Headphones, carts and a floating turntable at Audio-Technica ‘Gallery’ launch

(Image credit: TAG Australia)

There’s a new way to experience the breadth of Audio-Technica’s range in premium wooden headphones, cartridges, hot sauce and more – currently available in Sydney and coming soon to Melbourne.

The Audio-Technica HiFi Gallery was unveiled last week at Audio Connection in Leichhardt, Sydney, by the brand’s Australian distributor Technical Audio Group (TAG), at an event hosted by the ebullient Wesley von Grabill, Brand Manager of Audio-Technica Australia, and attended by retailers, press, and members of Audio-Technica from Japan.

The ‘Hi-Fi Gallery’ comprises an impressively designed wall of products, with the recently-launched transparent acrylic AT-LPA2 turntable at the centre, below a small group of premium A-T cartridges topped by what we think is the new $6299 AT-ART1000x moving-coil cartridge, handmade in Japan and refining further the direct power system of the ART1000 which places the dual moving coil directly on top of the stylus tip, entirely removing the effects of cantilever length or material type.

To either side of the turntable hang Audio-Technica’s premium wooden headphones displaying their range of glowing headshell timbers, whether the shining red of rare Asada Zakura Japanese cherry on the $2499 ATH-AWAS overears, the almost purple grain of Kokutan (striped ebony) hardwood on the $3499 ATH-AWKT, or the honey glow of the flame-maple housings on the $1099 ATH-WP900 over-ears.

A wider range of more affordable cartridges are to the right: “Cartridges and the benefits of upgrading are often the hardest things to demonstrate to customers,” explained Alena Striebel, TAG’s Media Coordinator, as we discussed how people all too easily neglect the very part of a turntable which is really doing all the music-making.

Tucked among the products there were also a number of Audio-Technica collaborations, including A-T branded Hot Sauce, lager and more!

Floating tunes from 'The Hotaru'

Spinning tunes upstairs was Audio-Technica’s limited-edition ‘The Hotaru’ turntable, originally unveiled at Milan Design Week 2025 and limited to just 1000 units globally.

It’s an outlier of a vinyl spinner in several ways: it has built-in speakers at the front to operate in standalone mode, as well as providing outputs to a larger system (as were in use at the Audio Connection store).

And rather notably it lights up and pulses in time with your music (kinda), with 20 different colour palettes available.

And it floats! We were having trouble establishing exactly how it does this, so were grateful for the explanation of Ueno Yusuke of Audio-Technica's International Sales and Marketing, who was visiting for for the event.

This is magnetic floating, he explained, not an air-bearing arrangement (like that of the Holbo turntable we reviewed in 2022). Rather the Hotaru arranges strong permanent magnets in opposing polarity to create a stable magnetic cushion that holds the platter and the large upper chassis above the base. Upon this the platter and arm operate relatively conventionally.

While this is certainly true physical levitation, the floating effect is visually spoiled by three supports that poke through the gap, unlike air turntables where you can wave a stick underneath the floating platter, like a magician doing a levitation trick. Ueno‑san did, however, note the superior stability of the magnetic approach, saying that the floating design here, as with the lights, was a specific effort to create a multisensory experience of sound, light and motion aimed primarily at non-audiophiles who might like such a turntable centrepiece in their home, but that it nevertheless is very much not just a party trick – the magnetic isolation reduces vibration, thereby aiming to achieve cleaner playback.

On to Melbourne...

Ueno Yusuke also cut the ribbon across the Audio-Technica HiFi Gallery wall following a brief speech by Wesley von Grabill to declare the exhibit open; the Gallery is now open to the public just past reception at Audio Connection, 515 Parramatta Rd, Leichhardt.

The Gallery is permanent, but if you want to enjoy the floating Hotaru, you’ll need to be quick! It departs Audio Connection on February 9 for a trip to Melbourne, where a second Audio-Technica HiFi Gallery display will be revealed at Vinyl Revival in Carlton North, Melbourne, for a grand opening there on 19th February. Again the Gallery will remain, but the Hotaru’s stay at Vinyl Revival ends on 12 March 2026.

Jez is the Editor of Sound+Image magazine, having inhabited that role since 2006, more or less a lustrum after departing his UK homeland to adopt an additional nationality under the more favourable climes and skies of Australia. Prior to his desertion he was Editor of the UK's Stuff magazine, and before that Editor of What Hi-Fi? magazine, and before that of the erstwhile Audiophile magazine and of Electronics Today International. He makes music as well as enjoying it, is alarmingly wedded to the notion that Led Zeppelin remains the highest point of rock'n'roll yet attained, though remains willing to assess modern pretenders. He lives in a modest shack on Sydney's Northern Beaches with his Canadian wife Deanna, a rescue greyhound called Jewels, and an assortment of changing wildlife under care. If you're seeking his articles by clicking this profile, you'll see far more of them by switching to the Australian version of WHF.

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