AUDIO-TECHNICA INTRODUCES EXOTIC AMP/ PREAMP AND HEADPHONES
Julie Mullins
Most people associate Audio-Technica with affordable equipment, especially turntables and phono cartridges. The company has long offered premium products, however, and appears lately to be moving even more upscale: The $9000 limited-edition AT-MC2022 cartridge, released to commemorate the company’s 60th anniversary in 2022, is an obvious example.
Now the Japanese company is continuing on that path—indeed, upping the ante considerably—with an ultra-high-end headphone amp/preamp and headphone duo, the HPA-KG Naru tube amplifier/preamplifier and ATH-AWKG headphones. “Naru”
comes from the Japanese term “Narukami,” which means “god of thunder,” and evokes reverence for the power of nature. Thunder is represented by drums in traditional performances, and by extension, speaks to music.
The front and side panels are made of rare, exotic Kurogaki wood with strikingly contrasting woodgrain patterns. AudioTechnica’s site says that the Kurogaki name means “black persimmon” and refers to very old persimmon wood that contains rare black grain patterns inside. The process of drying the wood is said to be challenging, adding to its rarity and status. The ATH-AWKG earcups are made of this Kurogaki wood. Both the HPA-KG and the ATH-AWKG are handcrafted in Tokyo.
Frank Doris, who represents Audiois
Technica in the US, provided some extra details via email. “The HPA-KG Naru tube amplifier/preamplifier is styled to reflect the appearance of a karesansui, or dry landscape garden, representing water flows,” he said. The HPA-KG uses a dual-mono configuration with four Takatsuki 300B power tubes in the current-amplification stage and ECC83S tubes in a shunt-regulated push-pull circuit for the voltage stage. The unit deploys Lundahl transformers, including a special output transformer
with “amorphous alloy cores,” which Audio-Technica says offer “high saturation magnetic flux density, and excellent frequency response.” High-purity silver windings minimize resistance.
The integrated headphone amplifier is equipped with a standard single-ended
1/4" headphone jack and a balanced 4.4mm four-pin XLR connector. Source inputs include one L–R RCA pair and two pairs of XLR connections. The HPA-KG can also serve as a preamp via its preamp outputs— a R–L pair each of line-level outputs on XLR and RCA. There are three user-adjustable headphone impedance settings.
What about those headphones? “The headphones feature purpose-designed 53mm drivers with Permendur magnetic circuitry and 6N-OFC high-purity oxygenfree voice coils among other refinements. The headphones are equipped with detachable cables with 4-pin balanced and standard 1/4" jacks.”
The exotic HPA-KG headphone amplifier/ preamplifier retails for a cool $108,000 and the headphones go for $4200.