I managed to spend a little time at the Venetian high-end displays at this year's CES, and most importantly spent a fair amount of time talking to Atlantic Technology (AT) President & CEO, Peter Tribeman, and Solus' President, Philip Clements, about the Atlantic Technology AT-1 speaker, which uses the Clements-designed H-PAS bass technology.

While I was in Vegas for other reasons (golf being number one) hearing the AT-1 H-PAS speakers first hand was in itself worth the cost of the entire trip. Truth!

The AT-1 uses two 5 1/4" drivers in an ~1.6 cubic foot enclosure to produce bass with a claimed 29 Hz -3dB extension at an SPL greater than 107dB (with less than 3% distortion). After hearing a wide range of demo material (including some tracks that one visitor sprung on Peter when he was going through his demos) I have to say: this is the real deal!

These are not one note wonders. Bass appears flat throughout the whole range - and is very dynamic. I have never heard a speaker that could pressurize a room at both very high and very low loudness levels as did the AT-1. One track was played at less than nomal listening levels but there appeared to be an almost surreal ability to feel the bass when it was there. But there was no boominess (or one-notedness) at loud (or any) levels.

And while the focus was on the bass performance, the mids and highs were very very good as well. Peter did say that one of the differences between the demo and production models would be a frequency contouring switch for the highs. He felt (and I somewhat agree) that a little roll-off might have worked - at least as they were set up in the demo room.

Expected retail price will be $1995 - and the first units will ship this Spring.

Bonus inside news: Outlaw Audio will release its own H-PAS technology speaker some time after the Atlantic Technology product is selling and while it will share some similarities with the AT-1, the Outlaw version will be different according to Peter.

By the way, according to Phil Clements, the original patents on the H-PAS technology were filed thirty years ago - which means they've long-ago expired. The technology had sat dormant with him for years until Peter approached him to revive it. With the benefit of computer horsepower that he did not have at H-PAS' first creation, Phil has made a significant number of improvements to the original patents which means that H-PAS, at least the best version of it, will only be available via licence from him, AT being the first to offer it commercially.

Phil told be that the technology scales extremely well in both directions: bigger and smaller. The trick (among others) is matching the driver size to the length of the transmission line. (An no these are not just transmission line speakers: H-PAS combines elements of bass reflex, inverse horn, and transmission line technologies according to AT's press release.) Expect to see small versions in consumer products ranging from tabletop radios to iPod docking stations. I told Clements that I'd be very happy to have him try scaling up a pair to my main HT's 6.5' high ceiling with the goal of hitting 18 Hz flat. He said "no problem" - as far as it being possible to do!

What I can say is that at extremely high bass levels, I heard no distortion, incredible bass extension, and (this is the kicker) noted that those little drivers could not be seen to move from our 9-12 foot listening position (nor when I walked almost right up to them.) You really would have lost if you bet that there was a big sub (or two) hiding somewhere in the room.

Every listener that was there when I was, was equally impressed - as were a number of folks from the trade press. Expect to start reading about this in a few months.

AT is releasing these as a stand-alone stereo version. You can expect multi-channel HT versions in future.

Some other claimed specs for the AT-1: 29-20kHz, +/-3dB, sensitivity of 89dB, and a 20-200 Watt RMS recommended amplifier power. Dimensions are 8 7/8" x 41" x 13 3/4" and they weigh 54 lbs each.

If anyone wants to know more about my first-hand listening experience, please feel free to post.