Sydney’s nascent team-up between acoustic engineer Atlas Gouverneur and bespoke furniture designer Tony Hurd spawns new ‘The Tempest’ standmount speaker.
The Tempest is the result of a development effort which combines the extensive acoustics engineering expertise of Atlas Gouverneur (also known via The Speaker Project) and Altone Design’s Tony Hurd, a renowned high-end furniture designer.
The 2-way design is handcrafted in Sydney, Australia, with the expertly assembled cabinetry featuring a “double-wall” panel architecture beautified and reinforced by a solid oak outer layer which has been adhered to a high-density substrate. The baffle is finished in a super-durable “hammer-tone” textured surface, as seen in many high-end professional loudspeaker systems, while the overall construction promises excellent stiffness and solidity, an appropriate launchpad for the hand-picked high quality drivers.
Said drivers include a larger-than-usual 32 mm (1.25 inch) textile soft dome tweeter and a 190 mm (7.5 inches) mid-bass driver, both featuring powerful neodymium drivers. The low-frequency extension is supported via a reflex port located on The Tempest’s rear panel. The drivers are blended via a high quality crossover network which has been designed with time correction filters in order to “align the acoustic phase” of the tweeter and mid-bass driver. The crossover employs 100% film capacitors and hand wound inductors. The choice of drivers was also arrived at by a desire to produce a loudspeaker system which could present detailed, yet a warm, dynamic and engaging sound, somewhat reminiscent of the beauty of vintage designs.
The Tempest is specified as spanning a frequency range from 42 Hz to 30 kHz with no parameters provided (average room response quoted as stretching to 30 Hz at the low-frequencies). The sensitivity is said to be 88dB (1 watt/1m) while the nominal impedance is stated as 8 ohms.
Atlas Gouverneur told SoundStage! Australia, “We wanted to create something truly special – speakers that not only sound fantastic but are also beautifully designed pieces. A blend of craftsmanship and acoustics”. Designer Tony Hurd added, “It's about marrying the warmth of vintage audio with the precision of modern design. Our speakers are a celebration of the best of the past and the best of the new.”
Atlas and Hurd’s The Tempest can be auditioned at the company’s showroom in Roseberry, Sydney (session times can be booked via the company website) while a limited time introductory price has been offered to early customers.
Atlas and Hurd The Tempest Loudspeakers
Price: AU$5390 (3 Month Introductory Offer: AU$4690)
Australian Distributor: Atlas and Hurd Direct
AG: +61 (0) 0473 774 144, AH: +61 (0) 419 494 457
www.atlasandhurd.com.au
