What Hi-Fi? Verdict
A fine budget upgrade, but you don't have to spend too much more to do quite a bit better
Pros
- +
Focused, spacious sound with good detail levels
- +
discreet and manageable
Cons
- -
Not as forthright in the bass as is ideal
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
If you peruse the speaker cable review section of this website, it's apparent that less than a fiver per metre spent on speaker cable doesn't give the very best results.
Atlas's fiercely priced Element cable, a slim, unassuming design, is aiming to offer a bit of authentic quality to the owners of micro-systems, cinema-in-a-box set-ups and the like.
It gets most of the way there, too. John Robinson's I Am Not For Sale sounds well-organised and potent via the Atlas, with a briskly attacking, nicely textured top end.
There's a soft centre to kick drums and so on that leaves us hankering after a bit more substance.
