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About a month after CES\u00a02012<\/strong> last January, I stopped by to an audio shop near my house just to see what they currently carry and shoot the breeze. There, I had the opportunity to listen to a speaker demonstration from a Scandinavian company called System Audio<\/strong>. The speakers just arrived, no break-in was done at all and they were connected using Pioneer<\/strong> <\/em>Elite SC-57 and whatever speaker cable they had laying around. Through that brief demonstration, I was surprised with the sound quality from a pair of slim tower speakers. I remember clearly when I asked the company\u2019s rep the MSRP of these speakers because to me they sounded like a near-$4,000 Dynaudio<\/strong> that I know real well. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they are priced at merely CDN$2,000. Even more surprising that the drivers are made by Vifa\u00a0\/ Scanspeak<\/strong>, the same driver manufacturer for Dynaudio<\/strong>. Better yet, to me at the very least, they employ soft dome tweeters that in my personal opinion sound far less harsh than even Infinity<\/strong> <\/em>Super EMIT\u00a0\/ EMIT folded ribbon design, let alone the traditional aluminum dome tweeter. Playing my collection of Tony Bennett<\/strong> CDs, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> easily allowed Tony Bennett<\/strong> to be center stage in my listening room. Vocals were exceptionally textured and notes lingered effortlessly as he sang his great songs. There was clear placement of instruments in the soundstage. From the detail in the acoustic piano, to the snap of the drums and double bass plus at times the orchestra, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> did an amazing job of bringing to life the warmth of these wonderful songs with Tony Bennett<\/strong>. The SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> \u00a0speakers have the ability to virtually put the musicians in my room. If only I can have a direct comparison of Mr.\u00a0Bennett<\/strong> and Ms.\u00a0Barlow<\/strong> performing live to the recording. I guess since I will never be able to do so, playing their recordings through a pair of SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> is a good enough substitution. For high resolution music content, I played the must-have Blu-ray disc titled Chris Botti<\/em><\/strong> in Boston<\/em>. Even if you don\u2019t know who Chris Botti<\/strong> is, go out and buy this Blu-ray Disc now (well, after finish reading this article, of course). This concert was performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra<\/strong> in 2008 and features performances with artists such as Sting<\/strong>, Josh Groban<\/strong>, Yo-Yo Ma<\/strong>, Katherine McPhee<\/strong>, and Steven Tyler<\/strong> to name a few. In addition to gorgeous video, the disc contains a reference quality 7.1 channel (96 kHz\/24 bit) Dolby<\/strong> TrueHD<\/em> sound track. There is easily something for everyone on this disc. On the chapter, where Katherine McPhee<\/strong> performs \u201cI\u2019ve Got You Under My Skin<\/em>\u201d with Chris Botti<\/strong>, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> (with the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a01<\/em> for the rear channels) formed an expansive soundstage which showcased not only how good the performers are, but also the greatness of the recording and the reproduction capability of these speakers. On the chapter where Chris Botti<\/strong> and Steven Tyler<\/strong> perform a rendition of Charlie Chaplin<\/strong>\u2019s Smile<\/em>, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> captured the coarseness but expressive voice of Steven Tyler<\/strong> wonderfully and interplay astoundingly with Chris Botti\u2019s<\/strong> trumpet performance. The SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> rendered each note from every vocalist and instrument with ease. The high notes never sounded harsh and the long, slow notes from the trumpet and the picking on the guitar would effortlessly linger in the room and then quietly fade until another magical note took their place. The overall experience was just mesmerizing. I was really pleased with how well the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> were able to create a strong, natural bass response without subwoofer without any feel of anything lacking from the sonic range. I was also impressed with how well the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a01<\/em> blended into the sound stage.