Atohm GT-2 Speakers, $7500 Per Pair
{42.7h, 7.87w, 10.43d, 58 lbs, 90dB SPL, 6 ohms}
Atohm of France makes GORGEOUS, smallish speakers that do what the Europeans do well, and yet surpass the Euros in what they DON’T typically do well.
Since the 1970s there have been dozens and dozens of Euro speakers, designed for Euro spaces, that sound musical and inoffensive. That’s fine. I’ve heard many a B&W, Kef, Rogers, Spendor etc. They all do the bulk of music well. However… we Americans often demand more.
When you move them to American sized living rooms, or heaven forbid, basements, smooth alone doesn’t BEGIN to cut it. Smooth and inefficient… can turn into mundane pretty quickly. You’ve got to have some muscle and dynamics too. Here… is where Atohm steps away from their Euro compatriots.
First of all, almost all the Euro names you know in this price range aren’t actually made in Europe any more. They’re made in China. Whether B&W, KEF, Monitor Audio and on and on… they’re made in China until you get into their crazy top of the line price tags. Let’s not confuse their mid price level of construction with the TLC we used to know from Europe.
Atohm is indeed made in France with a 7 year warranty. GT-2 is a BEAUTIFUL (gloss walnut or piano black) diminutive tower than can fit in the highest fashion living rooms. Atohm knows that aesthetics are imperative and they’ve hit a home run in that regard. Where Atohm is different, and inarguably better than its ilk, is that it will play to very strong volume levels. GT-2 is still going when its Euro brothers are running for cover.
Atohm achieves this level of performance by paying attention to a thousand and one details that the other guys simply don’t. If you like to read about such things, go nuts!
Along with playing at strong volume levels, GT-2 will surprise you with its BIG, taut bass response. By using its own drivers, built in its own house, Atohm can create drivers that have lengthy excursion travel without breaking up. GT-2 is a sports car, not a tuna boat family sedan like the speakers from China.
Atohm has precise driver construction for accurate unit to unit performance. This inscrutable attention to detail assures Atohm will sound clear and image as the engineer chose to paint his canvas.
If you read Stereophile or British hi-fi news where such things are tested, you’ll see it’s common to measure Chinese built speakers where the tweeter of the L speaker is 3dB higher than the one in the R speaker. Likewise for the mids & woofs. Who has time to test for such things in mass production?
GT-2 has a secret weapon on the rear of the speaker. Atohm knows that no two of us have the same listening room, hearing acuity or TASTE. GT-2 has a three position EQ FILTER adjustment. You can choose among three graphs to tailor the speaker for your needs. GT-2 provides curves from the upper mid band to above what we can hear. This level of flexibility is icing on the cake.
If you’d like lustrous elegance in your living room with some dynamite to boot, GT-2 is an absolute stunner.
