Audio-Technica

Audio-Technica Corporation is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures professional microphones, headphones, turntables, phonograph cartridges and other magnetic devices. Audio-Technica was founded in 1962 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, by Hideo Matsushita as a manufacturer of phono cartridges. Its first products were the AT-1 and AT-3 MM stereo cassettes. The business grew rapidly and Audio-Technica expanded into other industries. The headquarters and factory moved in 1965 to its present address in Naruse, Machida, Tokyo. In 1969, the company began exporting phono cartridges worldwide and launched the first microcassette recorders. In 1972, Audio-Technica established its American subsidiary in Fairlawn, Ohio, and began supplying VM phono cartridges to European manufacturers. In 1974, the company developed its first headphones, the AT-700 series, which was launched the same year. The AT-800 series microphones were introduced in 1978 and the UK branch in Leeds was launched in the same year.