ShinObiwan,
I haven't heard the Anniversary editions or the active 50s. I replaced my B&W 808s with the ATC passive 50s because of poor acoustics in my condo. Despite RPG panels and reasonably careful placement my 50s probably don't sound as good as they could. I actually have them directly on the floor rather than on their stands as I found it to sound better (just a function of room acoustics, and this demonstrates that the room is the most important determinant of good sound rather than fancy cables etc....). That being said, here's part of my setup:
I use Esoteric P70/D70 to Krell KRC-HR to Krell FPB600 to ATC 50s. Cabling all high quality with Equitech balanced power. I listen mostly to rock/pop music.
The 50s are very coherent from bass to treble. The lasting impression that is given is dynamic, imperturbable, listenable. They are not aggressive (at least not with my system) or ruthless but they put detail in amazing perspective even when the sound is complex or compressed. Even if you play mediocre recordings you aren't punished...the 50s just let you hear what's on the recording and I find even crappy recordings are at least listenable with these speakers more so than most. They remind me of a refined version of the much larger B&W 808s I have. Compared with the latest B&W and PMCs, I prefer the smoother treble of the ATC. The midrange is extremely seductive and sounds "real" with movies and music. The bass is the difficult area to characterize because of my room (which is the cause of the problems I was having with my 808s, which had wicked bass in a different condo). They don't go anywhere as low as the PMCs such as the MB2s which have superb bass IN THE RIGHT ROOM. I emphasize that because I've heard the MB2s with XBD in a non-optimal room with just so-so bass. Most "monitor" type speakers like the ATC and PMC don't exaggerate the low-mid bass at around 40hz. Consequently, they actually sound a bit bass-light compared to "regular" speakers on SOME rock music. For instance, Track 4 on Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits has excellent palpable bass on speakers such as the Energy 22 Reference Connoisseurs (older speakers) and Energy Veritas and Mirage M1s. My friend had the Energy Ref Cons and even though they can't be considered "accurate" they are very enjoyable with certain music. That's something you should consider when buying "monitors"...do you want the truth or do you want to enjoy your music? I say that only half-jokingly because I want accuracy but I always feel sort of silly when comparing my much more expensive speakers to my friend's speakers with more apparent bass. I know they have a large peak at 40-50hz, but hey a lot of rock music benefits. They even sounded more bassy than my 808s with 2 twelve inch woofers a side and massive cabinets!!! (with most well-recorded bassy material the 808s moved far more air though, they just didn't exaggerate)
Getting back to the 50s, I understand there are theoretical advantages to the active amp packs - Bob Polley sent me articles comparing active to passive. However, I love the way the Krell amp sounds with the 50s. I bought the amp packs to compare and I plan on putting my 50s as rears for surround sound if I buy the new ATC 150 towers. I will decide on active or passive 150s depending on my comparison between active and passive with the 50s. I'm also looking at the larger PMCs but they are hard to audition (hence the start of this thread!). ATC has actually upgraded their active amp packs to discrete circuitry in the anniversary and other speakers. My Krell is fully discrete, balanced, and fully regulated. The passive crossover in the ATCs looks like it's high quality and certainly sounds good. I understand that theoretically active should be better, after I compare active and passive I'll have more to say.
I think the ATCs are superb for rock music. They image well, are uncompressed and dynamic, and sound good at all reasonable and unreasonable volumes. They may not suit classical music as well as some "audiophile" speakers, but I don't have any real experience with them to confirm that. They will not sound anywhere near as good as they can if you use average or mediocre equipment with them. I've noticed obvious improvement with upgrades in the audio chain in front of the speakers.
If you have any other questions about the ATC sound feel free to email me or post here and I'll reply.
The Bogg
