It's as simple as that. Whether by e-mail, telephone or via one of our many retailers or distributors, we aim to offer the best possible advice with regard to the matching of our products to the many levels of hi-fi and home cinema systems available. In-house production means thatwe can respond quickly and efficiently to customer demand, be it unusual terminations or non-standard cable lengths.

Our rigorous quality assurance and testing process allows us to offer a 10-year warranty on all our products. Our extensive knowledge of specialist terminations means that mistakes are rare but when they do occur, they will be dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Clearaudio

Clearaudio

"Take the best and make it better, only then is it just good enough." Peter Suchy

A man with a visionary character and an overwhelming desire to bring these visions into reality; a man who does not follow trends, but creates them and sets new standards; a man who realises his philosophy in the products that carry the Clearaudio name. Peter Suchy is this character and more than just the man behind the products, his committed dedication and emotion means his soul is inherently in his products.

1978, the year of real breakthrough, the year Clearaudio's moving-coil cartridges were introduced to the world with their innovative and unique symmetrical generator design. Handcrafted in Erlangen, Germany - Clearaudio products are regarded as innovative, of true quality, and of setting the highest standards by hi-fi specialists and top class engineers alike.

Harbeth

Harbeth

All Harbeths are hand made and individually tested in the village of Lindfield, southern England. Concentrated development work is conducted at our rural research centre.

One of Lindfield's claims to fame is that in the year 1066, King Harold's archers made use of the yew trees of the village on their way to the Battle of Hastings.

Each crossover board is carefully checked and tested using computer-controlled equipment. Every finished speaker is again tested before shipment to ensure it leaves the factory in perfect condition. Careful packing, in specially-designed boxes, ensures a safe journey to the final customer.

High Resolution Technologies

High Resolution Technologies

Welcome to High Resolution Technologies, home of the Music Streamer family of products. Our approach is simple, take an idea and develop it to the point of perfection.

All of our products share a common goal; to be the best at what they do. No unnecessary frills, just a highly focused design, the very best materials and processes, all crafted into a high value product.

We call this performance.

Lavardin

Lavardin

Our new technologies have only one goal : musical enjoyment. Our research to find out the dominant factors for the musicality of amplifiers allowed us to discover previously unknown non linear distortion which we called "memory distortion"(TM).

When the finest tube designs produce one tenth the amount of this newly revealed distortion,only our revolutionary components and circuitry knock it back - to one one-thousandth of what it was ... and this, anyone can hear.

Lecontoure

Lecontoure

The transparency of the best electrostatics, the soundstage of the best isodynamic panels, the physical response of the best loudspeakers, real extrem bass that remains fluid and free, a sound that never hurts even at high level for long periods.

Lyra

Lyra

Based in Tokyo, LYRA is headed by Stig Bjorge from Norway, with American design engineer Jonathan Carr, and Japanese master craftsman Yoshinori Mishima making cartridges and supervising production. All products are manufactured in Japan with microscopic attention to detail under the direct supervision of these three.

LYRA products are characterized by advanced design & engineering allied with Japanese artisanal craftsmanship and build quality. All our products are developed and crafted to be among the very finest available in their category.

Every detail of each LYRA product is thought through and executed with extreme care. LYRA is one of the few audio companies with truly original design & development capability. Each new product is designed from the ground and up and introduces meaningful industry leading advances.

Phono cartridges and related products have been brought together as Lyra Transducer, while our audio electronics remain under the Lyra Connoisseur brand. This rationalisation is reflected on the new site which we hope you enjoy and find informative and clear.

Naim Audio Ltd.

Naim Audio Ltd.

A passionate and committed interest in music is the foundation stone of Naim Audio that has enabled us to design and manufacture what we believe to be the finest sounding range of audio equipment available in the world today.

Founded by Julian Vereker MBE (1945 - 2000), his original inspiration continues to motivate Naim, its people and its designs.

While all our products must meet and exceed many measurable parameters we believe that they should, above all, be capable of delivering the kind of musical performance that we ourselves would want to live with. This requires a special and unique approach to component selection and system design along with a highly specialised production environment.

From the remarkable NAIT integrated amplifier to reference products such as the NAC552 preamplifier, NAP500 power amplifier, and the CD555 compact disc player, the same skills and design expertise have been applied. The result is the acceptance of these products by music lovers world-wide as having no equals in their respective classes.

Oyaide

Oyaide

Oyaide is now recognised as the N°1 in Japan and is also rapidly becoming the worldwide leader. Oyaide were the first to begin to explore the importance of power supply for audiophile sound improvements. Today the products in the Oyaide catalogue are a must for all serious music lovers - with Oyaide we can realise significant sonic improvements with any music system. Try the Oyaide products, you will not be disappointed.

Oyaide Electric Japan,was founded well over 50 years ago in 1952 as a cable supplier. Since then Oyaide have built a company with an enviable world wide reputation for excellence in cables and accessories. Multi award winning products are everywhere in the Oyaide range, when you try an Oyaide product you will instantly know why there are so many awards.

Partington

Partington

Partington and Company have established a solid and enviable reputation for both style and qualitythroughout their range of handcrafted equipment and loudspeaker support systems.

This dedicated family run firm has been wowing its clients for more than 30 years with its products created by combining innovative designs.

From the early days of speaker trolleys and music centre stands through to the present day trend for high spec., high performance, products, Partington & Company has proved itself to be at the cutting edge, manufacturing products for some of the world's leading loudspeaker makers. Last year it's dedication to detail paid off as the firm scooped the prestigious What Hi Fi? Sound and Vision "Product of the year 2002/3".

