I love you guys. Don't get me wrong. I love you guys at Outlaw. But why would you take on a speaker line that primarily concentrates on some whizzbang enclosure design just to improve bass reproduction? Bass is easy these days with a good sub. What's missing in dynamic speaker design, it seems to me, is mid range and upper frequency clarity and low distortion and ambiance rear projection to compete with electrostats and planar speaker technology. Just look at Linkwitz's website and you'll see what I mean. Snell has it right with a rear "ambiance" tweeter. Just place that in your LCR and THEN you've got something.

DDonal,

That's an interesting question, that can only be answered by actually hearing what happens to the midrange and top end when the distortion of the speaker is dramatically reduced using H-PAS. Today we uploaded the final printed version of the Sound and Vision Review that is being mailed out this week. Please read it carefully in that the reviewer evaluated it as an entire speaker. The overall rating was 9.7 out of 10.(There is also a very technical explanation as to how this works).
My comments are meaningless until you actually hear what this speaker is capable of. For the record, Snell was going to license this technology until they got shut down. If they return some day they will certainly employ this technology.

Peter

That's a pretty impressive review, Peter. The conclusions are very flattering of the AT-1, and by extension the H-PAS concept.

yes, I would like to hear this for myself.

Interesting design for 2-channel folks. For those of us with multi-channel systems and a sub, maybe not so much.

Peter, is this going to be an "online only" affair or will Atlantic be selling these through dealers as well? I'd be up for a listen if a dealer in the NYC area had a pair.

Best,

I've seen some stuff in the audio press about the AT-1. It will be carried by Atlantic's dealers.

Hi All:

I am not an engineer but I am curious about the new H-Pass design. How is it different from a standard transmission line design in simple terms? Is it really just this “cul-de-sac” space designed into the cabinet?

Thanks Bob

I can't offer technical specifics (even though I am technically an engineer), but this reminds me - I have never posted anything about my experience last month with H-PAS. In "simple terms" it is very much not a simple cabinet design. It combines cabinet design and driver design (which apparently involves some counter-intuitive values) to achieve the desired result (a -2dB point of 29Hz, in the case of the AT-1). There are some specifics on this page.

Back in October, I spent three days at a conference in Boston for work. I was able to work in a short time to catch up with two of the Outlaws while I was in their home turf, including a visit with Peter Tribeman at his office at Atlantic Technology. I had a chance to feed a bunch of discs (some his, some mine) through a set of the AT-1 towers powered by an RR2150. In person, the port is huge - but even with that big cavity it's a pretty handsome tower (if less "exotic" than some stuff that's out there these days). What was really remarkable was how little the 5.25" drivers moved when producing significant bass. I didn't have a tissue for my standard airflow measuring test (great way to figure out return and exhaust grilles and building pressurization), but during loud and low-frequency passages I could feel the air movement through the port with my hand. The port was big enough that I never heard the air movement, but it was clearly a significant factor in allowing the overall system to function. For home theater, most folks would still want a sub so they have that <20Hz thump, but the speakers were able to effectively pressurize the room on their own and achieve great low bass all by themselves.

As a plus, the AT-1 is a well-balanced design - it doesn't just go deep, it also sounds good (clear and accurate) across the full spectrum. The technology (specifically the software algorithm that aids in the design process) sounds like it has some great potential. I'm curious to see what other speakers emerge using it.

Hi all, I heard the AT-1's at the Atlantic Technology room at CES last Friday. I met Peter during my brief stay (nice guy, BTW). I've dubbed them the "WAF Beaters", in that they may appeal to guys who face the WAF factor. I've personally lost several custom speaker sales after guys wanted me to build speakers for them and then the idea was nixed by wives who didn't want big speakers and subwoofers messing up their "decor". The AT-1's and especially their little brother model might be just the ticket for getting good sound and deep enough bass in a reasonable size and not requiring a subwoofer. Yes, I was skeptical, but hearing the AT-1's pressurize the large demo room made me a believer. They were pumping quite a bit of air out of the large port, the bass sounding quite good as well as tympani sounding realistic through them. I didn't stay long enough to listen to vocals - had to get to yet another meeting - but the instrumentals I heard were quite good in the mids and highs also.
BTW, I'm not affiliated with Outlaw nor Atlantic - just an old 950 customer patiently waiting the new pre/pro.

How will the Outlaw tower differ from the AT featuring the AT-1? Any ETA?