Outwardly the speaker is so understated that it looks more at home in a pawn shop than a high-end boutique.
Amfibius,
I agree - they are plain and ugly looking. They make only a few models - basically different box sizes and limited by the fact they use their own drivers (apart from tweeters which are often of a cheaper variety). Rather than spend money on cabinetry they seem to devote their energy to transducer R&D and active designs that change only once in a blue moon. In essence one of their strengths is the sound barely changes between small to large models (just gets progressively louder/greater dynamics) and from one decade to the next (making the same transducers for 20+ years). They certainly make it difficult for a reviewer to get excited about a new product!
I think ATC was fair game for "obscure". About as bizarre as it gets in an audiophile world which seems to be a constant sea of change; where companies come and go and seem to either completely change designs every few years or offer hundreds of choices which often sound very different....clearly a fashion/aesthetics driven world in which ATC, with a handful of staff, is very much out of place.
I agree with Duke that they may not be obscure enough in the sense that was perhaps intended on the thread (meaning relativley unknown) - they certainly have amassed a loyal following which allows them to behave with relative impunity towards industry norms (aesthetics/marketing/dealer networks/attractive price point usually being quite a bit more important than the actual sound...although their newest consumer range looks like an assault at a lower price point for better value).
