ATC: I've found the mixing speaker of my dreams..

Although I did not continue my subscriptions to audiophile magazines I did hold onto a few issues that had untypical reviews and one of those was of the ATC SCM150 by Jason Kennedy for HIFI+ that spoke directly about the domestic environment. A few quotes from the multipage review:

“In an ideal world the truly remarkable ATC SCM150A SL would be a domestically desirable loudspeaker, however in an age when speakers like LS3/5a are considered quite big enough thank you, this would seem to be a pie in the sky dream.”

“Back in the day, or the seventies as they were known, large speakers were quite popular things, the Sandwich coned Leak, JBLs and numerous Wharfedales each took up more living room space than a whole home theatre in a box.”

“What is most regrettable about modern fashions is the way that they exclude ‘proper’ sized speakers that have internal volume that is equal to the difficult job of reproducing wide band, wide dynamic range music at a volume level that is adequate to a fully immersive musical experience. These ATCs are that speaker precisely, they make no concessions to styling and are as ever with the brand rather less expensive than they should be – can you imagine Naim or Linn producing an active loudspeaker of this size for less than twice what’s being asked here?”

“These speakers may be able to deliver 118dB but they are immensely sophisticated. This is not a brute even if it might look like one in all black pro guise.” “It reveals what the music is all about by exposing aspects of recordings that seem so obvious that you can’t understand why they weren’t clear or at least noticeable before.” “It could be because the speaker has a level of distortion/coloration that is way below the norm and combines this with a breadth of bandwidth and dynamic range that allows the music to breathe.”

I know I'll never own the 150 or even the 50 but I feel I know something about them in having the same midrange driver in my three-way 35. I think they're a very interesting company, one of the very few who make their own drivers, and well worth investigation.

 

Bit late in the day to discover ATC Steve......
As for Monitor 40's my mate offered you a good deal.

 

How good?

 

As with all my speaker purchases, I'll have to wait 30 years until I can pick up a pair on Audiogon for $300. Oh, wait, I'll be 80...

 

Steve, glad you got to hear some ATC's - when I mentioned them here - post #20

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=110486&highlight=speaker+recommendations

there were a few knockers.

 

Christian:

You score 10/10 for being the first to suggest ATC in the above thread, but minus several million for being too general! However, the amazingly prescient member responsible for post #60 http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=2487895&postcount=60 actually recommends the very model Steve now finds himself liking so much. The Gorts ought to configure the Forum software so that a golden ear icon appears next to his name.

darkmatter:

A number of years ago I did a demo with ATC using FIVE of the SCM300 models in a large room at the LA Convention Center. You haven't heard the multi-channel SACD of Aerosmith's Toys In The Attic until you have heard it this way. Sweet emotion, indeed!

Steve:

I've known Billy Woodman and the gang at ATC for several years and they are great people. They can finish the speaker any way you want. A number of years ago they brought over some beautiful looking 150s in a deep blue piano lacquer finish. However, trying to keep the piano finishes clean is a never ending job (of course, I was using them under show conditions and, for some bizarre reason, people seem to love putting their greasy fingers on piano finishes! ).

Apart from the finish, there is a subtle difference between the Pro and Consumer models: the Pro models have radiused edges, and are designed to be used grilles off, while the Consumer versions have a stepped front baffle that requires the grille to provide the smooth baffle transition.

While it might be hard for some here to comprehend, the active 150s at around $16k/pair are a bargain, you could spend twice that on a passive 15" design (e.g., B&W) and requisite amplification.

The 150s are great for showing the scale of a recording, and are highly musical. Glad to hear you enjoyed them.

 

I agree BE. One thing I liked about the ATCs that Telarc used on the last classical recording was the sense of scale and dynamics of the orchestra. Tremendous weight when done in surround DSD. You could hear a very close approximation to what was happening in Symphony Hall.

 

I guess you really did like them!

Have ATC or Brad at Trans Audio suggested stands? If you don't have something suitable, you may want to consider Sound Anchors' 3 or 4 Post Monitor Stands:

http://www.soundanchors.com/page3.html

They are pricey, but very well made.

 

I know this is a very old thread, but I've been surfing the web for some ATC gear reviews for a few weeks. Five minutes ago I tried googling "Steve Hoffman favourites monitors" (I often read this forum) and I reached this page
I read an interview where Steve said he does not use active monitors, and now I'm wondering if he ever tried any active ATC loudspeakers as I'm very tempted by new scm40a (9500$) in order to upgrade my poor home theater equipment. The scm50 look so good but they are a bit out of my budget.

 

ATC & PMC are the gold standards in studio monitors

 

Has anyone ever compared the SCM19's (v2) and the SCM20ASL mk2 Pro's? I managed to pick a sealed pair for $4k that are waiting for me in Florida. Sadly, my son was born with an airway disorder and we never made it back to America and instead relocated to my home country, the UK. I used to have SCM11's (v2) with the now discontinued ATC SIACD intergreted amp. It sounded amazing. Drums popped out and the imaging was head turning. Bass notes had real attack, the whole sound had authority, accuracy and was still very musical. I now only want ATC speakers.

Without knowing when, or if I'lll ever get back to Florida, I bought some PMC Result6 active monitors and hooked up my Mytek 192 digital DAC and preamp. I have been very dissapointed. Where is the attack? where is the ring of the bass notes? it all seems so far back in the mix. The bass is deeper, but it no where near as tight. The imaging is not there at all.

I've just ordered an ex-demo ATC CDA2 mk2 Preamp (nice all in one with CD and DSD DAC) for a great price. I doubt it will make the PMC's will be what I want them to sound like (I am listening in the near field position). But perhaps using the preamp function on my Mytek DAC is part of the problem.

Have I jumped the gun and should have held out for secondhand pair of SCM19a's? I guess I will have to wait till out I'm out of limbo and know where we'll be settling in the future.

Any advice welcome!

Thanks

Kristian

PS perhaps I should have posted in this thread, but it's locked and I don't have enough credits to unlock it!
ATC SCM 19 V2 Monitor Speakers-

 

I thought I would add this here about motorcitydave after seeing some of his posts in this thread with the In Memoriam tag (I was subscribed to this thread and saw it in my watched threads). I sent Dave a PM asking about the US distributor and he sent me an extremely detailed and helpful response about them, far more than anyone really had to do. I've since heard the SCM100 and SCM150 and I can see why SH used them as a reference, they are exceptional speakers with terrific midrange... something that all too many speakers fail at.

 

I have a pair of SMC 35. They are glorious, reveling and musical. One day I going to own a pair of their big monitors (SMC50/100/150).

 

I should note, that I picked up the SCM20ASL mk2 and that the reason I got the Result6 in the interim is due to finding a really nice pair secondhand for a song. Sorry, not the best writer!

 

I‘m in love with my pair atc scm 11.

 

If I wasn't worried about having such expensive speakers at the office, ATC monitors would be on my very short list.

 

Me too. They are tremendous little speakers.

 

What is a mixing speaker vs a home entertainment speaker?

 

Telarc was using ATC, where is Michael Bishop now? ATC is known for that magical midrange driver.

 

Michael Bishop | Five/Four Productions

 

ATCs are great sounding speakers. I still have a pair of SCM20ASL which I had used as desktop computer monitor speakers. Took up some desk space but I put up with it for the sound - nearfield nirvana. I viewed them as headphones minus the headband.

 

A couple of these is all you need in your home.