ATC scm 19 vs ATC scm 20SL?

I think BongoB and Kinn got most of it covered. The 19 uses the same SL woofer/midrange driver so apart from a slight difference from the better tweeter extension (2.8Khz and up) they should sound pretty much the same. I have not opened a 19 up so I am not sure if they use the same good quality supersound polyproplene caps and air core inductors in their older models but I expect they do.

Judging by looks of the cabinet it has been engineered/designed to be mass produced at lower labor cost compared to the intricate work on the SCM 20SL. The 19 can be used without grills due to the rounded edges. The standard domestic 20SL needs grills installed to help reduce edge diffraction.

Since the SCM19 is cheaper i'd say it is better value but apart from that you are talking about substantially the same speaker.

Any comments on the sound of the SCM16A with a good tube preamp (say one using PX4 & 6NS7 tubes? Thanks!

There are revealing speakers and there are revealing speakers. I find ATC to belong to the second category, wherein they not only reveal the weaknesses of a system or recording but also equally honestly reveal the strengths/goodness of the whole chain + recording. Hence to me it sounds like a very straightforward honest guy who is always willing to entertain with the right mixture of good and evil. If a tube preamp is required in a chain it is simply because

1. The tube preamp is adding more honesty to the system than the SS preamp in contention.

2. The rest of the chain is not honest enough in bringing out the beauty of the music hence needs help.

3. The system might be great but the room may not be good so instead of treating the room one opts for a softer sounding preamp.

Since a truly neutral system will do justice to all kinds of recording I would rather believe most SS preamps are on the drier side of the neutral.

Will reflect the sonic signature, so it will color your music with a warm tubey glow. I can recommend their pre-amp or a Benchmark DAC1.

OK, thanks. What about the sonics of the SCM16A in general (especially vocals)? I am thinking of moving (up?) from a pair of Quad 12L actives.

I have seen no info in the forums on these here in Audiogon or some other popular sites. (I'm kind of surprised at that.)

There are few choices in high-end small/medium active speakers it seems to me.

The Quads are nice and listenable, but they don't really have a sense of palpable images that I usually look for in high end speakers (thought they are new & not really run in yet...)

Thank you.