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Atelier First Horn Speakers

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by Josh Ray on May 08 '06

Industryfeatures Gemme2 Hero
New speaker company Atelier comes into the single driver race with their new First Horn speaker for a whole $699. High efficiency for all those low power tube heads looking for a cheap single driver model. Interestingly, Atelier is the offspring of Gemme which produces the $3000 Model 108 (on the right). Same driver, same crossover (none), and similar, though not identical, design and a much lower price. What's the deal?

6Moons Srajan talks about the potential for Atelier swallowing up Gemme's sales, though he draws no definitive conclusions. I agree with the idea of "lite" versions for the underground audiophiles, kinda like the Pass DIY projects and other gremlin companies. Then again, everyone buying single driver speakers is an underground audiophile. But, whatever, the point here is getting a taste of a top level speaker in an affordable package -- the flavor of Grey Poupon at Safeway Select prices, so to speak.

Magico, are you listening? I want some Ultimate Lites for $699. Can ya dig it?

Industryfeatures Magico Hero-1

Comments

Based on the pictures I've seen the Gemme cabinet would cost an awful lot more to make than the Atelier one. So that's part of the price difference. Is Atelier sold direct and Gemme through retailers? That would easily make up the rest. So the company may well be making the same profit per speaker. Also, maybe they've sold enough Gemmes to repay the development costs and so don't feel the need to factor this into the price of the Ateliers. Of course, as we know, many luxury goods cost little more to produce than their commodity relatives and may perform similarly. But how many Lexus drivers like being reminded of their car's Toyota heritage?

Posted by: Jeremy Close | May 8, 2006 8:38 PM

I'm somewhat disturbed by the fact that the 'First Horn' speaker looks almost identical to the Hornshoppe Horn. I love my Hornshoppes, but I have to say that the Horn is probably the last speaker I would ever see anyone copying in a commercial sense!

Posted by: Eric | May 9, 2006 5:39 PM

Actually they don't use the same drivers. The First Horn uses the Fostex FE126E while the Concerti 108 uses the FE108EZ. I'm told they are very different sounding drivers. The First Horn is constructed with birch ply while the 108 uses polyester lacquered MDF and has a more complex internal structure. And keep in mind the 108 is sold through the conventional dealer network with the usual markup and can be ordered in just about any color, finish etc.,whereas the First Horn is factory direct. I'll have alot more to say when I complete my review of the 108 for 6moons.

Posted by: Paul Candy | May 9, 2006 7:57 PM

Thanks for the clarification, Paul. Yeah, speaker drivers aren't typically the biggest cost that goes into any loudspeaker. Jeremy, every point you made is exactly right. I was told the Gemmes are smooth as a baby's butt all through the entire horn construction and lacquered inside and out. A statement of construction, so to speak. A good comparison is the Audio Note line of speakers. The An-E series goes from, what, a couple grand all the way up to $125,000 from just magnet and crossover changes. And Audio Note isn't doing too badly for themselves...

Posted by: Josh Ray [SonicFlare] | May 9, 2006 8:19 PM

I would like to thank Paul Candy for his clarification. There is indeed a good difference in sound between the FE108EZ and the FE126E as used in the Concerti and the First Horn (FH). There's a difference in price too... My partner designed the FH from the ground up to take advantage of the FE126E. The same thing was done for the FE108EZ in the Concerti, where we went much farther in the horn contour design. WAF was also a goal, I should add. :-) To finish, I can say that the stainless ring around the FE126E driver (an Atelier exclusive) makes it look like the FE108EZ on the Concerti at first look, so you're all excused, dear Josh! ;-)

Posted by: Jean-Pierre Boudreau | May 12, 2006 12:00 AM

Yes but can they be had in a invisible paint finish?

Posted by: Anonymous | May 16, 2006 1:31 PM

If so that would really be Magic-Oh

Posted by: Anonymous | May 16, 2006 1:32 PM