Atlantic Technology System 170. (Equipment).

Manufacturer: Atlantic Technology, 343 Vanderbilt Ave., Norwood, MA 03602, [phone]; www.atlantictechnology.com

Price: 5.1 system, $1,496; 7.1 system auditioned, $1,825; 171 LR (from channel), $329/pair; 172 PBM (subwoofer), $599; 173 C (center channel), $239; 174 SR (surrounds), $329/pair

Source: Manufacturer loan

Reviewer: Kevin East

At one point JAH sez, "Well, why not short reviews?" Okay.

Basics. The Atlantic Technology System 170 (henceforth, in the interests of brevity, the "AT170") is composed of AT's 171 LR front channel, 172 PBM subwoofer, 173 C center channel, and 174 SR surround speakers. In its basic 5.1 configuration, the AT170 sports two front-channel speakers in traditional stereo mode and two surrounds. In the 7.1 configuration that I auditioned in conjunction with the Onkyo TX-DS989 A/V receiver, two more surrounds were added as rear-channel speakers.

The 171 LR is a two-way sealed box with two 4" midrange drivers and one 1" silk dome tweeter in D'Appolito configuration; that is, the tweeter is sandwiched between the two midrange drivers. They have a rated impedance of 8 ohms, a crossover frequency of 3kHz, and a rated sensitivity of 87dB. They measure 5.5" x 13.5" x 6.5" and weigh 7.6 lbs.

The 173 C is basically a 171 LR set on its side with three mild exceptions: (1) the long edge is tapered at the rear to accommodate (2) the two semicircular feet which rest in a base with curved grooves. This allows it to be aimed, canted upward or downward, in accordance with your system configuration and/or taste. The feet fit snugly into the base: once you've aimed the 173 C, it stays put. Finally, (3) a high frequency control knob has been installed on the rear panel. The HF control is a treble tone pot, designed to compensate for overly bright or overly dull soundtracks. Normally, it is left in the "Min" position. We fiddled with it from time to time and found the best movie sound reproduction with it firmly in the "Min" position. The 173 C's specifications are identical to the 173 LR. The base adds less than a pound to its weight.

The 174 SR is a dipole surround speaker; that is, its twin midrange/tweeter drivers, set at 90-degree angles, operate out of phase. As one speaker pushes, the other pulls, allowing for less localized and more ambient sound-essential for a surround speaker. It sports two of the omnipresent 4" midrange drivers and two 0.75" "modified"-just how AT doesn't say--tweeters. Since surround ambience is dependent on the lack of locality, the 174 SRs come in matched pairs, one for the right channel and one for the left. If using an additional pair as rear channel speakers, as we did, they are also deployed in matched pairs. Again, the 174 SR's specifications are identical to those of the 171 LR, except dimensions, 9.1" x 10.2" x 5.2", and weight, 7.1 lbs.

The 172 PBM is a sealed acoustic suspension, powered subwoofer. The driver is a 12" long-throw woofer, its power supply outputting 150 watts RMS. It measures 13.8" x 19.7" x 13.8" and weighs 42.7 lbs. It claims a peak SPL output of 108dB. The 172 PBM offers a polarity switch, a 90Hz lo-pass filter, and a variable level control. Since the Onkyo TX-DS989 offers a sophisticated bass management system, we found that setting the lo-pass filter to about 1/3 of its pot range, as AT recommends, was optimal, allowing the Onkyo to manage LF reproduction after that. Similarly, the variable level control was left in the "Min" position, again letting the Onkyo manage the LF level. Polarity is polarity. Set it and forget it.

The front channel and surround speakers have threaded machine screw receptacles built into the rear panels. These are to accommodate 30" sturdy metal stands than AT can supply. The front channel speakers were placed on the built-in shelves in the den (see below), but the surround and rear channel speakers were mounted on the stands. If you decide to mount either on your walls, the mounting bracket, also supplied, requires them to be inverted; i.e., hung upside down. This also means that you have to switch the left and right speakers to produce the correct surround sound. Remember, their dipole nature dedicates each surround to a specific channel. So, if you put 'em on stands, left is left and right is right. If you mount 'em on walls, left is right and right is left. Got it?

All the AT170 speakers sport gold-plated, five-way binding posts. Although the literature doesn't say, it appears that they are constructed of 0.5" MDF; and construction is solid. Each is finished in the ubiquitous black ash, and each is of course magnetically shielded. All of the drivers are covered with cloth grilles.

Finally, the manuals that accompany the satellites and subwoofer are excellently written and diagrammed. While AT, like any good speaker manufacturer, cannot possibly anticipate any and all installation configurations and problems, the rules of placement, acceptable connections (especially with the subwoofer), and the functions of the various controls and switches are clearly explained. The manuals are long on good advice and absent long-winded audio philosophizing. Amen to that, brother. And, like the good folks at Adcom, AT labels its maintenance section "Care and Feeding".

