Tower Speaker Reviews

I improved the sense of space even more by switching from Stereo to Dolby Pro Logic II Music mode. This wasn't best with all music (it appeared to work better with simple music than with complex material, such as a full symphony orchestra playing full-tilt), but it nevertheless resulted in enhanced realism with more than half the material I tried. More important, perhaps, is that it made a convincing case for how well the timbre of the 6200 C center-channel speaker matched that of the left and right. With a tightly focused center vocalist, switching from Stereo to PLII resulted in little more than a slightly more crisply defined soundstage and timbres that were a hair brighter. It's not clear if this originated in the speaker or in PLII, but I could minimize the effect by setting the center-channel HF Energy switch to THX/Average while the left and right were still set on Damped Room.

I also found the ability to adjust the bass level from the remote control extremely useful. Unlike with some subwoofers that have offered this feature, the ability to see the subwoofer setting at all times was a definite help. Often, a simple shift of 1 or 2dB was enough to change the balance from too lean to warm, or from slightly bloated to well-balanced.

At the Movies
All of my positive observations with 2-channel music listening applied to movie playback as well. On The Road to El Dorado—an exceptional soundtrack that I hadn't revisited in a while—the traditional instrumental music that abounds in this film, the songs, and the modern orchestral accompaniment, all sounded clear, crisp, and spacious. Imaging was precise, the bass solid and clean, and the spectacular set-piece that begins in chapter 24 was powerful and enveloping. However, the slight forward tilt to the 6200 LRs that I'd added during my music listening now resulted in a shade too much brightness. (This was from a seat slightly off-center; the projector now occupied the sweet spot.) Putting the speakers back at their intended upright angle cleared this up.

I suspect that some slight in-between tilt would result in a good compromise for both music and movies, though the optimal, finely tweaked setup will vary from room to room. Nevertheless, the audible differences between tilt and no tilt, grille and no grille were relatively subtle, and important mainly to the fussy audiophile (such as I!) who will always have his or her speakers out where they're readily accessible, and is willing to perform slight setup changes when switching from music to movies and back.

Meanwhile, back at the movies, the opening flyover of the spaceships in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones was strong, though not as floor-shaking as I've heard in my room from other corner-mounted subwoofers—notably the Revel Performa B15 and the MartinLogan Descent. At a high (but not outrageous) level, the 6200 PedWoofers struggled a bit, again with Clones, in a subsequent scene when the ship comes into view as it descends from the clouds; they clearly didn't quite want to go there as willingly as those other subs. But they didn't distort, either. They did sound rather cardboardy on the kick drum that accompanies "The Cell Block Tango" from the DVD of Chicago.

Apart from these minor concerns, which affected only a few effects on film soundtracks, the System 6200 made it quite clear what a well-balanced soundtrack Clones has, with deep bass, impressive effects, and mostly clean, natural-sounding dialog. Most important for me, John Williams' music score, engineered by Shawn Murphy, is superbly recorded. Through the Atlantic system, it had detail, impressive depth, fine imaging, and the cinematic grandeur that this score demands.

Near the end of the review period I decided to experiment with subwoofer placement, separating the 6200 LRs from the PedWoofers and placing both of the latter in the right front corner of my home theater room. After re-equalizing the setup, the result was a dramatic improvement in punch, dynamic range, and sheer floor-shaking power. Drums had real sock. Organ was more majestic. And that ship flyover (and its subsequent descent from the clouds) in Star Wars II nearly generated a fight-or-flight response—though the drum whacks in Chicago, while better, still weren't completely clean.

Why such a significant improvement? One simple reason: Positioned under the 6200 LRs, the PedWoofers were at least 4 feet away from any adjoining wall. Moved into a corner, the extra boundary reinforcement allowed the subwoofers to be turned down and still provide the same output level, substantially reducing distortion and potential overload. We'll have more to say about issues of subwoofer placement in a future article. Suffice it to say here that corner subwoofer placement is still a controversial issue, but it works for me, in my room, particularly when the sub is equalized. (For more information on this setup, see the "Cornered!" sidebar.)

Conclusions
The Atlantic Technology System 6200 is one impressive system. I don't know how much better Atlantic's more upscale and expensive System 8200 can be, apart from a subwoofer clearly capable of higher output levels—although, as noted earlier, there wasn't much missing from the 6200's subs when they were optimally positioned and equalized in my 3200-cubic-foot room.

One aspect of the larger system that might well result in an improvement is the 3-way center-channel speaker, with what I would expect to be a superior far-off-axis frequency response (though not necessarily better for an on- or near-on-axis listener). I imagine you could talk your Atlantic dealer into selling you an 8200 C center with an otherwise all-6200 system; the difference in price is a manageable $300.

For the here and now, however, the full System 6200 is an outstanding package. I lived with it for more than three months and enjoyed every minute.