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never had the luxury of having a separate room for music and another for home theatre, and always felt that speakers that perform for music should do just fine for movies as well. I was definitely not disappointed with the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> when it came to movies. Using various Blu-ray Discs such as The Adventures of Tintin<\/em>, Step Up 3D<\/em> and Hugo<\/em>, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> performed well in terms of bass response and overall vocal clarity. The movies\u2019 dialogues were produced with great detail and neutrality. I was constantly shocked at just how much bass was coming from these relatively small towers. The SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> \u00a0had zero trouble producing incredible bass and grabbing my attention from scene to scene. From the mayhem of the chase scene in Tintin<\/em>, the crashing of buildings, to the pounding synthesizer bass lines in Step Up 3D<\/em> that could be felt throughout the room, the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> managed to effectively recreate these movies in all their respective glory. Too many speaker manufacturers approached the speaker design from the market surveys, statistics, opinion polls and other methods of letting the attitudes of the consumer guide a company (and that is a very misguided effort driven by the bottom line). Some speaker manufacturers approached the speaker design purely from psychoacoustic \/ scientific standpoint (and there is nothing wrong with that). However, it seems like System Audio<\/strong> is one of only three speaker companies that approached the speaker design based on music and wanting to produce speakers that they themselves want and are proud to own. I find this approach fits perfectly with my personal philosophy. To put it simply, I like these speakers so much to the point that not only I want to keep these speakers but I feel that I should work for this company.<\/p>\n
\nI sat back and listened as the rep from System Audio<\/strong> played some of his favorite demo tracks on the <\/em>Aura\u00a030. While the environment in the listening area is not optimal for a speaker demo, I remember how nice it was just to listen to some great and great sounding music. I recall the <\/em>Aura\u00a030 sounding wonderful with a large and layered soundstage. I immediately asked about getting a sample for review and after a couple of months of waiting, a pair of SA<\/strong> <\/em>Aura\u00a030 arrived at my house.
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\nThe System Audio Aura 30 Listening Tests<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em>For my listening tests, I was using an Anthem<\/strong> MRX-700<\/em> Receiver, Pioneer<\/strong> Elite SC-37<\/em> Receiver and NAD<\/strong> C316BEE<\/em> Integrated Amp. As sources I use NAD<\/strong> C\u00a0546BEE<\/em> CD Player (with built-in Wolfson<\/strong> WM-8740<\/em> DAC) and Pioneer<\/strong> BDP-LX55<\/em> Blu-ray Player. All cables and interconnects are from Kimber Kable<\/strong>. I also ran the speakers with Anthem<\/strong> Room Correction<\/em> (ARC) and Advanced MCACC<\/em> (for the Pioneer<\/strong> receiver) which, as per usual, really smoothed out the bass response in my listening room. I deactivate my subwoofer and do the tests only using 2.0 and 5.0 system.
\nThe first thing that struck me when listening to music, regardless of the receiver\/integrated amp I use with the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> is their amazing sense of imaging. The Aura\u00a030<\/em> are able to recreate a large soundstage but at the same time they provide an exceptional amount of accuracy and multi layered details. I never found myself focusing on one speaker or the other, but instead I was always engrossed in the sound that was beautifully positioned in front of me. At times, the imaging spread so wide I thought I\u2019m listening to a surround track. Every track from Emilie-Claire Barlow<\/strong>\u2019s The Beat Goes On<\/em> CD sounds alive. The vocal is forward and intimate without any hint of in-your-face brashness of many speakers of the similar price range. Double bass sounds like… double bass. Every bass drum kick I can hear not only the bass-drum frequency but also the mallet hitting the drum skin. Impressive from speakers which enclosure is only 6-inch wide, 40-inch tall and 8-inch deep. Even more so from a system that is this affordable. The Aura\u00a030<\/em> woofers produced a mind bogglingly realistic bass response that blended with the music without ever overpowering the performance. Details in the music and in Emilie-Claire Barlow<\/strong>\u2019s voice were abundant and the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> just disappeared into the background.<\/p>\n
\nI was really amazed at how I could listen to the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em> literally for six hours without experiencing the listening fatigue that often happens with far too many speaker systems, regardless of listening volume. I attribute that pleasing experience to the soft dome tweeter and the complex crossover design of the SA<\/strong> Aura\u00a030<\/em>.<\/p>\n
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\nMy Verdict
\n<\/em><\/strong>It was Ole Witth\u00f8ft<\/strong>, who founded System Audio<\/strong> A\/S<\/strong> back in 1984. For a long time he had been looking for some really good loudspeakers and as a musician he knew how music should sound. As a musician, I completely agree with Ole Witth\u00f8ft<\/strong>. Speakers tend to be very honest or very musical but nothing at a sane price level can do both in a balanced manner.<\/p>\n