Auralic Impresses With ATC – AXPONA 2022
CEO of Auralic Xuanqian Wang has a good room at the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center. Tucked back just off the main thorough fair, it’s quiet enough to get a good listen to his unique set of digital wares. This time around the loudspeaker partner is ATC, an UK company known for their powered speakers and production-side monitors.
The room is one of the bigger sizes on the main floor, and was able to properly manage the presence of two setups at the show. The main stage consisted of Aries G2.1 streaming transport to a Vega G2.1 DAC, then upsampled by a Sirius G2.1 and reclocked by a Leo GX.1. Amplification and drivers were provided by a pair of ATC SCM100ASL active loudspeakers.
The second system was a bit more concise case-wise, consisting of only an Auralic Altar G2.1 digital streamer to a pair of ATC SMC19a active loudspeakers. Both setups produced excellent dynamic strength and refinement playing a good selection of well produced jazz music. The main ATC SCM100ASL system was able to easily fill the room, and really helped showcase how good the ATC line is for both audiophiles and music producers alike. Crisp edging around instruments and a focused sense of imaging really played out well in the room throughout the show.
Stopping by the demonstration is a sort of sweet haven to the hustle and bustle of the rest of the show. The demo playlist always manages to bring out some of the best performance in the system and often shows just how much musicality is possible from a well-built digital front end. With an AudioQuest Niagara 1200 acting as power conditioning, system one’s total cost was $84,291 and system two was $17,393. Both price tags aren’t necessarily for the faint of heart, but the company does make a wide selection of hifi sources which deliver some of the highest quality audio bits in the market, including some overlapping functionality between the slimmer product categories. A very impressive showing at AXPONA 2022.