He said it was mild and most people wouldn't notice or care if I remember right. More of an academic point than a practical one. If money were no object I'd get a pair of 300 towers. The dynamics on those has to be incredible.
ATC SCM150ASLT
Dear members,
I have almost decided to buy ATC SCM150ASLT. But before investing big ammount, I still need to answer few questions. I will be very thankfull if you can answer some or all of them. There is no possibility to audition in my country, so I will need to take some risks and order anyway. Also local dealers usually know less and just care about selling more gear for more money. I would really appreciate that.
I am still a beginner in hi-fi world and this will be my first big system. I own near field monitors Genelec 8351, which I like. But I already want an improvement and I am looking for the big sound.
I mainly listen to electronic music, also ambient, down-tempo, nu-disco and etc. My music often inludes some instruments and vocals. I do not listen cheap mainstream EDM. I only occasionally listen to other genres like rock/jazz/blues/pop/rap and etc.
Few tracks to get an idea:
https://fatimayamaha.bandcamp.com/track/whats-a-girl-to-do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi8RlR64PNQ
https://autarkic.bandcamp.com/track/i-know-2
https://multiculti.bandcamp.com/track/czary-mary
https://mmmberlin.bandcamp.com/album/donna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qZGvnKFdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKErqOWLSVE
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Question 1 - Models.
Do I correctly understand, that all these models sound totally the same? SCM150ASL Pro, SCM150ASL and SCM150ASLT. Difference is only in cabinet finishes and added accessories (grills, stands)?
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Question 2. Room.
Speakers will be in a summer wooden frame-house. Made from 15 cm. glasswool inside and some drywall. Room has two big windows from floor to ceilings. Room dimensions is around 5-6 m. x 8 meters. Ceiling height moving from 2.4 to 2.8 m. I will ask for professional acoustician to treat my room after we install speakers. At least primary reflections and solve biggest room issues if we find any.
- Is my room large enough for ATC SCM150ASLT? What is the smallest room recommended?
- I have attached my room plan. How far from side walls and rear wall I shoul place the speakers? Is my plan good?
- Speakers will stand in front of glass wall. I know it is not good. But still usable? What problems I may face and if it will be possible to solve them?
I understand , that nobody can guarantee the sound quality in a specific room. But I just need your guidelines if you have any.
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Question 3. Pre-amp and DAC.
I will be listening only to digital files through my computer. Maybe I will add vinyls/cd and streamer after few years, when I will have extra budget.
My goal now is to get maximum out of my speakers, with buying least needed boxes, but best quality, so they match my speaker quality and price range. I do not understand if I need pre-amp and if it affects sound quality.
Please help me to get right strategy what to buy now, and what I can upgrade later. And how big adding better dac or pre-amp affects overall sound quality.
So questions are:
- Can I just buy best I can afford pure DAC (with analogue sound level control) and go straight to my active speakers (so there is no pre-amp in my system at all)?
- Or I need DAC, not pure, with some kind pre-amp funkcionality?
- Or I need to buy pre-amp and Dac (separate boxes)? Would that improve sound quality a lot, because of pre-amp in the system?
- Or I should better buy best DAC I can and add pre-amp later? Or otherwise - I should buy now best pre-amp and simple DAC, which I can upgrade later?
If I am getting it right, I do not need a pre-amp now, if I play only digital files from my computer. I should now buy best pure DAC I can and which matches my system’s quality and price range, am I correct? Later on I could add pre-amp (I would choose ATC SCA2 pre-amp for brand synergy), which would improve sound quality just a little bit, but I could add vinyls also. Is that correct?
If yes, could you give reccommendations for pure DAC, that are known for good synergy with ATC? Which model could be good match for my system in terms of quality and price range? Should I invest in DAC like 5-10k.€ to get most of my speakers?
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Question 4. Updates.
ATC models have been updated quite long ago. And ATC 50 year aniversary is coming next year. Would it be wise from my side to wait till let’s say Munich Hi-Fi Show to see if there are any big news from ATC?
I would be very sad to buy my first big system and find out that it was updated just few months later…
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Question 5. Audition SCM150ASLT.
Do you know any place in upper part of Europe like Poland, Germany, Scandinavian countries, where I could go and audition ATC SCM150 model? I would fly there to listen before buying.
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I will be very very very thankful for all your answers 🙏
Tod
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- 37 posts total
@todbut I'm sorry to inform that the store sold the demo pair a couple of weeks ago. He didn't know if he would order a new pair any time soon . ( he recently got the complete avantgarde lineup in store so space is sparse) |
Dear vinylvalet and audioslave1561, thank you a lot for your time and detailed answers. I have found them very informative 🙏🙏🙏 I am now ready to go with ATC. Just need to figure out which model as I am little bit confused. I will post my ideas in next message. |
Dear lonemountain, first of all I want to say big thank you for all your posts in this forum. I have read all of them and found tons of useful information for me. You are a big value for ATC community. You are a real ATCyclopedia :)
- In many forums I have read, that I should go with the biggest speakers my room can accommodate. Many posts say 15” inch is superior and if your room is big enough, you should choose it. My room is around 40-45 m2, which is somewhat at the minimum requirement to get that big speakers. - I don’t see any recommendations to go with sub. Only if it is cinema system, which is not in my case. As system would become 4-way. I see though many recomendations to better go with 2-way horn systems. But it’s out of my beginners possibility to understand which is better, 3-way or 2-way 🤷♂️ People say, that for home use 2-way horn systems are better because have less reflections from walls, and 3-way is better in studio, where room is heavily treated. But it's too hard for me to understand which is true or not 🤷♂️ - Ben Lilly, Technical Sales Manager at ATC, in one interview told that minimum space for ATC SCM150 is 35m. So my room is even little bit bigger, than required. - It is second time I hear, that ideally room’s first reflection points should be symmetric. I have plan B. I can rotate room and put speakers on oposite room’s side. On the wall where now kitchen is located with small window in the middle. That way I can reach 100% symmetry for first reflections. If you could one again open my room’s plan and comment , I would be very thankfull.
Taking all this information into account, which size speakers should I go with? What would be your guess? I understand that risk and responsibility is on me, just asking for your experienced guess.
I hope ATC will have pure DAC in it’s collection one day. Would be a no brainer for me to buy.
Once again BIG THANKS for your answers! 🙏
Tod. |
@todbut You're welcome. I'm excited for you. I've rotated through many speakers over the years, both in my music rooms and my studio. My SCM50ASLT and SCM20ASL Pro Mk2 active speakers are here to stay. |
- 37 posts total