atc 150 asl pro

Passive speakers start out with a huge disadvantage since amps are not optimized for the driver, crossover absorbs power and fine detail.
And any ATC speaker is good on it's own merits, just that active takes it to another level.
How do you get a $20,000 speaker on a demo? Can you ship them over to me when you're done?

IMveryHO, the ATC will outperform the Mark Lev, i.e. ultimately the sound emanating fm the spkrs SHOULD be the sound signature of the pre.
OTOH, congratulations on getting a pair of ATC on demo @ home! Care to give a quick course on how you managed that:)? Cheers

I love my ATC speakers. The passive version is hard to match with right amp. However, when you find the right combination, it is the best modern speaker I have heard.

S23Chang -what kind of atc do you have?

The original passive SCM10 from the late 90s
Tried with half of dozen amp ranging from 55 Watt tube amp to 300 Watt SS amps. The amps are ranging from $1500 to $6000 in the used market. The preamps are also ranging from $1500 to $3000 in used market. Yet to hear a better bookshelf monitors in my current setup.
What attracts me about the ATC is its mid range and lower frequency response. It has silky highs with big sweet spot mids and exlosive low frequency response.
I prefer drive it with my 60 Watt/ch tube amp.
Although it is not a large speaker that can fill the whole 360 sq ft listening area, the combo is very nicely balance for my room size.

I am auditioning in 60m2 a pair of Active Towers ATC-150 (serial numbers 0001 and 0002, with discrete amps. The performance of them is excellent, whatever preamplifier I used (KRELL KCT, Valve Geroukis pre, Passive, Avondale Graduate 1). My source is Theta Generation Va Balanced 24/96 and cable Interconnects are Transparent. I think that at least in accuracy, transparency and tonal balance, they might be one of the very best speakers in the world. Bass is excellent with high definition even in the very low frequencies and no booming occured in the room after the first 50 hours. Mid and hi frequencies are very good, with no coloration. Image is very clear and soundstage is very big. Despite the size of the speakers, they dissapear in the room enabling the listener to relax and enjoy the music. It is like having a live presentation in your house.
It is strange why most of the Hi-Fi,and Hi-End magazines refer nothing about these gems...

George I agree with you about the absence of magazines regarding ATCs.

George Kops.

Does it matter which balance cables you use? Acoording to ATC they say to use just belden cable as it makes no difference in sound whether you use belden or any of the High end cables- anyone try different cables with the active ATC?

I've heard of good results with a friend using the Transparent Opus. Expensive but he claims brings it all home for him.

I use canary wth my active SCM 20A-2's (modern)

Absolutly no need to spend any moe than this.