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.
Recommendation for ATC SCM150 Amp/Pre
I ordered SCM150 passive speakers and awaiting shipment in about 2 months.
Looking for an amp/pre amp combination that would best work with these speakers.
I have a large pretty well treated room, 45' x 16' x 8'
My taste is classical large scale symphony, piano, cello etc.
Dynamics are very important but so is tone and instrument timbre.
I love harmonically rich tube sound but understand that I will be limited by power.
Front end: Technics 1200G with umami red cart, luxman eq500 phono, Aurender A100 streamer/dac.
I am open to Bi-amping options if anyone can recommend from personal experience.
budget 20k for amps, 10k preamp, used market ok.
possibilities : Electrocompaniet AW 300M, single AW800, Audio research Ref 250 or possibly 750, luxman m10x, etc.
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Op we were electro dealer for many years the aw 400s are excellent however the best combo we eve heard with our atcs was the Coda 16 power amplifier which had even better bass control and slam while also having a rich well fleshed out midrange, and a much wider sound-stage,then the electro amplifiers and we combined that with the awesome zesto leto line stage the sound was incredibly life like and vivid we were talking about that particular demo for weeks after wards.
Dave and Troy Audio intellect NJ Atc, Coda and Zesto dealers |
@dynamiclinearity I spent hours with the active SCM40’s and passive SCM40’s; The active system used the ATC top preamp/ controller. The passive setup used a Moon 641 integrated amp; same DAC as source and same room, same speaker locations. I preferred the passive setup. Sounded better to me. It’s not always the case that active is the obvious choice. YMMV of course. |
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. |
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