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ATC SCM 40 v2 report

Hi all.

I received a lot of help when I was looking to replace vintage KEF references (thanks again -- you know who-- for aiming me at the ATCs). So I thought I owed the forum a report on my experience with them. Plus, I'm bored.

I'm driving them with a 150 watt Musical Fidelity A308 integrated, which seems like a good match, but my expertise in such things is very limited. I'm using an okay DAC, streaming from a Mac. Cables and such are ordinary. Most of this was determined by budget more than preference.

Mostly, I agree with what others say about my passive ATCs. Their sound is too compelling and detailed to use as background music (I write) unless I send them crappy low-res stuff, which kind of defeats the purpose of the deal. This is clearly a gold-plated problem, if the word "problem" applies at all. Strangely, they turned out to be pickier about placement, at least in terms of centerstage and soundstage than the rear-ported KEFs (the new ones are  sealed. Perhaps that affects bass and wall placement more than what I'm talking about. I need the volume up higher to get the same effect, but never past eleven on the dial, with no hot amp.

They look fine -- nothing special in either direction, to my eyes. I would've much preferred the cherry finish but got a great deal on this site for a piano black pair. They''re not as big and imposing as I expected, so I didn't have to become big and imposing myself to handle my wife's opinion about their looks. :)

Anyway, THEY SOUND GREAT. That's the bottom line. Punchy, deep, detailed, airy, complex, powerful, beautiful. I stole some of these adjectives from other posts, but they all fit. I haven't discovered any genre they can't handle with elegant aplomb (I told you I write). I don't think they do badly with poor recordings, either. Crap is crap as far as I'm concerned. I don't expect any equipment to transform crap into gold (okay, I didn't say I was a GOOD writer).

I would agree that the ATCs don't do anything to boost low volume listening, and that's fine with me. On the other end of the spectrum, the complete lack of distortion at high volume is amazing. Like others, I've been able to listen much louder than before with no discomfort, allowing me to notice all sorts of stuff in the music.

Even when I don't care for a performer or a track, if it's well-recorded, the literal sound is often beautiful enough to capture my interest. I've never had that experience with other speakers. I listen to great variety of genres. I think the speakers like string and wind quartets and quintets the best, with women's voices and live bar bands next.

They're in a very complex, impossible to describe room and I've not employed any room treatment or testing. There is no spot in our house beside exactly where they are, and the opposing wall is all windows to capture a beautiful view. There's thick carpeting and complexly slanted high ceilings. All in all, the ATCs seem to do a good job of overcoming these obstacles. I'm sure they'd sound even better in another room, driven by more high-end equipment, but...

I can certainly grow into them, starting with my DAC. Someday...

So there you go.

Marc
128x128m669326
vinylvalet
897 posts
 
The same model, same finish won the 2019 Arizona AV Club Speaker Fest by a wide margin. Simple, reasonably priced setup; ATC CDA2mkII > ATC P1 amp > ATC SCM40 v2 speakers.

Congratulations on a great purchase and thank you for your report.
craig_severin's avatar
craig_severin
12 posts
 
Hi, I realize this is an old thread but just wanted to get it out there that the ATC, in my case, sound a ton better when the crazy tri amp brass (it seemed to me they were) binding posts set up (with jumpers used in most photos I have seen) are removed entirely by simply unscrewing the binding post cup and removing the tri-wire rig then bringing the three positive and the three negative hookup wires (take a couple of pics with your cell phone in case you forget which goes on which side because there are a lot of different colored wires) then cut them, strip, twist together and solder onto a length of hookup wire (I used Neotech solid strand) slid on some heat shrink. Hit that with the heat gun or hair dryer, then soldered each of the resulting pair to to a Cards binding post after having pulled each wire through the mounting bracket. You have to remove the nuts from the Cardas before soldering because they are otherwise heat sinks, put down some rosin that comes in a small little tub. Hook the lead wire into the hole at end of BP and get a nice mechanical connection and then. And this is critical. Use a gun style or whatever type of very high voltage soldering iron and use the Cardas solder and the solder will near instantaneously turn into the consistency of water. Cover the the four remaining holes in the BP cover. (Used some carbon fiber sheet, but aluminum with JB Weld or maybe just JB Weld would work). 
Now you have removed a few ounces of brass and 8 x 2 push on connectors and 2 x 2 jumpers out of the signal path. 
The heat gun soldering iron will likely stop working after the first use. Don’t send it back because the same thing will happen to the next one. Instead just tighten the screws that secure the tip to the gun. 
Again, I know this is an old thread I just wanted to use it to get this out there. 
craig_severin's avatar
craig_severin
12 posts
 
Meant high wattage soldering gun. 
craig_severin's avatar
craig_severin
12 posts
 
And obviously slide the binding post’s nut onto the hookup wire before soldering. You could likely use some pure copper binding posts having set screws for the wire which would sound better and avoid having to the high wattage soldering iron. 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
lonemountain
451 posts
 
HI
I’m the importer for ATC to the US. Craig that tri wire panel isn’t my favorite either, but many users of ours in the past have requested bi wire and tri wire connections. It could be said that in 99% of the cases, amplifiers and cables lend a much bigger difference than the wiring panel itself. The associated gear in the chain would normally be the place to look for improvements. However, if you have settled on all the associated gear, changing a connector in the signal path could make a difference. Nearly all items in the physical and electrical signal chain affect sonics in some way. I have no doubt you heard a difference as careful listening can reveal differences between banana plugs and bare wire. For many investigating better cables, better preamplifiers, amplifiers or for the biggest difference, by switching to active versions, would yield a larger difference than the connector panel.

Happy Listening
Brad,
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