Active ATC vs Spendor / Pass Labs

my two sets of active atc’s are somewhat older models but i doubt the company has significantly altered the tonality of their speakers

when i was using those speakers, my trying any top solid state pre made the atc’s too biting in the treble and thinned out the midrange a touch too much to my ears --  so i found happiness in time with the lovely audio research reference 3 balanced tube linestage... it was one of the very best at the time, now surpassed by successor models in the arc reference line

as such, i personally would advise against using benchmark or chord tt2 (which i have currently) to drive active atc’s, as i think this would most likely result in ’negative synergy’ in all but the most dead listening rooms

my understanding is that in the original d series (7 and 9 models) in time, even the designers came to feel that they overshot on the treble energy, so they dialed it back a bit on the .2 series

that said, when i heard the 9.2’s at a friend’s home, i still felt they are pretty hot up top... very reminiscent of upper focals... tuned for effortless treble detail, so you better have some pretty smooth gear, play top notch recordings, or they will bite...

I’m leaning towards the ATCSCM50A now, the price is better due to a dealer looking after me price wise due to ordering sight unseen / not being able to demo.

great, we will look for your pair in the for sale used ads in a few months... 🤣😂

just kidding... i do hope you enjoy them

I think if I were to go with active I’d want a really smooth or colorful preamp to go with it.

with the atc’s i have found this very much to be the case

i still have my beloved atc scm10 and 20 actives, and i have kept an audio research ref 3 linestage, to drive them -- solid state linestages were just too unforgiving of all but the highest quality recordings rendering 60-70% of the music out there unlistenable...  the tube magic of the ref 3 were the goldilocks mating

i know all three brands of gear you mentioned quite well, i still own spendors, several pass amps, as well as two pair of atc powered monitors -- that said, i have not heard the exact models you mention, much less head on, in my own space (i have heard them in demos at shows and dealers)

my educated guess, but still a guess, is that the spendor combo will produce a more textured lower treble and midrange and driven by the pass amp, while the atc's will deliver a touch deeper (but equally rhythmic) bass

i would also guess that the atc’s will play louder will less strain (a tremendous strength of the better atc models), but there will be less midrange 'magic' that is spendor's main strength

to be sure, both setups will be rather unforgiving of less than excellent recordings, as either can easily sound shrill and overly forward if fed less than an ideal signal from the source/upstream

i suspect if you like the sound of the spendor d9.2/pass combo, you would also be very pleased with the powered atc’s in an overall sense of sonic quality but the atc's may have a bit of cooler more exacting personality in the midband