Atlantic Technology 334 SB User Manual download pdf (Page 3)

Australian

O N T E S TO N T E S T

Atlantic Technology 334SB Subwoofer

LAB REPORT ON PAGE 85

turn up the volume of the subwoofer higher

than normal if you like. Then, crawl around

the ﬂoor (no, I’m not joking) with some

white electrical tape in your hand. As you

move around, you’ll hear the bass alternately

get stronger and weaker. In some point of the

room it might be so weak that you can barely

hear it at all. Mark all the spots where the

sound is strong by sticking some white tape

to the carpet. Once you’ve covered the entire

ﬂoor area, your carpet should be littered with

bits of white tape. Now, if someone usually

listens to music with you—or watches movies

with you—move the subwoofer to where their

head would be, and repeat the process, but

this time listening only at the spots you’ve

already taped. If the bass is still strong at a

point, put another piece of tape crosswise

across the ﬁrst bit. When you’ve ﬁnished,

you’ll ﬁnd that you can put the subwoofer

anywhere there’s a white cross on the ﬂoor

and be assured of getting good bass at the

listening position/s. Once the sub is in this

position, it is only then that you should

adjust the subwoofer’s volume, low-pass and

phase controls to ﬁne-tune the sound at the

listening position.

Adjusting volume on the 334SB is sup-

posed to be easy, because of the rotary control

on the front, but in fact, having to remove

the grille makes it a bit more inconvenient

that it would seem. And you can’t access it

by ‘pushing’ through the cloth on the grille,

because behind the cloth is a fairly solid

plastic grid to prevent you doing this. When

you do come to use the control, there’s a

‘click-stop’ at the extreme left-most setting of

the control that one would normally expect

would turn the subwoofer off—or at least do

something!—but in fact the click signiﬁes

nothing at all, and doesn’t turn the sub-

woofer off, or to standby, but instead selects

a preset volume level that’s the equivalent of

rotating the control to about the ‘10 o’clock’

position. So, in order to ensure you start with

the volume at minimum, you have to wind

the control fully counter-clockwise until it

‘clicks’ and then ‘unclick’ it by winding it

very slightly clockwise.

Anyway, enough of the preamble, because

once I did have everything set up to my

satisfaction, and started playing music (I

started with the 334SB set-up with a pair of

stereo speakers in a sub/sat conﬁguration) it

became clearly apparent very quickly that

Atlantic Technology’s little 334SB is a bit of

a ‘sleeper’ because it not only delivered deep

bass, but lots of it. And that bass is deep,

solid, and very tight. I decided to start with a

CD with such low bass that I knew it would

provide a benchmark for later sessions, and

sure enough, I found that the low-frequency

levels on Telarc’s Bachbusters (CD80123) were

just a little down compared to my reference

subwoofer (which is about four times the

size and has double the cone area!), which I

thought was an excellent result. Firing up my

favourite ‘bass’ CD (a favourite not so much

because the bass is really deep, but because I

really like the music on it, which makes it fun

to play when I’m ‘working’), the 35Hz bass

notes on Joan of Arc (from Jennifer Warnes’

album of Leonard Cohen songs, ‘Famous Blue

Raincoat’) was delivered at exactly the correct

volume, and with a tone so pure that the

impression that the sound was coming from

the main speakers, and not the 334SB, was

perfect. The sound was so good that I ﬁnished

listening to the entire album, even though it

wasn’t entirely necessary, after which I pulled

out an ‘even bigger gun’ in the shape of the

ﬁrst track of Dark Side of the Moon (on SACD

this time) which chimes in at 27Hz. Again,

the 334SB rose to the occasion, the only

slight limitation being that if I turned the

volume too high, I did run into the subwoof-

er’s maximum output capability, with the end

of the voice coil reaching its physical limit.

Whether you’ll experience the same limita-

tion will depend on how loudly you play

your music, what level you’ve set the sub for,

the size of your room and whether or not

you’ve positioned the subwoofer optimally,

but my opinion is that in small to average-

sized rooms, so long as you don’t want the

earth to move, the 334SB will provide sterling

service. More sessions with the 334SB wired

up via LFE to perform the low-frequency

duties in a 5.1-channel home theatre system,

using very small two-way satellite speakers

as the main fronts and surrounds, more than

proved its potential in this type of set-up.

Indeed when watching movies, the sustained

low-frequency sound effects (continuous

rumblings et al) made the 334SB sound even

more impressive than it does with music,

such is the authenticity and quality of the

bass at very low frequencies.

ConClusion

Atlantic Technology may have cut a few cor-

ners on the cosmetics, and included only the

most basic inputs you’ll need on a subwoofer,

but since most people want to hide their sub-

woofers away anyway, and also require only

basic inputs, this corner-cutting has enabled

AT to deliver a small, impressively high-per-

formance subwoofer at an impressively low

price. greg borrowman

this in your AV receiver’s setup menu.

The Atlantic Technology 334SB stands

3840mm high, is 390mm wide and 417mm

deep (my measurement is different to Atlan-

tic Technology’s speciﬁcation because I’ve

included not only the depth of the grille, but

also the fact that you have to allow at least

32mm extra for the mains plug. I used a com-

pact 90° angled one. A ‘straight’ plug would

require even more depth). It weighs 16kg.

The only available ﬁnish is a black vinyl

(with a slightly stippled surface) that covers

the front bafﬂe, the top surface and the rear

of the subwoofer. The sides are ﬁnished in

a ‘satin black’ paint. (The top-line model in

the SB range apparently is also available in

a gloss black painted ﬁnish, but I haven’t

seen one.) For the record, I have to say that I

wasn’t overly keen on the vinyl ﬁnish, nor on

the overall cosmetic design of the subwoofer:

those ‘scallops’ on the side where the sides of

the subwoofer curve up and arch away from

the corner ‘skirts’ that hide the four rubber

feet looked a bit twee to me. However, that’s

just my personal opinion and I generally ﬁnd

that most people place subwoofers where

they’re pretty much out of sight anyway!

Since I’m having a whinge, I should also say

that if you’re looking at AT’s promotional

literature, you should have a salt-shaker

handy, because the company regularly goes

‘way over the top with hyperbole when

promoting its products. Read its literature

literally, for example, and you’d be forgiven

for thinking that Atlantic Technology is the

only subwoofer manufacturer that makes

subwoofers approved for use with both 110V

and 240V mains voltages! Another example is

the outrageous claim that: “other subwoofers,

regardless of their power ratings or limiters, can’t

match the sound of an Atlantic subwoofer for

detail and musical accuracy.” Mmmm…

in use and lisTening

sessions

There’s also much nonsense published about

positioning subwoofers, the most egregious

of which is the advice that you should not

place them in corners. In fact, this advice is

wrong, because a corner is one of the very

best places you can put a subwoofer! (You

should not place either the left or right chan-

nel speakers in corners, which is probably

how that furphy came about.) Probably the

best way to work out the best position for

your subwoofer is to place the subwoofer

where your head would normally be when

you’re listening to music (and/or watch-

ing the screen). I appreciate this may mean

some creative use of stacked milk crates and

furniture, and the temporary moving-aside

of a seat or couch, but it’s worth it. Once

the sub is in place, connect it to your system

(you’ll need a long extension lead, or one of

those WA-50s I mentioned earlier), then start

playing a DVD or CD with low bass. You can

Atlantic Technology’s

little 334SB ... not only

delivered deep bass,

but lots of it... and that

bass is deep, solid, and

very tight

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