Finding your groove: getting into vinyl with Audio-Technica
I’d like to think that I could’ve been friends with the late Hideo Matsushita, founder of Japanese Hi-Fi powerhouse Audio-Technica. If I could, I’d travel back in time to 1960’s Tokyo, where a young Matsushita curated “vinyl listening sessions” at the Bridgestone Museum of Arts, exposing visitors to the sounds and possibilities of high end audio and the warmth of vinyl records. I imagine sitting with him in a mod coffee shop, listening to the stories of what he witnessed in those sessions, the conversations he had with visitors, and what ultimately motivated him to head back to his small apartment above a ramen restaurant and start an audio company of his own. In the histories I’ve read regarding AT’s humble beginnings, Matsushita’s motives seem clear. Produce high end audio at affordable prices, bringing audio excellence into spaces and to customers that simply didn’t have access to it before. His first two products, the AT-1 and AT-3 phono cartridges did exactly that, and...
Dec 6, 2023
Believe it or not, it was some $30 Sony earbuds from 20 years ago. I've since spent thousands of dollars on DAP then more $$$ on flagship headphones, DAC + AMPS. My current flagship setup is well over $10k.
However even going to these lengths, it still hasn't given me that same euphoric moment when i moved from cheap $3 earbuds to the $30 Sony earbuds.
I even put on the new mighty orpheus as well as some extended time with a loan of the stax 009s from a mate but I still feel these fall short from my virgin euphoric moment