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52 MAY 2004 SOUND & VISION www.soundandvisionmag.com
PHOTOS BY TONY CORDOZA
TEST REPORT
DANIEL KUMIN
H
igh-tech wonders like the DVD
and Dolby Digital get much of
the credit, but the home theater
revolution owes just as much to
a more mundane development:
compact, affordable subwoofer/
satellite speaker systems. Indeed, sub/sat
arrays with six, seven, and even eight
speakers are now the home theater stan-
dard, found in “normal” homes as often as
in those of over-the-top A/V enthusiasts.
Boston’s Atlantic Technology can prob-
ably take as much credit as any manufac-
turer for furthering this trend. From its in-
ception 15 years ago, all of its speaker sys-
tems have been sub/sat arrays. As home
theater sound has evolved, Atlantic Tech’s
offerings have grown ever more sophisti-
cated. Case in point is its new System
4200, a THX Select-certified suite of com-
pact satellites and a not-so-compact sub-
woofer. THX certification is a sort of Good
Housekeeping seal that guarantees the sys-
tem has dispersion characteristics consid-
ered by Lucasfilm to be optimum for home
theater playback.
The 4200 array is clearly descended
from previous Atlantic Technology speak-
ers, but its manufacturer claims several im-
portant distinctions for it beyond the new
slanted-back cabinets. First, the drivers are
said to be the same ones used in Atlantic
Tech’s $17,000 flagship System 8200.
Second, the System 4200 features
C.O.R.E. (Custom Optimized Room En-
hanced) technology to make it unusually
adaptable to system conditions and room
acoustics. The three front speakers have
both a Boundary Compensation switch (to
smooth out the sound if they’re installed
close to a wall or a big TV screen) and a
three-position treble adjustment. The sur-
round speakers can be switched between
dipole and bipole operation via toggles un-
der the metal-screen grilles, which attach
to curiously strong magnets in the four cor-
ners. Niftoid!
The metal grilles on all the satellites are
also a dramatic visual improvement over
the boring black knit on many previous At-
lantic Technology speakers. But the most
obvious innovation is the removable deco-
rative side panels, which bring cellphone
fashion thinking to home theater. With the
front speakers and subwoofer, you can
choose between gloss black, maple, or
matte silver. Snapping panels in place was
a cinch, and they looked great.
I set up the system as usual: front L/R
speakers on stands, the center speaker on
top of my TV, and the surrounds (set in
their dipole mode, initially) on high, side-
wall shelves. Though the 642 SB subwoof-
er has a 12-inch driver, it’s barely smaller
than my everyday 15-incher. I placed it in
the best location in my room, which is to
Atlantic Technology
System 4200 Home Theater Speakers