Polk Audio's Atrium 45, Probably the Toughest Loudspeakers

Most loudspeaker producers focus on sound quality and power to suit the audiophile's requirements, but there are some who have other targets.

Take for instance the Atrium 45 from Polk Audio. These babies are designed to withstand the harshest environments, are aimed at military usage and have been tested in the Oman desert war zone.

The Desert Dawgs of the 320th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron had a set of Atrium All Weather Loudspeakers in their HQ in the desert of Oman during the war. "This desert was the ultimate test of a speaker's weatherproofing, and the Atriums soldiered through sand, heat and wind," says Technical Sargeant Troy Dion. "And so did we."

The Polk Atrium 45 speakers officially comply with many endurance and safety military standards such as ASTM D5894-UV Salt Fog, Mil standard 810 Immersion and Mil standard 883 Method 1009 8 for salt and corrosion tests.

The Polk Atrium 45 comes with a 90-degree rotation bracket allowing you almost perfect acoustic imaging in the room: tilt and rotate the speaker until you achieve the desired optimal listening area, all with one hand and no efforts at all. The sculpted front baffle has a rounded shape so the diffractions are kept to a minimum level; even more, the front aluminum grille sports a 55% open area for optimal sound quality.

While the Polk Atrium 45 is available in black and white, the latter version's grille can be easily painted to match the décor of the environment, whether we're speaking about optically hiding it or showing it off. Of course, painting them green is also an option you could think of...

The 4.5" long-throw polymer cone driver sports butyl rubber surround so it will offer you a trouble and distortion-free operation for years in a row. The highs are produced by a 3/4" soft dome tweeter with Neodymium magnet which broadly helps the extension of the HF range and add presence and clarity for better acoustic scenery.

If you think you need some loudspeakers that will be put to the harshest tests, then the $239 priced Atriums might be exactly what you're looking for.

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