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ATC SCM 50A active towers review

Now with 30 hours playing time I can at least state these exceed by a substantial margin my ATC SCM 40A actives, which are quite good in their realm of price/performance, but are truly left behind by the new kid on the block.

Thank you Tom at Big Ear Stereo and Lonesome Mountain (ATC distributor) for affecting the deal.

Expectations for me were of improvement of scale and dynamics given of course larger drivers driven by larger amps.  However, and it is a considerable however, the 50As travel well beyond by delivering a far deeper, more complete and penetrating soundstage.  Closer to that elusive 'live' experience.  And yes they are very much more dynamic, immediate and slammin' terrifying!  But not like a PA system.  It all remains quite civilized and non-fatiguing.

SPLs are there without the shriek or compression.  Nothing sounds overwhelming nor head severing.  This being their consumer line, may be tuned differently.  I've no experience with ATC Pro products.

Naim Core, Weiss 501 DAC, Decware ZLC power conditioning, Quadraspire Reference X equipment stand, commensurate cabling, ATC 50As with Gaia l footers.

celtic66

Showing 2 responses by admranger

admranger
142 posts
 

@celtic66

Thanks! The wife acceptance factor is much higher on the 40A than the 50A.

A generous gift to your friend. I run a sub with my 19’s to help make up for their lack of a lower end, but I’m sure the 40’s are better.

My first experience with the 40 passives was at the Palm Hotel and Casino recording studio (which has the Neve board from Abby Road, btw). Lone Mountain Audio demo’d them using the ATC integrated amp and cd player. Simply stunning. Everyone was blown away. I knew right then what my next speaker brand was. I was surprised b/c I’ve heard everything from Oligarch only priced Wilsons and Rockports to more pedestrian Sonus Faber Olympica III’s (and I’s driven by a 300w/ch McIntosh amp!) and Focal Sopra 3s. All are spectacular in their own right, but I prefer the ATC house sound.

 

admranger
142 posts
 

Congrats on the active 50’s!  Brad, The owner of Lone Mountain Audio, keeps trying to get me into active 50’s.  The WAF isn’t as high as my SCM19v2’s (or active 40’s), so I likely won’t be as lucky as you are with the 50’s.  

First priority is to get a new streamer DAC and the Weiss is a contender.  I may have to settle for a LUMIN T2 if I want active 40s, but that’s a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. 

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