ATC SCM's with Spectral Components

i've demoed the SCM7 with the new enclosure in a store to see how the new tweeter and drivers sound. I have the original SCM20, and the difference was quite apparent. What shardorne said is exactly correct. I also want to add that the midrange on vocals do not sound as "whole" or "full" that their 6" driver provides. I'm no engineer, but I believe that the 20's and 19's spectacular midrange is largely due to that 3" dome built in. The 7's seem to work its best at nearfield listening, and the musical scale starts to slim down as you sit farther. I say go for the 19's as well.

The tweeter on the SCM7,11 19 are more or less a home version of their studio tweeters made by Vifa and Seas. The new tweeter are not as revealing making a sound a bit easier on the ears if your electronics is not up to par. Nonetheless, the tweeter is still amazing for any speaker below the 5K mark.

As for Spectral, I have only seen them but never got the desire to demo them. For my 20s, i give them about 300 watts per channel, and it seems like it can take it all. Make sure the amp is stable in its current deliver-ability. In my opinion, for passive ATC, class A amps work the best.

If your lucky, you may find a pair of ATC SCM35's for below 2K on Agon. They have a dedicated 3" dome and a 8" woofer, and are quite efficient to drive.

agreed with shardorne. If you listen to ATC on low levels, it feels as though the speaker is holding back, and the bass is quite lean. However, once it gets from moderate to loud levels, you be surprise how dynamic and full the sound is.

I listen to low levels often, and the only way it worked for me was to get it a full class A power amp, and a bit of bass boost. Still sounds quite good.

NOTE: With my old parasound 2200II class a/b amp, at low volumes the sound was very very thin.