Astell & Kern has been relentlessly searching for just the right raw material to complement sound. By selecting copper as the principal raw material for the newest variant of the AK380 Ltd Edition Amplifier to convey the message that this is more than just a medium for transmitting music - it's an “instrument”. Copper, as an alloy with tin, nickel, or zinc, is used as a raw material for wind instruments, which form the central part of an orchestra. These wind instruments transmit deep and heavy sounds through tubes of copper alloys.
Materials
While a 530-gram block of raw material is milled to create the 55-gram frame of a duralumin-based AK380, a 1.7-kilogram block of copper is processed to create the 175-gram frame of an AK380 Copper. After two stages of milling, the finishing process begins to smooth the surface of the product and create a hairline-brushed finish.