Atlantic Technology showed a prototype of its model AT-1 at CEDIA EXPO in September. The final design of the product will premier this week at CES.
AT-1 is the first production speaker to utilize the H-PAS.
AT-1 is the first production speaker to utilize the H-PAS bass technology developed jointly by the company with Clements/Solus Loudspeakers. H-PAS is an acoustic technology that was created to allow speaker designers to achieve targeted bass performance with 50 percent smaller cabinets, smaller drivers, and lower costs.
“We are particularly pleased with the final design of the Atlantic Technology AT-1 and how well it conforms to the calculated performance of the H-PAS matrix,” Atlantic Technology president Peter Tribeman said. “It retains the compact size and attractive appearance of the prototype we showed last fall, but has more acoustic weight and a more commanding, and authoritative sound. The AT-1 is uniquely well-suited to both music and home theater roles, and is equally at home in virtually any sized room.”
The patent-pending H-PAS system (Hybrid Pressure Acceleration System), combines elements of several speaker technologies: bass reflex, inverse horn, and transmission line. Using a unique cabinet design, these technologies are cascaded one to another to pressurize and accelerate low frequencies.
In addition, the signals travel through a passive resonance/harmonic distortion line filter to further clarify the sound. H-PAS does not require the use of special drivers, any kind of on-board electronics or outboard equalization — it is a purely passive system, completely compatible with all amplifiers and AV receivers. As a result, the H-PAS design delivers extended deep bass, with high output levels, and exceptionally low harmonic distortion.
The Atlantic Technology AT-1 utilizes two 5 1/4-inch drivers in an enclosure of approximately 1.6 cubic feet to produce bass that extends to 29 Hz (-3dB) at Sound Pressure Levels that exceed 107dB. Bass harmonic distortion is under 3 percent. Comparable performance in a conventionally designed loudspeaker system would require bass drivers of at least triple the size in an enclosure at least twice as large.
The AT-1 also uses a one-inch low-resonance tweeter that affords a lower crossover frequency (2,000 Hz) than is normal in a two-way system. The result is wide dispersion through the midrange without the upper-midrange “beaming” normally exhibited by woofers in a two-way speaker.
All crossover components are of the very highest quality, according to the company, and adhere to one-percent value tolerances. Cabinet bracing architecture, called CDFF (Cross Design Free Flow), lends the cabinet rigidity and inertness without restricting the critical internal airflow that is important to the H-PAS’s bass response. This new bracing configuration was the result of Atlantic’s advanced computerized cabinet vibration analysis coupled with critical listening tests.
The Atlantic Technology AT-1 speaker is finished in a gloss-black metal-flake paint, applied in a multi-coat process. The first deliveries are expected by the end of the first quarter 2010 with an introductory retail price of $1,995 per pair.
The Atlantic Technology AT-1 will be on display at CES in the Venetian Veronese 2501A, which the company is sharing with Parasound.
www.atlantictechnology.com
