[Stuart]

Just want to get a general feeling here! I have been listening to a new pair of ATC SCM100 active towers at a friends place over the past couple of weeks and I am just amazed at the detail power and finesse of these speakers. The same friend had a pair of Wilson watt puppy's that he got rid of once he heared these speakers, he says they are so much more musical and honest. I will say that every track we listened to was really a treat better than just about any speaker that I have heard before. Not once was anything bright or out of place, when called for they can be extremely dynamic and play with the utmost delicacy at the same time.

I am going to save for a pair for myself and can not wait for the day to come that all the pennies are together. Has anyone else had to good fortune to listen in depth to a pair of these great speakers? 

[Stu Pitt]

ATCs are very expensive and very difficult to get to sound right IMO.  I've heard a bunch of people call them dull and lifeless.  They can easily sound that way when being powered by the wrong amplification.  Even high powered and/or very expensive amplification can sound miserable with them.  Use ATC external amplification or actives IMO.  No idea what ATC does so differently with their amplification than everyone else, but there's something going on.

I've heard it with some very high priced and high powered monos and stereo amps - Naim, Linn, Arcam, Krell - and they didn't cut it.  Put ATC's integrated amp in, and it was like magic.  Not just the big ATCs, but pretty much all of them. 

I wanted to buy a pair of passive monitors a few years ago.  My Bryston B60 didn't work out well, as they needed more power to open them up.  If I could have afforded their active monitors, I'd have been all over them.

Actives solve the amplification thing, but too many people are afraid of actives, as they can't swap amps in and out.

From my experience, ATCs also need to play a bit louder than the average speaker to sound right.  That's fine if you're always listening at that level, but quiet listening isn't so great.  That issue can be settled by a bigger room, but in an average sized room, it's not so good.

That's my experience with them anyway.  Give them the power they want, the SPL they want, and the room size they want, and they're magical.  Any less in any area, and they're dull.

If I had the money, I'd buy a pair of active towers, build a room for them to shine in, and never have any desire to get anything else.  Till that day comes (not for quite a while, if ever), I'm ok with what I've got. 

[Diamond Dog]

 Why so little talk about ATC ?  Well, they're spendy for a lot of folks, they have a limited dealer network on this side of the pond, and they don't get a lot of press. They also are part of that group of British speaker manufacturers with a pro audio / studio heritage. This brings with it two considerations. Like the PMC i-Series and some of the other members of this club, they have a look which is often described by reviewers with terms such as "purposeful" ( read : homely ). Also, their heritage shows through in their sound: honest & straight-up sans fireworks. And contrary to what a lot of hi-fi buffs will cop to, that sound ain't for everyone. That being said, those who like it like it a lot. I sure wouldn't say no to a pair of active ATC's if the stars were aligned but that's just me...

D.D.

[jimdgoulding]

The late J Gordon Holt had high praise for the active ATC SCM 20's.  Enough to make me lust after an audition some years ago.

[Letitroll98]

I feel like I'm on ESPN, the two Stu's.   

[Stuart]

Left channel Stu and Right channel Stu (I am left handed) Perhaps that's why I like ATC

[neekomax]

Why so little talk about ATC ?  Well, they're spendy for a lot of folks, they have a limited dealer network on this side of the pond, and they don't get a lot of press. They also are part of that group of British speaker manufacturers with a pro audio / studio heritage. This brings with it two considerations. Like the PMC i-Series and some of the other members of this club, they have a look which is often described by reviewers with terms such as "purposeful" ( read : homely ). Also, their heritage shows through in their sound: honest & straight-up sans fireworks. And contrary to what a lot of hi-fi buffs will cop to, that sound ain't for everyone. That being said, those who like it like it a lot. I sure wouldn't say no to a pair of active ATC's if the stars were aligned but that's just me...

D.D.

I think your PMC Fact.8s are beautiful speakers, but my aesthetic tastes run towards the minimalist side of things.

[ted_b]

I was able to get a pair of used ATC SCM150ASL's several years ago from a kind seller on the West Coast.  They came over here on pallets and were the biggest heaviest non-floorstanders I'd ever seen.   I loved them!!  They produced live music dynamics.  But they produced such a sound that they overtook my what-I-thought-was-large music room (15.25' x 22.75' x 10').  And I was also, at the time, hoping I could find their somewhat smaller counterparts (SCM50ASl's or 100's) to use as center and surround speakers!!  But those were not available used so my budget ran out!

