Drooling over Acora, VAC, LampizatOr, UHA, TW-Acustic | AXPONA 2022

I am not in the budget for an ultra-fi system — and probably never will be. That fact, sad though it is, is true for most of us. HOWEVER, the point of the ultra-fi is less “can I get this with fries?” and more “how is this even possible?” At least, that’s how I content myself. If you’re ultra-fi capable, you’re invited to keep that negativity to yourself.

In the Nirvana A Ballroom here at AXPONA 2022, I found all manner of ultra-fi goodness and I’ll say this — I wish I was rich.

In this room:

  • Acora Acoustics SRC-2 Loudspeakers: $37k/pair (reviewed here)
  • VAC Statement Phono $80k
  • VAC Statement Line Pre $80k
  • VAC Statement 452 amplifiers $150k/pair
  • UHA Superdeck Tape Machine $90k
  • Aurender N30SA $24k
  • LampizatOr Horizon DAC $49k
  • TW-Acustic Black Night turntable $45k
  • TW-Acustic Raven 12″ tonearms $6k each
  • Dynavector DRT XF-1t cartridge (#1) $9450
  • Charisma Audio Signature 1 cartridge (#2) $3800 (reviewed here)
  • Acora Acoustics SRR-V / H audio racks $5,500 each

Okay, so given that I am not rich, today I got to pretend I was. Greg Beron was spinning tape from the Ultra Deck and the tube amps from VAC lit up the rocks from Acora (the cabinets are granite) in a way that was breathtaking — this was tape-sexiness at perhaps its best sound ever, and the liquidity in here was enough to make butter melt in sympathy at 50 yards. Sadly, I did not get to hear either the Black Night (perhaps my favorite turntable) nor the new summit-level DAC from LampizatOr, but perhaps that’ll be something someone on the team can catch.

Brilliant showing from Acora and The Audio Company. Definitely left me wanting was more-more-more.

Clearly, I need a better-paying job. Or maybe a lotto ticket. Or maybe a rich patron. Or maybe ….

If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2022, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the show direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunesAndroidGoogle, Deezer, SpotifyiHeartRadio and more.




About Scot Hull 1063 Articles
Scot started all this back in 2009. He is currently the Publisher here at PTA, the Publisher at The Occasional Magazine, and the Executive Producer at The Occasional Podcast. There are way too many words about him over on the Contributors page.