ATC SCM150 Amp and Preamp recommendations
Just received my ATC SCM150 passive speakers last week and looking for amplifier suggestions.
I have a large, well-treated room (45' x 16' x 8') and primarily listen to large-scale classical music — symphonies, piano concertos, cello works, etc.
For me, dynamics are critical, but so are tone, instrumental timbre, and harmonic richness.
Front-end setup:
Technics 1200G with Umami Red cartridge
Luxman EQ-500 phono stage
Aurender A100 streamer/DAC
So far, I’ve tried the following amplifiers:
Classe Delta Stereo + matching preamp: very polite sound, but too soft on top, poor bass control, slow and muddy low end, recessed midrange — overall unable to properly control the speakers.
Luxman L-595A SE: gorgeous microdynamics and a liquid, beautiful midrange; however, limited in dynamics and authority due to power constraints. No brightness !
Auris Fortissimo (tube amp): outstanding midrange and highs with a very holographic presentation, but again lacks bass energy and authority due to lower power output.
Luxman 507Z - way too bright for ATC, so assuming Luxman M10 will be just as bright
Given these impressions, I'm now looking for a serious amp/preamp combination that can bring out the full potential of the SCM150s — maintaining musicality and tonal beauty but with the dynamic slam and control these speakers demand.
Budget: ~$20-30k for amplification, ~$10-15k for a preamp (open to used market gear)
I'm also open to bi-amping if someone has successfully done it with the SCM150s.
Amplifiers I'm considering:
Electrocompaniet AW800
Simaudio Moon 861 monoblocks
Hegel H30 monoblocks
I'm also looking for preamp recommendations to pair with the above amps — ideally something that adds a touch of tube warmth and harmonic richness, but without softening transients or slowing down the dynamics.
Would love to hear from anyone with direct experience driving SCM150s, or who can recommend synergistic combinations that deliver both the dynamic authority and tonal sophistication I'm after.
Thank you for your response. No disrespect to the OP, but I couldn't imagine not getting the powered ATCs. It would be comparable to getting the big MBL Radials and not using matching MBL amps. Both are designed as loudspeaker systems. But others clearly disagree. It's possible that the details of calibration might actually appeal to those looking to achieve their desired sound profile. Probably a very niche market. |
@lonemountain Many thanks for chiming in. As a latecomer to the ATC party, I’m super happy I finally arrived. As Doug MacLeod says, “there’s a difference between late and too late”. I have a pair of SCM40 passives which hooked me then got the SCM50 passives. I love them 😍. It is way too easy to raise the volume due to the super low distortion. There is zero, I mean zero sense of strain or compression. It’s really cool. The midrange openness and sheer sense of transparency is spine tinglingly good. I did audition for hours, the active versions and for me the passive with a Moon amp did the trick. ATC definitely knows how to design a proper crossover and speaker system, as these are the best passives I’ve ever heard and have had in my space. I do like the ability to have some flexibility with amps and cables, and so whatever real world trade offs there are b/t the active and passives melts away once I sit and listen. What I don’t understand is why everyone doesn’t own ATC speakers active or passive. The engineering of the drivers stands on its own. They really nail the whole package beyond the raw drivers too. I guess we are just a bunch of audio fools in the end and we like what we like. @yyzsantabarbara I wonder if the USB-X with Lumin U2 will match the MPS-X streamer. I have really gotten used to Lumin and have no issues with the performance but there is something nice about all PBD and one box solution
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