Recommendation for ATC SCM150 Amp/Pre

I might add that the last speakers Gordon Holt, the founder of Stereophile bought for himself were active ATC 50s, basically an ATC 150 with a smaller woofer(same mid range, tweeters and amps). And he told me they were one of the very, very few speakers that made the live tapes(and he did many of them including large symphonies, etc.) he made sound the like the live performance he heard while recording. If it's accuracy that is desired rather than 'musicality' then powered ATCs are one of the few routes there.

Have you ever read ATC reviews comparing the active version against the passive version. The active version wins quite clearly every time. The biggest problem driving a speaker is the lousy reactance of a passive crossover. That's why really good 6 figure amps with what seems like ordinary specs sound better, expensive power supplies that can drive a lousy load. A good active design solves this much less expensively. Change your order to the active version and save money and get better performance.

There's a lot of truth in what you say but there's too much 'sounds good to me' in audio which is ultimately fine for each individual but there are products that do allow suppression of belief on great recordings and there's almost universal agreement active ATCs are superior to passive ones.

I have never experienced passive ATC40s(which will vary from amplifier to amplifier) but I lived with a pair about 8 years ago for over a month and they were special.

And you're correct he asked about amps for passive ATCs but they are still on order and probably can be changed and I strongly believe active ATCs are superior and also will save money.

Also ATCs are designed to be active and passive ones are secondary since admittedly there is a real market for them.