Atlantic Technology Launches Five New Speakers

There were a few companies at CEDIA 2015 that were announcing a ridiculous number of new products.   Atlantic Technology was one of those companies. Last year, they introduced the 3.1 HSB, a passive pedestal soundbar with a built-in powered subwoofer. This year they focused on smaller, more versatile products, such as the LCR3000, a compact bookshelf speaker. Below is a short overview of each of their new offerings.

FS300 ($650/ea)

The FS300 is a moderately slim soundbar. At 3” deep and with six 3.5” drivers and three 1 ¾” tweeters, it’s a nice size with a solid driver arrangement to support the front LCR channels with the exact same driver compliment for consistency across the front soundstage. Many companies are now producing ultra slim soundbars, trading sound quality for looks. While 3” deep might be considered deep compared to some offerings on the market, that extra depth allow Atlantic Technology to fit six midrange drivers and three tweeters. The cabinet is made of MDF, the unit can be wall mounted, and is rated down to 100Hz.  Notice the horizontal MTM driver array with raised tweeters.  This allows the woofers to be spaced more closely together to reduce off-axis lobing and proving better off-axis response. 

Atlantic Technology FS300

LCR300 ($275/ea)

The LCR300 is essentially one of the channels of audio from the FS300 put into a separate speaker. We see many manufacturers use this strategy. For example, the RBH Ultra 3 Soundbar is essentially three Ultra 1 speakers put into a single cabinet. The Atlantic Tech LCR300, as you might expect, sports two 3.5” drivers and one 1 ¾” tweeter. It can be used as a left, center, or right speaker, oriented vertically or horizontally, and wall mounted. The enclosure is made of MDF.

Atlantic Technology LCR300

IW-110 LCR ($500/ea)

An in-wall speaker with a magnetic grille, that’s about all there is to say about the IW-110 LCR. I’m sure there’s something neat to say about the dual 6.5” drivers and 1” silk dome tweeter, but the product sheet at CEDIA doesn’t detail any of that. We do know that it has a tweeter level control, we assume +/- 3dB and is rated down to 55Hz. The speaker looked nice, but it wasn’t hooked up to demo.

IW-105 LCR ($350/ea)

Here’s a good joke. Take an Atlantic Technology IE-110 LCR and remove one of the 6.5” drivers. What do you get? Drum roll… An IE-105 LCR! Okay, fine, that wasn’t funny at all, but it is true. With one less driver, the IW-105 is able to fit in smaller spaces but you lose some output capabilities, including a reduced low end response of 65Hz instead of 55Hz. But, you also save $150, which adds up when building a surround sound.

Atlantic Technology IW-110 (left) and IW-105 (right)

IW-155SR ($1400/pr)

No speaker system is complex without surround speakers, which is why Atlantic Technology chose to round out their new in-wall offerings with a dedicated surround speaker. The IW-55SR features dual 5 ¼” drivers and two 1” tweeters. The tweeters can be configured in either a bipole or dipole operation. The only thing that baffles me a bit about these speakers is that they retail for $1400/pr. I’m not saying they aren’t worth it - for all I know they could be the best sounding in-wall surround speakers under $2,000 – but as an integrator it’s hard to sell a customer on surround speakers that cost more than the main speakers. It would be nice to see Atlantic Technology come out with a less expensive alternative. Still, these look like a solid offering. We’re always fans of bipole/dipole configuration options, and the magnetic grille featured on all of their new in-wall offerings is a nice touch.

Atlantic Technology IW-155SR

Conclusion

Atlantic Technology seems to be creating speakers much in the vein of what we saw last year with the 3.1 HSB Soundbar. They aren't doing any to upset the industry as we know it, or making silly marketing claims. In fact Peter Tribeman once told us he only makes products that he himself would own; nothing pretentious or unattainable to the average home theater enthusiast serious about sound.  Atlantic Technology  seems to be making good speakers for a good price.  We're curious to see if their H-PAS technology makes it into any new products next year.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.