Despite the hi-fi industry enjoying an influx of business during the largely housebound year, problems within supply chains (and raw materials becoming difficult to source) might suggest to the neutral observer that now is not the best time to embark upon a complete redesign of a core product. But this is Atacama, a hi-fi furniture specialist whose speaker stands have stalked off with several What Hi-Fi? Awards (most recently with the Atacama Moseco 6), and after a fair few years with little change, the UK firm has decided to do just that, with the launch of NeXXus.
Manufactured entirely in the UK, the new NeXXus speaker stands embody everything the firm has learned in the last 30 years. The firm says it has created a product that is flexible enough to grow with your system upgrades.
With a planned choice of heights ranging from 220mm to 1020mm, NeXXus is the first series of Atacama speaker stand to feature tube diameter combinations to match the performance of the supported speakers. There's also a wide range of optional alternative-sized top plates, making NeXXus the most versatile speaker stand in the company's range.
There are three specifications:
Essential uses twin 50.8mm support tubes on each stand, doubling the mass-loading capacity of the previous generation to 15kg. Essential speaker stands can also be updated in future to Hifi-Audio or Pro-Studio specification by purchasing the optional 76.2mm tube packs.
HIFI-Audio are, says Atacama, "designed for the serious hifi enthusiast", featuring a 50.8mm rear and a 76.2mm front steel tube. The mass-loading capacity is increased to 22.5kg per pair, and these can also be upgraded to Pro-Studio by purchasing a 76.2mm tube pack.
Pro-Studio is, as the name suggests, the option most suited for professional studio applications, high-end domestic speakers, or for those who just want to maximise the performance of their favourite speakers. Using twin 76.2mm tubes on each stand, they are supplied with a set of Atacama’s top-of-the-line HLP (High Load Trapezoidal) Gel pads. The mass-loading potential is 30kg.
The Atacama Nexxus series starts at £119.99 (about AU$350) per pair for the Essential 600, which comes with 130mm x 170mm top plates as standard, but additional sizes can be added at a cost of £30 to £35.
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