XTZ Cinema S2 "Almost" Atmos Height Speaker Preview

XTZ Sound has just added a new speaker to their venerable Cinema lineup. It is meant to be placed on top of their M6 satellite speakers to fire up at the ceiling NOT just to call the Transformers on Cybertron but to reflect sound to create the illusion of height per Dolby Atmos.  They are calling it their Cinema S2 speaker but note it doesn’t have the “Atmos” moniker.  That’s because XTZ didn’t pay the licensing fee to Dolby to use their name.  Nor are they using the Dolby HRTF crossover which we explored and noted to be NOT necessary to create the illusion of height and in fact can be detrimental for that very purpose.  Kudos to XTZ for not taking the blue pill on this one and focusing the budget of this product on the quality of the drivers and crossover components instead of a licensing fee.

XTZ Cinema S2 Height Speaker (front view, left pic; back view, right pic)

XTZ Cinema S2 "Almost" Atmos Height Speaker Discussion

The S2 is a sealed design constructed out of HDF with the same non reflection matte black 8 layers finish as rest of the Cinema series.  The driver topology is a dual concentric dome/woofer coaxial solution where the 5.25” woofer cone acts as wave guide for the 16mm soft dome tweeter (borrowed from their Cinema series).  The system impedance is rated at 4 ohms.  The driver is recessed into the baffle which appears to be angled at around 20 degrees.

There are keyhole brackets on both the bottom and back of the speaker so it can be mounted vertically or horizontally.  Mounting inserts for mating to their M6 are included along with rubber spacers in case the speaker is placed on a shelf or a different brand/model of companion speaker.  The S2 can also be mounted in the ceiling which is what they recommend.  It can also be used as a cheaper alternative to their S5 surround speakers for those who want to keep their system cost down initially until they have funds to upgrade to S5 for surrounds and move the S2s to the height channels.  It's refreshing to see a loudspeaker company make a dedicated height/surround speaker that offers versatile placement options.

The S2 pictured in this preview article is a prototype so appearance may chance slightly.  XTZ plans on releasing it Q2 of 2015 but price is still TBD.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.