July
2022

Groovy

Groovy. If you still say that, you probably grew up during the hippie generation so are well aged. Not cool. 'Gnarly' might peg you a SoCal surfer child. 'Awesome', 'mega', 'mondo', 'phat', 'epic' and many others mark their own time. Each young generation coins its own lingo. Unhip outsiders betray themselves by not knowing it. Or they appropriate it only to use it in error. Again they don't belong. Wrong handshake.

Since 2013, a newer insider word is atomic. This speaker firm do their thing different. There's zebra construction of vertically stacked Ply with optional glass sides pressure-fit with rubber seals for an 'asymmetrical' material mix. That wants to combat material resonance still further as Perfect8, Crystal Cable and Audio Physic do with sundry glass applications on their speakers.

There's the novel worm-drive port of the above insert. It makes the bass loading variable including sealing it up. In short, our crafty Italians have figured out how to bake speakers with a few rare wrinkles. You'll agree that's tough especially when not done for mere difference sake but to jack up performance. And just because it's cliché doesn't make it less true. Many Italian brands have a special flair for style. Whilst tastes diverge, many will find this to be an extra aspect of atomic. Being Italiano, the final 'a' is mandatory. Even male names like Daniel get their extra 'e'. It arrives us at Atomica's founder Daniele Melelli whose think pages give us lovely insight into his design approach. It's not the head space of an amateur.

In the photo of "the slices", we saw how using them vertically allows Atomica to create a very strong concave baffle without actually bending wood; and position cross braces without fasteners or joints. Further, the usual corners of a rectangular box lose their seams, even add curves to get thicker so stronger. Obviously this way of layering up then bonding a cabinet under a few tons of pressure is far more involved, laborious and costly than mitre-folding the typical MDF job. That's just saw dust set in glue. Meanwhile each thin layer of a single sheet of Ply turns by 90° relative to the next to give extra strength by crossing fibers like a discrete weave.

Funky. It's another of those words. For me it triggered with their smaller 17.5kg Book Two model in the opening photo. If not on a lowboy where it looks just swell, its stumpy 65.5cm height wants it to sit atop their horizontally striped stand. That's like wearing a pinstripe jacket over a prison jumper. Add that two-layer 304 stainless steel plinth interface jutting out half mast. I find the resultant docked look hodge podge. Despite weighing more than quadruple at 75kg—not so groovy if you're from that generation—the bigger Atomica Floor had my far less divided attention. At just 128cm tall, 47cm wide and 54cm deep, it's still no giant but goes from a 5¼" plastic mid/woofer to dual 6.5" paper cones with the same 28mm Morel soft dome. Happy 91dB/W/m sensitivity couples to ~4Ω impedance and claimed 25Hz reach. Standard trim is black, white, cherry red, electric blue or light walnut. Custom colors open up the entire RAL palette and even the driver plates can undergo 2-tone options. Would I be floored by the Floor? Would it wipe the floor with my resident speakers? Would I find it "way atomic, dude"; or be transported to a sacred place? How about raising/lowering the port's resonant frequency by shortening/lengthening it, then closing it up entirely all by just turning a knob? How decisive is such tuning relative to common room issues?

Only one way to find out. If Atomica respond to my inquiry with interest, I'll be able to tell you. Otherwise you'll have to organize your own audition. Either way could be quite groovy? That electric blue version would certainly go over a treat in my eclectic blue listening room. Of course finding out about it all six years late is a bit lame. But better late than never…