Your thoughts about ATC loudspeakers


I’m interested in the ATC SCM-40 from their HiFi series and would like to hear from people who have owned or spent a lot of time with ATC speakers. This is a fairly new model and may be a bit of a departure from their classic sound.

At the show in Newport last weekend, I was quite taken by these speakers. I went back the next day and heard the same things that I liked about them, but a couple of red flags also went up:

Microdynamics – not sure these speakers do them well and microdynamics are critical to communicating inflection and nuance and to making music sound alive

Imaging, specifically wrt depth. Nothing much outside of the plane of the speakers, so recording venue info is not there and even instrument and vocal body may suffer a bit.

Were these shortcomings of setup or associated gear, or is this what ATC does?
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Showing 5 responses by jon_5912

I have a pair of custom built active 110 ASLs that I bought from an orchestra.  It was part of a portable stage setup.  I had always wanted some ATCs since I first heard them in a shop in Chicago in 2001. 

They are a very matter of fact speaker.  They don't have a lot of character of their own.  They seem to change with the source.  Their most notable characteristic is the ability to play as loud as you want without any distortion.  I can watch an action movie as loud as it would be in the theater without any strain - it's quite an experience.  This makes them great for music that has big dynamic swings. 

The pair I have is from about 2012 so it predates the new ATC tweeter.  They are a little bit soft on top.  This can be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences but it's their most noticeable deviation from complete neutrality IMO.  It makes them slightly easier on the ears when you're listening to a recording with a bit of excess treble but it also detracts a little from something that is well recorded and that has a lot of atmosphere.  The new tweeter may have fixed this.

There is nothing quite like active bass.  The ones I have are sealed and don't have any hint of exaggerated bass but the bass quality is just better than passive.  The transients are razor sharp, the texture is fantastic.  Maybe there are passive speakers that can do it as well but they're definitely rare. 

As far as microdynamics go, I'm not sure myself if that's a characteristic of the speaker or it's that other speakers tend to exaggerate it.  I do think a lot of speakers exaggerate various things that can make them sound kind of magical but that also are a distortion that has a downside as well.  I think ATCs excel at higher volumes more than lower.  The ones I have sound fine at lower volumes but if you're going to listen to smaller scale music at lower volumes I wouldn't go with ATC since you're going to be paying for dynamic ability that you won't use.  My experience is with big ones so this may not hold for the smaller ones or the new tweeter may make a big difference. 

I've got a pair of Thiel 3.7s as well in another system and I'd have a hard time picking between the two.  They're both fantastic, both designed for accuracy, and yet significantly different.  The Thiels don't have near the dynamic capability, although they will play plenty loud for most people.  They sound better at low volumes and they do atmosphere better.  Whether this is due to the first order crossovers or more extended tweeter I don't know but I consider this a pretty easy distinction to make. 

The ATCs do better with a full orchestra or meaty rock n roll.  The Thiels are better with smaller scale stuff.  I listen to a fair amount of smaller scale string recordings and acoustic jazz and I prefer the Thiels for that.  They're really fantastic.  If I want to listen to Ozzy or a full orchestra I prefer the ATCs.  They can deliver a bass line or the scale of a large orchestra a bit better.


I have no problem with dealers talking about the brands they sell.  You'd expect them to be knowledgeable about them and since they picked them they should be enthusiastic as well.  As long as they're not hiding anything what's the problem?  
My philosophy is to build the most accurate system possible and then if there are situations where I want to deviate from neutral for one reason or another, deal with that separately.  You can get a digital equalizer that can be used to improve low volume playback.  You could get a syrupy sounding tube pre, or maybe just a tube buffer, if you have things you like to listen to that way.  There's nothing wrong with changing things when you want a different sound, but if you start with something that is pretty far from neutral it'll be hard to guess what will happen if further color is added.
I wonder if the new tweeter has made a difference in how they sound at lower volumes.  I also wonder if they are voicing their home models more for moderate/low volume listening.  I've got a pair of active 110s that are definitely at their best when played fairly loudly.  It makes sense for speakers that are flat to sound the most realistic when they are played at a volume that is close to that of live music.  Since most people listen at lower than live volumes I think speakers that tip the bass and treble up a little bit sound better.  
I'm using a Bryston BP25 and benchmark dac1 along with a velodyne dd18.  It's a very unsuperstitious solid state system and I'm not complaining about it at all.  It's exactly what I wanted.  I'm just saying that I think most people like a system that isn't completely accurate.  Whether it's boom and sizzle or the tube midrange, color is popular.  I think a boosted treble and low end will sound better than flat to a lot of people who listen at low volume.