SPEC

Founded in February 2010 by Shirokazu Yazaki in Tokyo, Japan, SPEC Corporation represents the culmination of over 40 years of professional audio engineering experience by its founder. Yazaki-san, a trained mechanical engineer, served as head of design departments at industry giants TEAC and Pioneer, where he was responsible for legendary products including the TEAC A-7300 open-reel tape recorder and Pioneer CT-95 cassette deck that surpassed the renowned Nakamichi Dragon. Working alongside electrical engineer Tsutomu Banno and mechanical engineer Yasuhiro Yamakawa, Yazaki founded SPEC with a singular mission: to deliver tube sound from solid-state amplifiers through their revolutionary 'Real Sound' philosophy. While still heading R&D at Pioneer in 2006, Yazaki was impressed by Class-D amplifier demonstrations and began developing his own Class-D amplifiers with assistance from former Pioneer colleague Jun Hondo at International Rectifier. SPEC's amplifiers combine Yazaki's deep knowledge of vintage tube amplifiers with modern Class-D technology, featuring characteristic wood integration in their designer audio products that reflect their philosophy of merging natural materials with advanced technology. The company's slogan 'Real-Sound' aims to reproduce music as faithfully and close to 'live' as possible, delivering tones that are beautiful, rich, and emotionally penetrating with three-dimensional soundfields and musical dynamism, establishing SPEC as a premier Japanese high-end audio manufacturer.