ATC speakers

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by motorcitydave, Mar 27, 2011.

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  1. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Less talk, more buying!
     
  2. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Because it is too tall (5') for most situations. The 150 will be more than sufficient for home use.
     
  3. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Ok. Thanks. What problems would I have with the 300s?
     
  4. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    :D
     
  5. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    If you plan to sit on a comfy chair or sofa, the height of the tweeters relative to your ears. At 5' tall, the 300 is great if you are sitting in a 'work' chair behind a console, or digital editing system.
     
  6. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Oh ok. Thanks.
     
  7. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    The entire Sin City will be shaking ... :winkgrin:
     
  8. coopmv

    coopmv Newton 1/30/2001 - 8/31/2011

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Have a big party then all head over to the casino to see who has the hot hand ... :righton:
     
  9. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    :agree::thumbsup:
     
  10. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Yep. :cool:
     
  11. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    I might have missed this looking through the thread, but how much are the SCM100 (passive) in the US now?

    Since these are UK based, has anyone by any chance heard both the Quad ESL63 and SCM100?

    Cheers
     
  12. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Here ya go.

    http://www.flatearthaudio.com/?page_id=31
     
  13. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    I have ,recently
    Completely different
    Both very engaging
     
  14. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    There should be a discount on the MSRP. I bought a pair of SCM19's back in late 2009. I paid a little over $2K then even though I think back then they listed for about $2700. Now, of course, the SCM100's are a good deal more money, but expect some discount on the MSRP.
     
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  15. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Thanks Dave, for some reason I didn't see the tool bar on the right side of the distributor's website

    Care to elaborate a bit more? I don't have subs with my ESL63
     
    motorcitydave likes this.
  16. Tony Plachy

    Tony Plachy Senior Member

    Location:
    Pleasantville, NY
    Do you mean the SCM19? :confused:
     
  17. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    I've not heard the SCM100, but know the active 50s and 150s very well. We are talking chalk and cheese here. I've heard the Quads in a few settings, if I only listened to female voice, or solo violin, or string quartet they would be fine. Beautiful tone, with no hint of edginess/stridency. However, they suffer in both terms of power handling and frequency extension. I can remember being at a Mahler recording session, and the recording team had brought them as main monitors (even though they did most of their listening via headphones). The Quads hit their limit on any kind of crescendo (and the replay level was not high, even by classical music recording standards), and all the power of the music was missing.

    The ATCs have excellent mid-range too, but quite different to a panel speaker's. It is everywhere else, though, that the ATCs score. Power handling, bandwidth, control, slam, dynamics, etc., especially with the 150. The ATCs work equally well for classical/jazz and rock/pop enthusiasts.

    If you are considering the 100s, I would advise getting the active versions. Yes, they are more expensive than the passives, but Billy Woodman and his team have designed the actives as a system, and you will have to spend far, FAR more on speakers and cables if you go the passive route, resulting in a much higher overall system cost.

    Here's SH's comments on the active 150s:

    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...mixing-mastering-speaker-of-my-dreams.181263/
     
  18. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    You're welcome. :cool:
     
  19. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam Thread Starter

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    This is true...
     
  20. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Thank you Black Elk, I've really appreciated your comments in this thread and the others where you've shared your thoughts on ATCs.

    I don't mind the Quads for the moment since I am not a very loud listener most of the time. I also don't listen to music with huge dynamic swings- most of my listening is jazz, delta blues, prog rock, classic rock and some indie rock. But I do occasionally play classical, mostly romantic era music.

    I was interested in the passives since I am a big fan of Pass Labs amps and that was what I was thinking about upgrading to next (or Atma-Sphere OTL). The active monitors I have heard in the past have sounded a bit edgy. Pass amps are very smooth, but are still dynamic. For the price difference between the active/passive there are some nice deals on slightly older Pass amps.

    Also ATC recommends balanced XLR cables from the preamp, my next preamp will more than likely be single ended DHT. But I will now consider hearing the actives as well.
     
  21. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    I have an 18" Volt sub and 500W monoblocs for the 63 s but never drive more than 100dB spl
    Mostly @ 85 dB ish,here detail is incredible
    The ATCs perform best when banging out level,this is their dynamic strength,I don't need that any more,I need to know whats on my recordings,the balance ,image and timbre, for this the 63 s are brutally honest,which is why I have them
    To replicate a 110 pc orch the ATCs would, in a large room, sail home
    Small rooms dont need that level of drive imho.
     
  22. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    My room is quite large (fully treated dedicated room), which is why I was considering the SCM100. I compensate for the decreased output from the ESL by sitting closer to the speakers.

    I've read the 100 and 150 are quite good for mid level listening.

    I guess my additional draw to them is having a set of speakers that are used in many UK studios. Doug Sax uses 5x SCM150 as well.
     
  23. ROLO46

    ROLO46 Forum Resident

    Try the SCM 25A
     
  24. Gruni

    Gruni Forum Resident

    Location:
    WI
    The ATC specs look good on paper
     
    motorcitydave likes this.
  25. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    I'm all over the map musically, but love, LOVE music with large dynamic swings. Large scale orchestral works from the likes of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and especially modern composers like Kancheli really test the limits of a system.

    I've tempered my love for loud rock music over the years, and use plugs at concerts, but classical music just doesn't sound right, to me, without the appropriate level, bandwidth and dynamics. That's why I'm a fan of dynamic speakers driven by high-powered solid-state amplification (active or passive).

    Well, no one loves Pass Labs amps. more than me, and the only reason I do not own X.600 monoblocks is because of their idle dissipation (about 700 W per amp.). I've used X.600s with a number of speakers, and they can manage the most difficult of loads with aplomb. They are fantastic amplifiers. Since you are not a volume 'nut', and I think the ATCs are fairly easy to drive, you may be able to get away with a smaller stereo amp. like the X-350, or could consider the even better sounding/more expensive, but less powerful XA monoblocks. I have no experience with passive ATCs, so cannot comment on how a Pass/ATC combination would square up against active ATCs. I can tell you that active ATCs want for very little, and sound superb on a wide range of music (especially the 150 model). There is nothing edgy about the sound of ATCs, IMO, and I've heard the small ones all the way up to the very large 300s.

    I did use the older Pass Aleph monoblocks many years ago. They ran extremely hot, and could not provide the power I needed with difficult speakers in large rooms (for demonstration purposes), but may also be an option for you. Of course, you can also consider amps. like Classe (which I use), Ayre, Krell, Plinius, etc., etc.

    I'm not a tube fan, so cannot comment on the Atma-Sphere.

    I use a fully balanced pre-amp made by Ed Meitner. I've used the same amp. to drive active ATCs and Pass Labs monoblocks all in balanced configuration. Balanced is great provided the circuit is well designed and truly balanced, if not, you are better off with single-ended. I'm not sure which Pass power amp. you are considering, but keep in mind that all the X-series amps. are balanced designs. You could look for one of the Pass pre-amps. on the used market (what were the models? X-1? X-0? something like that). The advantage, IMO, of balanced operation is that you can run long cables from pre- to mono power-amps., and use short runs of high-quality (high price) speaker cable. As many of the discussions in the Hardware section show, differences in good quality balanced cable, especially over runs of some tens of feet, are not that great, and you do not need to spend a fortune to get good sound. Of course, with active ATCs, you would not need the pricey speaker cable at all!
     
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