In hindsight I should have kept them cuz they were amazing.  But by the time I sold them I had been able to meet the folks at Telarc (Granmny-winning recording studio 30 minutes from my home, and one of ATC's largest studios) and have Grammy-winner himself, Michael Bishop, visit my home and hear my system.  He eventually helped me get them to the next owner by offering to bring them with him on a recording gig near the new owners home (they already had shipping crates for them, etc).   

I even got a chance to talk with James Guthrie (Pink Floyd producer) on a phone call into ATC UK when founder Billy Woodman put him on the phone during a conversation!!  All in all it was a great few months with ATC! 

Here are the 150's in my foyer.

[neekomax]

I was able to get a pair of used ATC SCM150ASL's several years ago from a kind seller on the West Coast.  They came over here on pallets and were the biggest heaviest non-floorstanders I'd ever seen.   I loved them!!  They produced live music dynamics.  But they produced such a sound that they overtook my what-I-thought-was-large music room (15.25' x 22.75' x 10').  And I was also, at the time, hoping I could find their somewhat smaller counterparts (SCM50ASl's or 100's) to use as center and surround speakers!!  But those were not available used so my budget ran out!

In hindsight I should have kept them cuz they were amazing.  But by the time I sold them I had been able to meet the folks at Telarc (Granmny-winning recording studio 30 minutes from my home, and one of ATC's largest studios) and have Grammy-winner himself, Michael Bishop, visit my home and hear my system.  He eventually helped me get them to the next owner by offering to bring them with him on a recording gig near the new owners home (they already had shipping crates for them, etc).   

I even got a chance to talk with James Guthrie (Pink Floyd producer) on a phone call into ATC UK when founder Billy Woodman put him on the phone during a conversation!!  All in all it was a great few months with ATC! 

Here are the 150's in my foyer.

That's so cool!

Sold 'em after a few months, huh? 

[ted_b]

delete, sorry

[ted_b]

Sold 'em after a few months, huh? 

Yeah!    I've always thought about a 2 channel and multichannel setup that had active 100's as mains, and active 50's as center and surrounds!  Wow!  In my room that would have been the surround version of the Maxell poster, being blown away in 5.1 directions at the same time.      I mean, my SP Tech Revelation/Continuum setup is no slouch, but the ATCs produced chest palpitations and cleaned your teeth at the same time.  All the while handling jazz and soft classical great too.   And...no need for worrying about amplification and speaker cables!

[Diamond Dog]

I think your PMC Fact.8s are beautiful speakers, but my aesthetic tastes run towards the minimalist side of things.

Fact Series is not i-Series., Neeko. I've owned both and they are very different beasts in sound and in looks.

ted-b, what would you say was your overall impression of the sound on those ATC's of yours? I've only heard the smaller ones but they seemed to me to be very much a "tell it like it is" speaker. They didn't over-emphasize anything ie: unrealistic bass etc. Thats what I meant about them not offering up any "fireworks". Big on sonic balance.

D.D.

[ted_b]

DD,
They were quite revealing, yes.   Music was not bombastic, but was almost live in its dynamics and palpability.  Timbre/tonality was great, but maybe a little too forward for some folks.  And they were not exactly speakers that disappeared.  Although the speakers look tame in my pictures they were quite large and visually overwhelming in my setup (especially since I had a video screen between them, to be able to be seen).  If I knew then what I know now (redone room with centered seats, etc) they would have done just fine. 

I've heard active 50's (anniversary editions) many times, and love loved loved them.

[jimdgoulding]

Fact Series is not i-Series., Neeko. I've owned both and they are very different beasts in sound and in looks.

ted-b, what would you say was your overall impression of the sound on those ATC's of yours? I've only heard the smaller ones but they seemed to me to be very much a "tell it like it is" speaker. They didn't over-emphasize anything ie: unrealistic bass etc. Thats what I meant about them not offering up any "fireworks". Big on sonic balance.

D.D.

Nice speakers, dog.  Fab review in HiFi +.  Love to have a set.  Driving them with Bryston monos, eh, and a tube pre?   Must be fantastic.