Tube amp for ATC SCM19s

Btzquabc,

We are an ATC dealer  and believe it or not a 22watt tube amp will drive the ATC SCM 19 well. A Cayin A 88t is a nice push pull amplifier and the ATCs are actually quite easy to drive. 

We have shown the ATC SCM 19MK II with a 50 watt Naim Unitlite which sounded terrrific obviously the amp was a bit low powered and you could not get ridiculous volume out of that setup, howerver, in our smaller demo room 18 by 14 with a 10 foot celing, the combo produced satisfyiing volume. 

The reason people generally use bigger amps with the ATC is very simple the louder you play them the better they sound. ACT plays loud with no distortion or compression, which is one reason they are used in most recording and mastering facilities. 

So we would say go for it, there are better tube integrated amplifiers but the Cain is a nice sounding unit and well made for the price.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Thanks Dave and Troy for the response! 

I do have a MA7200 that drives the SCM19s nicely but just wanted to dip my toe into the world of tube amps. I’ve heard it’s a slippery slope. 

I’ve driven my ATC SCM 19 v2 with an old SAE 50w/channel amp when my prime amp at the time died. To get any sort of volume out of them the amp was lighting up most of the lights.  

100 quality watts seem to be the threshold for me to make the ATCs reach their potential. 

 There is a pair of quicksilver v4 amplifiers that use KT 150 tubes that I think would be a worthwhile contender, here on audiogon

If you need or want to listen louder maybe do a tube pre with a ss amp.  Very interesting to hear that the 19s can be driven by tubes.  I wouldn’t have thought that so good to know.