ATC buying advice

@inna you are right, budget is around the 30k-50k, but I didn’t want to limit the options because I am able to stretch the budget if needed (say for a SCM150ASLT with a good preamp) and people tend to limit their advice based on the budget. But then again, your assumption is that if someone has saved up and determined that his (or her?) budget easily accommodates for any of the ATC speakers within the 40-150 range, he or she ‘has unlimited budget and is looking for free consulting’? 🤔 I think you are underestimating how intimidating the space can be, and the more you read, the more difficult it gets. Over the past months my search for a good set up has resulted in a list with over 10 different ‘great brands’ for just for the preamp alone, from McIntosh to Luxmans, Naims to Passlabs. That’s just the preamp, I haven’t even started looking at passive vs actives speakers and possible amp combos, cables, good combinations with turntables and the right phonostages and amps for those, subwoofers, speakerstands etc. It’s not easy to determine a starting point when you don’t have a reference and I don’t have the time or interest to drive around the country from store to store and audition them all.

So I do think these forums can be very valuable to those who are looking to get some advice from people who have some experience as opposed to going to a dealer who wants to sell what he has in store.

@gregm Thank you! In terms of your experience with the 50s vs the 100s, do they make a big difference? By the looks of it the 100’s seem quite large for my space, or do they open up on lower volumes too?
Will check out your preamp suggestions and take your positioning advice to heart.

Thank you all for taking the time to share your experiences and advice! I am going to audition the 40A and 50A and see if I can test the Sugden and Luxman with both speakers. Any other preamps I absolutely should hear in combination with the ATCs? I will upgrade my Pro-Ject turntable too to a Rega but still have to listen to the P8/P10 and possibly the Naia. Since I will need a phono stage for this, am I right to assume a preamp like the Luxman will do well in this setup as well?

@soix As for your question about the kind of sound I prefer, I find it difficult to put this clearly into words. I did end up at ATC because I want to hear the music as it’s intended to sound. I listen a lot to classical music, jazz and electronic orchestral (like Hans Zimmer, Nicholas Britell and Johann Johannsson), but also r&b, soft rock and pop from the 70-90’s. I would say I aim more for ’warmer’ more musical experience than a clinically clear one. If that makes any sense?

I do like the look of the towers of both 40 and 50 in satin black, even considering they are around 10k more expensive than the pro 40 and 50. From what I understand it is mostly the hand finishing (inside and out veneer) of the consumer hifi and cabinet for the towers that differs from the pro’s, correct? The sound should be about the same since they share the same internals?

@erik_squires Thank you. Will definitely look into this and like @jimboman suggested look at room treatment at a later point in time.