The Best Midrange in the World Right Now

Shadorne, yes, I have heard great things about the ATC products before, but they dont seem to be widely distributed or very well known.

Could you please give more detail on your experiences with them? Which models? Passive or active?

ATC is a UK company that make their own drivers. They have gained fame from their 3" fabric dome mid range designed by Billy Woodman (ATC founder and an engineer). On SCM 20's the dome is grafted onto the woofer. On the SCM 50's they use a less powerful version of their classic mid range the SM75-150. On the SCM 100's and bigger they use the classic studio mid range (very powerful SM75-150S).

My experience is that the timbre is very similar among all models and all have a very wide dispersion with a very natural sound. Piano sounds just like a piano...this may seem like an odd statement but my experience is that most speakers fail this test miserably. Clarity in mid range is never a problem even with movie soundtracks that are loaded with background noises (something many people seem to complain about).

The passive models are not quite as detailed or precise.

The bigger models have more dynamics and are much more convincing (effortless) at live music levels. Generally I hear more detail from the separate mid range (as opposed to grafted on on the SCM 20) and on the larger SM75-150S... I believe this is because of the greater dynamics or crystal clear sound and probably a better bass from a larger dedicated woofer that allows for more lower mid detail to be audible due to less harmonic distortion from the bass. (Nuances and details in the recording become very apparent...some may not like this)

All models can play extremely loud. Relative to the popular consumer sweetspot of loud speaker sound ATC's will seem light in the bass and treble...polite, natural or neutral sounding. They do get overwhelming at high output levels and generally your ears will tire well before the speaker. At loud levels the lack of mid range compression means the mid range level will be what determines how loud you can stand it. (Most other speakers have way to much audible distortion before exceeding what my ears can stand, which means they lack the necessary headroom at normal volume levels.)

Is the SM75-150S the best mid range in the world right now? I have no idea, but ATC have been making this same model since the 70's. It was a big hit back then with UK/Europe/Australian studios for professional applications and still is today. If you check the ATC user list you will see that studios continue to install them.

I have never seen an ATC advertisement in a rag (unlike nearly all their competitors). ATC are unknown to consumers in North America. Word of mouth has recently made ATC popular in the highest end pro studios in the US too, perhaps partly due to British audio engineers that emigrated.

Best Word of Mouth Mid range in the World may be?

ATC's midrange is still made - some 25 years on. So there still are some enduring products which are principally known for their outstanding mid range quality.

Paquito D'Rivera's "La Bella Cubana" from his album, Portraits of Cuba, Chesky JD145. With this recording even most of the 'full-range' speakers I've listened to flattened out before Roger Rosenberg's baritone sax hit bottom

Thats a Bass Viol not a Barotone Sax that hits about 36 Hz. I never heard a baritone Sax hit that low, just my two cents.

Try Massive Attack "Angel" Or Dave Grusin "Homage to Duke" for some extreme LF.

I have to agree with you that Bob Katz (Chesky) is beautifully recorded/mastered.

Actually, Shadorne, there is no bass viol on the recording. But, after listening to the track again, it might be a bass trombone, and it does, indeed, read lower than 36 Hz in my room.

Bass Trombone won't go below about 60 Hz, as I recall David Finck plays Bass Viol on this track while Dave Taylor is bass trombone. I can distinctly hear both the bass trombone and the bass viol clearly on my system. The decay on the stringed instrument is characteristically much longer than the bass trombone (wind). They do play only two notes together at the start of Bella Cubana exactly at the same time...but the Bass Viol is an octave lower... (for those who may be confused Bass Viol is the orchestral name for the more commonly named double bass)

Sorry to be a stickler, I may have digital tin ears or don't know how to listen as the Vinyl Analog folks would say, but I hear this all to clearly....

the bottom-end reproduction of this intro has flummoxed every speaker I've heard

It is indeed a great intro...the flatulant bass trombone and the double bass together make a huge sound....like something deep primordial, the belly of the whale...uh oh...getting into mythology here.

BTW...if you liked that....then try This is the Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection "Oop Pop a Dah" and others ....absolutely great lively fun stuff with sounds from the Sousaphone and Baritone Sax.

Brian,

But when loudspeakers are given enough power, a system can produce awesome dynamics, with sound that feels so real you can almost touch it.

What musical fidelity says is true, however, what they neglect to mention is power compression in speakers (due to thermal issues and excursion outside of Xmax or linear excursion range of their often cheap drivers)

This means that ALL speakers will compress at higher SPL ouput levels and only "true Hi-Fi" speakers, to borrow musical fidelity's language, will compress very little.

Furthermore, speaker distortion increases very rapidly above 95 db SPL...so not only will it compress but it will sound harsh and perceptively very loud (due to distortion perceived as loudness by the ears/brain)

In practical terms this means that a 500 Watt amp will not help you with a typical audiophile grade speaker that uses $80 retail cost woofer drivers (with limited Xmax and thermal compression characteristics). Again to borrow and reverse their terminology, this is like connecting a Ferrari Engine to a Sewing Machine transmission!

Equating speaker sensitivty and amplifier power to maximum SPL output level is completely academic or meaningless, as most $80 dollar woofers are already compressing/distorting severely at 105 db spl levels!

For example, the best subwoofers typically have way more than 30% THD at 20 Hz when approaching levels of 105 db (the majority are totally off the scale in distortion)...some of the very best will be around 5% THD and the best published specifications, such as the Velodyne 1812, claim 1% THD!

So what is the point of all that amplification?.....nothing if it coupled with a typical sewing machine!