Atohm Speakers From France
We started dealing with Atoll Electronique of France a few months back and have been BLOWN AWAY by how good the line is for such reasonable money!
The same American importer, Emilios Mandalios, told me I HAD to audition an amazing line of French speakers- Atohm. I definitely wasn’t shopping for speakers, but Emilios earned his credibility with Atoll. So I said OK, prove it to me.
He did! What differentiates Atohm from all the other attractive, nice sounding Euro speakers is that Atohm has class defying bass performance and the ability to play loudly- that the other guys in the same category SIMPLY DON’T.
We’ve had a nice run with Amphion of Finland. But they raised prices over a third during covid. Their speakers sound lovely. But they don’t play loudly enough for our more boisterous customers. Atohm has no such limitations!
Atohm
Atohm speakers are made in their own house in France. They don’t just buy parts from vendors and assemble them.
Most of the speakers you see on the market are made in China by one of a thousand job houses. They’re building widgets and slap one brand name or another on them, like labeling golf shirts.
Most of the rest of the speakers out there are assemblers. They buy drivers from China, Europe or where ever, screw them into boxes- and call it high science. Neither of the above business models are what Atohm does.
Atohm’s Formula
Atohm makes speakers that are manageable in size, sound and look gorgeous, and play with majestic gusto! This is a unique combination of talents. Plenty of speakers out there of modest size, look and sound good. But when it comes to kicking fanny, they fall short. Atohm does not.
Atohm is a welcome exception to Euro speakers that sound good, but have lightweight bass and can’t fill American living rooms.
Atohm has exquisite detail and fabulous imaging characteristics. Atohm can provide a locked in center image that doesn’t drift. Even more impressive is their ability to image beyond the bounds of where the cabinets sit. You’ll be impressed with the deep and wide soundstage. It’s almost spooky hearing music from the space in front of you- NOT limited to where the speaker cabinets are.
What makes Atohm different, and I’ll argue BETTER than the other guys, is that they produce a BIG sound and WILL play to very strong volume levels. Further, they do this with cabinets that are small to moderate in size. Few people in Europe have a living room as big as yours.
There are a thousand and one boxes Atohm checks to deliver this level of sonic excellence, with outstanding power. We’ll list a few here and then link you to Atohm’s impressive Technical Book.
GT Series
Atohm’s GT Series is its top line of speakers. The finish work features elegant walnut, piano black or piano white. Atohm provides two grill options with each speaker system. They include both with every purchase because they’re equally popular. These speakers will look gorgeous in your house!
Atohm speakers start with their own 1” silk dome technology with ferrofluid. It uses a copper ring to linearize and reduce inductance. The coil itself is made of Copper Clad Aluminum, which provides great conductivity with light weight. Atohm uses a unique inner hang design which allows shorter winding lengths than what is traditional. This insures lower distortion than a more traditional
design. The tweeter baffle is constructed of injected aluminum which eliminates interfering vibrations. The rear wave is channeled through the core and then damped in the rear chamber. All this techno talk results is a fast, detailed, powerful NON BRIGHT sounding high end.
Atohm mid-bass and woofer drivers are comprised of a metal alloy design. The coil former is made of Kapton/Nomex. The peripheral suspension features a special profile for linear performance. Atohm makes extensive use of laser interferometry to optimize the movements and interactions among its parts. By using rigid materials and stable adhesives, the drivers maintain a high degree of precision- which cannot be said for paper or woven cone diaphragms.
Atohm cabinets are constructed with audio and aesthetic considerations in mind. The cabinets don’t run parallel walls to avoid standing waves. The speakers have internal braces and absorptive foam on all walls. The towers offer a chamber that can be filled with sand for superior rigidity and further damping. Atohm uses a laser vibrometer to dial in its cabinet nuances. They use a unique PDS double plinth decoupling isolation system at the base of their enclosures. This all but eliminates vibration to the floor and is cherry on top of being sure the cabinet’s energy is controlled optimally for deep and powerful base. The PDS eliminates any proclivity for the cabinet to boom.
The imaging of Atohm speakers can best be described by Seinfeld’s girlfriend, THEY’RE SPECTACULAR! It’s uncanny how they can place a vocal dead center in your room and it doesn’t wander. Even more impressive is their ability to cast an image well beyond the confines of the cabinets in width and depth. Please visit so we can prove it. The bass is solid and all of these models play plenty loudly despite the modest footprint in your room.
Models
GT-1 $4500 Per Pair
13h, 7.87w, 10.43d, 27 lbs, 89dB, 6 ohms
6” Bass/Mid & Tweeter
Tweeter level control
GT 1.0 is a luscious, high end stand mount with more bass and power capability than you would dream- given the traditional performance of speakers this size. Its imaging is astonishing. I don’t just mean center vocal, but its ability to project images well beyond the positions of the cabinets will shock you.
GT-2 $7500 Per Pair
42.71h, 7.87w, 10.43d, 58 lbs, 90dB, 6 ohms
Two 6” Bass/Mids in 2.5 way configuration & Tweeter
Tweeter & Midrange level controls
GT-2 is just what you would expect, an even more powerful sibling to its smaller brother. It maintains the imaging advantages of GT-1, but adds depth and power in a gorgeous, surprisingly lean tower.
GT-3 $13,000 Per Pair
46.85h, 9.45w, 17.12d, 83 lbs, 92dB, 6 ohms
7” Woofer, 6” Midrange & Tweeter
Tweeter & Midrange level controls
GT-3 is the culmination of all things Atohm. While it uses the same tweeter as its brothers above, it uses a specific, dedicated 6” midrange driver and a prodigious 7” woofer was well. It’s bigger as well as being more clear and powerful.
Seong-Jin Cho – Pianist
Born 1994 in S Korea, Cho was learning the piano and violin. He played many sports and was what he describes as a pretty normal S Korean kid from in a single child family. He was far from a Little Emperor.
What were you doing at age 10? My parents had Peter, Paul & Mary on LP. I had a few 45s by then, Beach Boys & Martha and The Vandellas. All I did was play baseball all summer and hockey all winter. That was more than enough for me.
Cho, at age 10, got the competitive spirit and decided he HAD to raise his game on piano. He went from easy youth pieces into the deep end of Chopin Scherzos- never to look back. By age 14 he was winning international competitions and even won the prestigious Chopin Competition at 21. His career took off and he’s recorded for DG ever since. His recordings include probably my favorite version of the Chopin scherzi, recorded in 2021. So again, what were you doing at age 10?