Atohm Sirocco 2.24 Speakers, $3800 Per Pair

{39h, 8.66w, 10.25d, 88dB, 6 ohms, 25-250w/ch, Walnut, Black, Light Oak, White}

Atohm’s new Sirocco line of speakers is blowing us away. How so?

To cut to the chase, the definition and imaging of the Siroccos is just about as good as it gets- at any price. That’s right. The Siroccos, even at their modest sizes and price points, compete with the priciest speakers out there in just about every aspect but heft and sheer horse power.

Yup. You can compare Siroccos apples to apples with panels or boxes that weigh hundreds of pounds with esoteric cabinet construction. The heavy boys only win in terms of thunderous bass and powerful SPLs. When it comes to enjoying vocals and acoustic instruments, the Atohms don’t take a back seat to the best of the best.

Further, what if you’re DONE with playing music at ferocious volume levels? I am.

Acoustic instruments and voices don’t play at jet aircraft levels live. My hi-fi doesn’t need to play them at those levels. Even with classic rock or symphonic music, we’re playing in our living rooms- not a major league baseball stadium. I like to turn the system up enough to enjoy- not assault!

Siroccos will give your music a breath of fresh air if you front them with fine electronics and a high quality source. Their crystalline definition and expansive soundstage belie their size and price.

This new 2.24 tower casts a capacious soundstage. When playing well recorded singers with a guitar or piano for example, you can locate the instruments- but not the speaker cabinets.

Have I gotten your attention yet? I hope so, because for a lot of us this side of head banging, Siroccos can’t be beaten.

Let’s consider your listening proclivities. The vast majority of us in this hobby aren’t 18 and pounding urban music.

Suppose you luv the sublime character of vocals and acoustic instruments from Neil Young or Willie Nelson to Bonnie Raitt or Norah Jones- Siroccos are effulgent!

Perhaps you’ll appreciate a musician’s choice of a particular piano, drum kit or violin. Siroccos will depict why they made their choice. Check out the myriad of amazing piano recordings on the Hyperion label. Whether it’s Marc Andre-Hamelin, Stephen Hough or Angela Hewitt, you’ll hear exquisite virtuosity on an instrument recorded as well as our art allows.

Sirocco 2.24 (24 means the design was completed in 2024) will also deliver significant levels of defined bass material. It’s not a thudder. It plays bass adroitly and can do so at much higher volume levels than I’ll ever need. You can appreciate fine recordings by bassist Charlie Hayden for example. I’m especially a fan of his work with pianist Kenny Barron. You can invite them into your living room.

For openers, Atohm makes its speakers in its own house in France. It doesn’t buy drivers from Asia or Scandinavia- and assemble them in France. Designer Thierry Comte is extremely proud of his driver technology and has written exhaustive (!) white papers on it. I’ll leave most of the tech talk to him. He does it as well as anyone who writes on the topic.

The 2.24 uses a .75” Silk Dome tweeter and a pair of 6” Mid-Bass drivers in a 2.5 way configuration. The driver consistency with Atohm is the best I know of. Its drivers hit their spec within a quarter of a dB from Atohm’s reference standard.

It is Atohm’s attention to detail and ceaseless effort to make a better mouse trap, that delivers music in such a febrile and diaphanous fashion.

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