Built to last, timeless and great value for money, Partington & Company's products come in silver or graphite finishes and its truly original range will enhance a room and present your equipment to its best advantage.

Pro Ac

Pro Ac

Even in the short history of high-end high fidelity, few companies have lasted the course. Even fewer have consistently developed and produced high quality products which have earned international acclaim. ProAc is one such company.

The ProAc range is, as they say, reassuringly expensive. We do not make cheap loudspeakers and certainly do not produce cheap sounds. Happily, many thousands of audiophiles worldwide agree with our philosophy.

Every ProAc loudspeaker is hand-crafted, with our technicians individually responsible for the building and testing of each unit, from the flagship Response models to the diminutive Tablette. Build quality alone is unsurpassed, each cabinet being meticulously constructed, damped and finished in real wood veneer.

When you think you've heard the best, then go and hear ProAc.

Solid Tech

As music lovers and audiophiles, it has been our goal, ever since Solid Tech started in 1995 to construct and manufacture Audio support products that allow an audio system to reproduce recorded music in an unhindered way, and to convey the innermost being of music to its utmost level.

By using optimized materials, and recognized techniques originating from the resonance and vibration isolation industry, we can with clear conscience, without mysticism and inflated price tags, offer products that deliver unmatched vibration isolation and performance for the finest playback systems available.

Feel free to examine our competitor’s capacity to show you vibration measurements done by independent institute, and done at the most detrimental conditions for the audio frequencies.

Despite that they often claim, having developed their products with the help of universities, or that they have background in car racing, or defense industries (laughs), they are still not able to attest or validate their own statements, something that is easily done with a relatively inexpensive and simple vibration measurement.

Should we not be able to expect more than just claims by these companies with such resources and superior knowledge. Of course, but the proof of evidence is that the laws of physics apply and are valid for these constructions, and any measurement done, would point out the inferior technology and performance.

Solid Tech would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have supported and inspired us in the pursuit of Audio-Nirvana in our second decade and beyond.

Sonus Faber

Sonus Faber

Music reproduction as a special auditory occasion. Offering the emotional excitement of a pure musical event to every listening experience through reproduction instruments that let the entire expressive power of music envelop the ear. These are the aims with which we Sonus faber build our loudspeakers. Our projects draw inspiration from the construction criteria of the lute-maker's craft, as we are convinced that the quality characteristics of sound in a loudspeaker depend above all on the acoustic chamber - on its form and the materials it is made of - just like any other musical instrument.

Totem Acoustic

Now, with two decades and several series of loudspeakers under our belt, we are prouder than ever to have developed speakers that are both affordable and capable of producing a truly musical, "soul-moving" experience. For this very special anniversary, we are proud to announce our new logo and website. Energized by a new look and feel, with many new projects in the works and a reservoir of enthusiasm for the next two decades, Totem Acoustic promises to continue offering you speakers of perfect and timeless balance.

Tri-Planar

Tri-Planar

Tri-Planar officially came into being when the Wheaton Decoupled Arm, now referred to as the Tri-Planar Mk. II, was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1981. But, the design of that first arm was the result of years of research and development by Tri-Planar founder, Herb Papier.

As a young man, Herb Papier played trumpet in amateur Big Bands and, later in life, owned a music store. In World War II, he received official recognition from the U.S. Navy for his expertise in chronometer calibration, a skill he continued to hone throughout his civilian career as a watchmaker. Eventually, Herb settled in Wheaton, Maryland, where he combined his talent for fine mechanisms with his love of music by creating one of the best tonearms the world has ever known.

Between 1967 and 1980, Herb experimented with tackling the three major problems of tonearm design - adjustable azimuth, adjustable vertical tracking angle (VTA), and bearing at record height. The arms he produced for he and his friends are generally referred to as
Mk. I. By 1981, Herb found a design he liked and premiered the Mk. II at the Consumer Electronics Show. He later renamed the arm Tri-Planar, a name that reflects the three planes of tonearm geometry.

Still, Herb found room for improvement and continued perfecting his design. In 1983, the Tri-Planar Mk. III was given International Audio Review's prestigious Engineering Achievement Award, the first of many such accolades.

In 1999, during the Mk. VI years, Tri-Planar was purchased by Herb's handpicked successor, Tri Mai, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Herb passed away in 2003 at the age of 83, just as Tri was introducing the current incarnation of Tri-Planar, the Mk. VII, which fittingly includes many of Herb's final thoughts on the design.

The meticulously handcrafted Tri-Planar Ultimate continues to be rated among the world's best. It is an ultra-precision tonearm offering maximum adjustability and watch-like precision. And, just as Herb Papier had envisioned, the arm's unique dual-pivot design provides unrivaled tracking, transparency, and resolution.

Triangle Acoustique

Triangle Acoustique

TRIANGLE : History of a Successful Brand...

Renaud de Vergnette founded TRIANGLE in 1981, at a time when the hi-fi market was very competitive and dominated by a number of well-established international players. The idea was simple, yet met a demand: to offer a product that was natural-sounding, cost-effective, and-a feature that was really new for the market at that time-well-designed, with a nod to style and elegance.

Yter

During my last challenging project, the "Stradivari Homage", I felt the need to use an internal wiring conductor which was not another product derived from the telecommunication industry with solutions based in radio frequency theories, but a materials solution with properties designed to handle bandwidth frequencies and power levels.

So emerged a new conductor based in conceptual and structural terms, on the following premise: the transfer of the audio signal from amplifier to speaker, and in particular those at the micro signal level, depends more on the physical structure of the metal than on the absolute value of conductivity in the wire.