Norwood, Mass. — A selectable bipole/dipole speaker launched by Atlantic Technology is the company’s smallest to date, making it appropriate for use as a front height speaker, the company said.
Atlantic’s shallow-profile 1400 SR-z, due in the second half of May at a suggested $425/pair, is suited for wall
Atlantic’s 1400SR-z is well-suited for front-height applications because of its compact size and selectable bipole/dipole operation.
mounting above a surround-sound system’s front left-right speakers, though it can also be used as a side-surround speaker, the company said.
For front-height applications, the company said, dipole mode usually works best, but Atlantic suggests consumers experiment to determine whether bipole or dipole mode works better in a particular installation to delivers sound effects and ambience over the listener’s head.
The speakers are designed for use with new A/V receivers incorporating Dolby Pro Logic IIz post-processing, which processes and directs non-directional sonic information to height speakers. Adding a vertical component to a horizontal sound field adds more realism and airiness to movie soundtracks and games, Dolby said.
Like left and right surround channels, said Atlantic president Peter Tribeman, the new speakers “are at their most effective when generating the highly diffuse and non-localized sound field that multi-directional surrounds are so adept at.”
The 12.25-inch by 8-inch by 5.4-inch sealed-box speaker uses two 3.5-inch full-range drivers. Power handling is 10-100 watts RMS at 8 ohms, and frequency response is 110Hz-20kHz, +/- 3dB. Efficiency is 89dB.
