Recommendation for ATC SCM150 Amp/Pre

@soix 

Thanks for the recommendations. I currently have scm40 and could certainly see the difference with a high power SS amp compared to tune. I auditioned Electrocompinet 300w monos and I was blown away by what these little speakers could do. This is why I went for 150s. 
 

Yeah, I got to hear an Electocompaniet amp and I can definitely understand why you’d like their amps given your sonic goals. 

@dpac996

thanks for the recommendation. I would absolutely have to audition this amp before I make the decision. What other amps have you tried ?

@ei001h with the ATC passives? Audia Flight FLS-9 Integrated amp ( has the horsepower), Moon 641 integrated.

In prior systems have had many amps (as an EE, I have a passion for power amps)

In no particular order: Luxman M-900u, Simaudio 870Av2, Pass x350.8/250.8/ INT 250, INT 60, XA30.5, X250.5, Simaudio 330A, 760A, Coda CSIB, ARC 100.2, ARC VT100MKII, Primaluna HP , Octave V110, Octave V80SE, Cary SLI-80, Sugden A21, Marantz PM-14S, McIntosh MA-6900, Ayre VX-20, Benchmark HPA2, Bryston 4BSST2, 4B3, McCormack DNA 0.5, DNA1, DNA 125, DNA225, Luxman 509x, 595, 590mkii, 507uxii, Hegel H190, H390, H590, H30; Aragon 8002, Parasound A21, Rogue Audio St100 and the Integrated forget model number; there are more but it’s been a long day.

The Simaudio 761 is special and I’m 100% sure the 861 is even more so. You can’t go wrong.

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.