The ATC-2 has been Air Tight’s legendary preamp for many years. Remarkable transparency, resolution, detail and point to point wiring inside with no printed circuit boards resulted in one of the purest sounding tube preamps in the industry. There is no remote control circuitry inside to maintain its pure signal path so getting yourself out of a couch is part and parcel with ownership of this preamp. Previous owner loved it so much that when Air Tight offered the “Alps” acclaimed high-precision pot RK-501 upgrade, he jumped on it and splashed out $1,500 for it. With this upgraded volume pot, music was delivered with even more precision and transparency. Included in the price is also the ATE-1 MM phono stage which is like the ATC-2 conjoined twin (because it derives its power from the ATC-2). So if you have a turntable and CD player system, the ATC-2 with its ATE-1 is the best partner for your gears. Tube complement is 1x 12AX7 and 2x 12AU7 in the ATC-2 and 3x 12AX7 in the ATE-1.
Cosmetically, the preamp looks good. There is a spot on the top cover where a metal RCA cap came loose during shipping and got wedge on the top cover causing some scratches. If you plan on mounting it inside a rack, it will be barely visible. Otherwise, rest of the unit looks really nice. We will have the unit securely boxed up for safe shipping.
