To many people, the subwoofer is what distinguishes a home theater sound system from just a set of speakers. Unfortunately, a lot of subwoofers are big ugly boxes that are hard to conceal in room.

Sunfire’s new Atmos subwoofer should help that problem. The company says it’s the most powerful subwoofer in its class. It uses dual 6.5-inch woofers in a sealed extruded aluminum enclosure. The drives are capable of excursions up to 1.8-inches. The entire unit is just a little more than 8-inch high, but Sunfire says the performance is superior to subs with 10- and 12-inch woofers.

That power comes from the new cardioid surround on the drivers, which the company says improves linearity, fidelity and reliability. The aluminum enclosure was designed to withstand extreme back pressures that reach up to 24.4 PSI.

The 1,400 Watt built-in amplifier uses Sunfire’s Tracking Downconverter technology to provide the current and voltage for the new sub. The Atmos includes line-level unbalanced inputs, line-level outputs with high-pass or full range switch, a 12V DC input for remote turn on, 106 dB of output and a frequency response of 30Hz-100Hz.

It’s available on May 4 for $2,000.

Grant Clauser - Technology and Web Editor, Electronic House

Grant Clauser has been covering home electronics for more than 10 years with editorial roles in several consumer and trade magazines. He's done ISF-level damage to hundreds of reviewed products and has had audio training from Home Acoustics Alliance and Sencore. He's also the author of the book The Trouble with Rivers. Follow him on Twitter @geclauser.