Latest Unofficial Update: Atlantic Technology H-PAS Powerbar 235

I got this reply when I inquired directly on their website:

We are still finalizing the details to make it as close to perfect as possible! We expect it around March...
Be sure to follow us on Facebook/Twitter and check on our website for updates...

I followed up with Atlantic today - got this update:

"Unfortunately it has taken longer than anticipated to get the unit finalized. In the original unit, it did not contain DTS, and that was added after feedback on the original prototype. It is now anticipated at early June. Feel free to check in as we get closer."

I am holding out for this one based on the video from CEDIA.

I contacted Atlantic Technology on FB about the PB235's ETA. They stated that it's been pushed back until around August. I'm still going to wait. Never had a Soundbar before and from the early reviews I've read it may really be worth the wait. Sounds like a much more affordable solution over the Bose 1SR or the B&W Panorama.

I followed up with Atlantic. They are demoing pre-production units at Cedia this week and at long last expect to ship late this month. The retail will be $899. As you might expect it crept up some from the original announcement but seems in line with mid-upper end brands. This is the link:

http://www.atlantictechnology.com/default.asp?NodeId=170

I don't see any HDMI inputs. In this case are we limited to Dolby Digital ? I have been waiting for this to hit the streets, but no HDMI for ARC will make me think before purchase.

This is supposedly shipping this week.

Has anyone heard this unit or seen any reviews?

I just saw a report on AV Guide from Cedia. It's not good the unit will be priced at $899.00. It has No HDMI Support only RCA, Optical, and Coaxial inputs. You would of thought they would of looked at the Newer Soundbars and said, hey without HDMI and HD Codecs support We are dead in the water before we release it. It didn't take B&W long to notice the serious drop in Sales with their Panorama once the B&W Faithfull and reputation Sales wore off. They went back to the board and are set to release a New Panorama with HDMI and HD Codec support. This Bar would still have reasonable Sales at $499.00 to $599.00 but it won't go at $899.00 too many players with too much to offer at $900.00 that this can't compete with and It's SAD. What a great product design it just needed a little extra effort in the thought Department. I never thought they would of brought such a fine product to market with such limitations. If I wanted one for a bedroom or Office, I would wait till they go under $500.00 when they don't Sell.
Final is Great Product, Good Engineering, a Hell of a Idea. They just didn't add that extra $40.00 part ( I actually thought this was what the delay was about) to make it one of the products of the Year.
And there you have it Lady's and Gentlemen. What a Shame.
Edited by Glenee - 9/28/12 at 4:55am

It would be a lot more than $40 part. The engineering and licensing for HDMI would probably add a million or more to R&D which would be very difficult for a small company like AT to swallow. HDMI has put many small companies out of developing consumer electronics.

Anyway, I wouldn't discount the bar for features. A couple extra cables aren't a big deal and the sound quality isn't any different with broadcast sources. With Blu-ray lossless codecs converted to the highest level DTS compared to lossless is something you are not likely to notice when comparing sound bars. I do agree the features would be nice but would it be worth it if the bar would then be $1999. Buying on features and specs doesn't always give one the best performance, although I agree it will hurt sales somewhat. But, a lot of AT is sold through specialty dealers, so probably not as much as the big companies. I wouldn't discount it until you hear it compared to other bars, that is what really matters.

Bob,
I am in total agreement with most of what you say. I just think they had a real winner here, and they just short changed it a little. My thinking is a little different, I was thinking $40.00 X 25000 units is a $1,000,000.00 if the licensing is that, and I don't know anything about that. I don't know how many they expected to sell, if it was just a small amount to begin with, they would of been better Off licensing the technology and taking a royalty payment. In this day and time that is where the Technology level in Electronic Media is at Now. It is a shame that so many small companies have been priced out of competion, because some of our greatest feats in advancement come from these smaller companies. I wish them luck, but if they are going to be in this market they need to be in this Market's Lower Price Range.
Just my Humble Opinion,
Glen

There's no way that adding an HDMI port and an updated decoder chip adds a million bucks to the R&D costs. These have been around for years now and are no longer state of the art features.

I don't think you understand HDMI. The test equipment alone is $250,000+ to do proper HDMI testing. You can try to outsource it overseas but that is not as easy as it sounds and to get production runs on relatively small quantiites means you are paying a premium for engineering time. HDMI is one of the reasons small companies are having troubles producing preamps. Outlaw, Parasound and others have decided to go in other directions and HDMI is a big part of those decisions. Plus there is a new version of HDMI coming out. Small companies don't have the resources to keep up.