Associated Equipment. The AT170 was auditioned exclusively with the Onkyo TX-DS989 A/V receiver. Source inputs included an Integra DSC 5.1 DVD changer, a Toshiba M-659 VCR, and the venerable Rotel RCD-955AX compact disc player. The primary audio (i.e., for the DVD player's audio) interconnect was a Radio Shack Toslink optical cable, supplemented by a hash of manufacturer-supplied cables and Radio Shack stuff. The subwoofer's signal was fed directly from the Onkyo's "Subwoofer Out" output with a 6' Radio Shack interconnect. The other seven speakers required over 100 feet of Radio Shack 14AWG flat wire. The speaker leads were terminated with dual banana plugs at the receiver's outputs. Bare wire sufficed at the speakers' termini--don't have that many spare banana plugs!--with the exception of the front channel speakers which employ large, Vampire spade lugs, those used with the Celestion 3 speakers normally in use in the A/V salon (see more below).

Installation and Set-up. It makes sense to describe the AT170's installation in the A/V salon (i.e., den) here at Domus Antiquus. This is on the theory that room interactions may play as significant a part in the AT170's reproduction capabilities as the speakers themselves, and the room is a tad odd shaped. The room is a rectangular 14' x 9' with a longish (8' x 2') alcove in which we've built cabinets and bookcases. All the equipment is installed in the alcove. The functional listening area is a smallish 8' x 9'.

I attempted to place the speakers in this small space in such a way to take advantage of all the sound reinforcement offered by surround and rear channels. However, the room is so small that eight speakers, however subtly tuned, could be considered overkill of a moderate order. I have a nagging suspicion, though, that our configuration conundrum is no less than that experienced by a significant number of home theater devotees: odd, even smallish, rooms that don't offer the magnificent spaces afforded in the ideal audio/video arrangements displayed in four-color mainstream magazine spreads and in manufacturers' promotional materials.

The speaker array was calibrated in two stages. First, I set up the speakers in accordance with the Onkyo TX-DS989's manual, evaluating levels of pink noise by ear. This was fun, toggling back and forth among the many speakers, trying to figure out whether what I was hearing out of one speaker was more or less equivalent to what I was hearing out of another or others. Then, we watched a bunch of movies and thoroughly enjoyed the sound experience. Next, I dragged out the Radio Shack SPL meter and recalibrated the speakers according to the meter's read-outs, and we watched some more movies.

The outcomes? Well, it turned out that my "ear" was anywhere from 4dB to 7dB out of agreement with the measured results. However, having "correctly" calibrated the speakers, the movie-watching experience had neither gotten any better or any worse.

Performance. Movie sound reproduction was glorious. Although the System 170 is Atlantic Technology's mid-priced line and is not THX-certified (their THX-certified lines are considerably more expensive, ranging from $3,450 to $7,000 in 7.1 configuration), we felt that the movie sound delivered all we expected and more. From Gladiator's slashing, clanking steel to The Sixth Sense's bloody ghouls, digital surround sound was cleanly rendered, evoking the sensory images that the directors intended. The sound reproduction was so seductive that we even watched plain, ordinary television, courtesy of the Onkyo's "All Channel Stereo" setting, through all of the speakers. Of course, this wasn't digital surround, just a gimmick, but a pretty nice one at that.

Prior to the installation of the Onkyo receiver, we'd gotten by with an old Sansui AU-417 integrated amplifier and a couple of Celestion 3 speakers to supplement the Toshiba VCR and whatever we chose to watch on TV. If we craved music in that space, the Rotel 955AX/Sansui/ Celestion combo was more than enough. And while they lack any deep bass and are not intended for "serious" listening, they're fine speakers with which we've had no complaints, even accounting for the den's constraints.

Now that the Onkyo/AT 170 rig is long gone, frankly, the Celestions are fine, but they simply can't measure up to well-rendered surround sound. And of course once you've experienced movies on DVD, VHS tapes don't fare well either. After endlessly lobbying the T$S Executive Equipment Committee for a DVD player--the loaned Integra had, er, issues-and none was forthcoming, we popped for a neat, affordable ($270) Onkyo DV-S555 single-disc DVD/CD/CD-R/MP3 player and couldn't be more pleased. Since we've decided to add significant space to the den in 2002, we're deferring the choice of surround sound speakers until the new space is available. But our experience with the AT170 System was so very positive, even accounting for what amounted to near field listening, that the AT170 is high on the list for filling our eventual surround sound plans.

Conclusion. I've gone to significant lengths in this article, and have somewhat lengthened what was to be a short review, because I want to make clear the limitations of the environment in which the AT170 was auditioned. The den is a difficult space, simply not an audiophile's ideal, and, as noted in the Onkyo TX-DS989 review, invited benign overkill with eight speakers in the mix. And I didn't audition the 171 LRs in an audio-only array. What the AT170 did do, and with luxuriant, hands-down authority, was what they were intended to do: play back movie audio. So, despite the room's limitations and the forced near field listening environment, their sound was excellent. I recommend the Atlantic Technology System 170 as an exciting, dynamic, and affordable home theater application.

-KE