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Energy” control which changes the “tilt or roll-off slope”
of the tweeter.
This control has 3 settings:
1. “Reverberant” (decreases the high frequency output of
the speaker) for rooms with an abundance of reflective
surfaces like hardwood floors and glass walls.
2. “Damped Room” (increases slightly the tweeter’s out-
put) which can compensate for overly absorbent rooms
with lots of soft surfaces.
3. “Average” which worked well for my room which has
a combination of large glass windows as well as large
couches and carpeting.
Second, it has “Boundary Compensation” or “Normal”
toggle switch which is able to “adjust the lower frequency
output of the speaker to compensate for the typical sound
colorations caused by placing the speaker too close to a
TV screen or building it into a wall cabinet”. I found the
best position for my setting (center channel on a bracket
slightly above a 62” DLP) was “Normal”.
The surround speakers have both a
“Dipole” setting as well as a “Bi-
pole” setting. Atlantic Technology
has always focused on multi-chan-
nel systems, and they felt that
having an option of Dipole was
necessary to produce “minimal
localization”.
I found that the dipole setting
worked very well at allowing the
soundstage to blend seamlessly. My
Wife was also impressed with the
seamless sound production. The
Bipole setting changed the sound-
stage by focusing it more distinctly at each surround
speaker as opposed to blending it.
It would be nice if the selectable controls were easier to
access. Once the speakers are on the wall, it can be dif-
ficult to reach the Dipole/Bipole switch, and if the center
channel is built into the wall, it can be hard to access its
controls too, since all of them are next to the speaker
terminals. This challenge is obviously not limited to these
speakers alone.
Performance
Let me start by quoting Atlantic Technology in regards to
this series: “The attractive system sets a new standard
for the company for high performance at modest cost.”
I would like to expand on this and say that not only would
I agree with their statement in regards to their own
company, but any company in existence producing com
-
pact home theater speakers. There will always be some
limitations when producing “compact” speakers that are
designed near perfection, yet limited in size. As a result,
you simply cannot fit large drivers within the enclosure
and completely cover the dynamic range as effectively as
full-range large speakers.
I started my testing with the Eagles: Hell Freezes Over
DTS DVD. The first thing I
noticed was that this system
has the ability to do two things
very well. First, when the art-
ist wants you to hear different
instruments, the system can
demonstrate them very accu-
rately. Second, when the artist
wants a seamless sound stage
and have you enveloped in the
music, it can do that too.
The entire system, including
the sub, blended very well. As
the music increased in volume,
it was very refreshing to hear all of the speakers including
the sub move in unison. The opening song was a joy to
listen to from the guitars, to the bongos, to Don Henley’s
vocals. The only limitation I observed was a slight lacking
in the lower midrange which seemed to limit the feeling
that you are on stage with the band. This could be due to
room anomalies.
I also observed that the speakers did very well at a vol-
ume level appropriate for background music while hav-
ing a conversation with someone. There did seem to be
somewhat of a reduced clarity or flat spot in Don Henley’s
voice at about 3⁄4 of the speaker’s capacity. However, the
clarity returned once I increased the volume. They then
proceeded to sound great with no audible distortion at
high SPLs nearing their maximum rating. A lot of listeners
like to crank their systems, and if you are one of those
people, give this package an audition.
I then watched the IMAX Super Speedway DVD. I enjoy
Chapter 14 where it talks about some of the “Fastest
Road Courses in America”. The subwoofer kept up very
well with the racing portions especially when the car
would travel under the overpasses (see also our review
of the Atlantic Technology 642e SB subwoofer, which is
a larger brother of the 422 SB sub reviewed here). The
blending between the front speakers and surround speak
-
ers was extremely accurate. I definitely felt as though I
was at the track watching the race. Full sized speakers
might perform a little better at this task, but for book-
shelf speakers, the 2200s do a fine job.
One of the highlights of my
testing experience was with
the Diana Krall: Live at the
Montreal Jazz Festival 2004
DVD. The system sounded
great reproducing both the
instruments as well as her
voice. One aspect caught me
by surprise, while listening to
track 5 “Abandoned Masquer
-
ade”. When I am reviewing
speakers, I tend to analyze
every note, every instru-
ment, and get as technical as possible. On this particular
song, once Ms. Krall’s voice began, within 15 seconds,
I was no longer analyzing the speakers. I became an
integral part of the audience, present, and focused on her
Product Review - Atlantic Technology System 2200 7.1 Home
Theater Speakers January, 2006 • Mark Smith