I think this soundbar is going to compete against the B&W, higher end Yamahas, Bose and others in the $1k or more range. They use quality drivers and components that are a considerable step up from the <$500 bars from Sony, Samsung, etc. I've heard a demo of it but haven't had a chance to test one yet.

It's For Sale on Outlaw Audio's website for $799.00. Ships in 7-10 days. If anyone wants to try one. The price is a little more reasonable.

Glad to see this post being added to again. Since my wife has continually complained about our TV's (currently a PRO-60X5FD) inability to decently allow one to watch moves without jiggling the volume controls up and down, have been hoping to use this soundbar to allow better control distinguishing of voices when action-generated sound effects are drowning them out. Am I missing a point here about lack of HDMI? My TV has a Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK), and the soundbar will have two optical inputs. Whether I play an avi file on a thumb drive through my BDP-83 (or a Blu-Ray for that matter), or am streaming a Netflix movie through the TV's app or my Logitech Revue, the sound outputs from these devices go through HDMI to the TV and the TV plays it out its speakers. With this soundbar, we'd disable the TV's internal speakers and have it use the optical link to the soundbar. Why would I need it to have HDMI and HD CODEC support?

I suspect this answer is linked to Glenee's "In this case are we limited to Dolby Digital ? I have been waiting for this to hit the streets, but no HDMI for ARC will make me think before purchase." but I will admit I am missing the point. Is this having to do with listening to music sources?

Oh, and thanks Glenee for mentioning Outlaw Audio's price. I emailed AT about any pre-order discounts since I had been following this since Sept. 2011, but nothing really came of it.

Cheers,

Z

Hi Z, I am not saying I won't purchase one. I just wish it would of been able to Decode the newer HD Codecs. There is a difference in pure quality of surround sound. The ARC that you have on your Sharp Elite would of been a nice hook-up to the Sound bar. I own the Sharp Pro70X5 and I know what you talking about with the Speakers located in the TV. When they make "em that thin it's hard to fit any speaker capabilities in there. They shot for picture on the Elite's, and that's what they should of done. I was really hyped Up when this soundbar was first announced. I am a 2-Channel Guy and I thought the Idea of getting away from having to have a Sub for movies was right up my alley. I was just waiting to purchase this unit. Now Yamaha has hit the market with a ( wait to be seen) major improvement over the last edition of there sound projectors as they call them. They got it together with a smaller wireless sub, the improvement is supposedly significant. The YSP-3300 will be available for around the same price at Discounts. This is all guessing until we get them in our homes. But if you look at what it does for around the same 1K mark, if it does turn out to be that good. It's a No-Brainer over this. If it turns out to be POS I will probally end up with the AT 235 or the new B&W Panorama.
To all out there that want to give this thing a shot I'm waiting for your reviews. I think it will serve a very needed Quality Sound bar at the $500.00 mark NOT $900.00 and Outlaw has started closer to this mark right out of the box.
IMHO,
Glen

FYI

Have received distributor quotes for less than $700 all in (inclusive of tax and shipping) on the AT

+1

Was disappointed this unit does not have HDMI. In addition, the slightly bulky design of the sound bar (relative to the thickness of most flat panel TVs) caused me to keep looking.

Well I'm out on the new B&W Panorama. No HD Codecs Support. If I pay that kind of price it better do everything.

The $700.00 shipped is looking a little more like it. Now that makes this unit a little more interesting. Not there yet but getting there.

I thought I'd start seeing some reviews trickling in by now! Maybe because other than the $799 Outlaw, I'm not seeing this discounted from $899 list stil ...

oh wait, Amazon dropped it $22 and Neobits has it for just under for $700 delivered. Has anyone bought anything from them? It actually has decent resellerratings (9 out of 10 in 6 months)

Just received my AT 235 Soundbar last night via FedEx from a referral from rpconrad. Personally, I'd rather buy from this referral than Neobits, but to each their own. Hooking it up this weekend. Excited.

So how does it sound? Been looking at this for weeks.

I got one for $699 and so far so good..

How is the surround effect and dialogue clarity? What's your room layout like? (four closed walls?)

Can you PM me where you bought it for that price?

Enjoy it!

Can't find it for less than $899 (unless you count the Outlaw OSB-1 for $799). Where did you find it for $699?