ATC SCM 40 v2 report

Hi all.

I received a lot of help when I was looking to replace vintage KEF references (thanks again -- you know who-- for aiming me at the ATCs). So I thought I owed the forum a report on my experience with them. Plus, I'm bored.

I'm driving them with a 150 watt Musical Fidelity A308 integrated, which seems like a good match, but my expertise in such things is very limited. I'm using an okay DAC, streaming from a Mac. Cables and such are ordinary. Most of this was determined by budget more than preference.

Mostly, I agree with what others say about my passive ATCs. Their sound is too compelling and detailed to use as background music (I write) unless I send them crappy low-res stuff, which kind of defeats the purpose of the deal. This is clearly a gold-plated problem, if the word "problem" applies at all. Strangely, they turned out to be pickier about placement, at least in terms of centerstage and soundstage than the rear-ported KEFs (the new ones are  sealed. Perhaps that affects bass and wall placement more than what I'm talking about. I need the volume up higher to get the same effect, but never past eleven on the dial, with no hot amp.

They look fine -- nothing special in either direction, to my eyes. I would've much preferred the cherry finish but got a great deal on this site for a piano black pair. They''re not as big and imposing as I expected, so I didn't have to become big and imposing myself to handle my wife's opinion about their looks. :)

Anyway, THEY SOUND GREAT. That's the bottom line. Punchy, deep, detailed, airy, complex, powerful, beautiful. I stole some of these adjectives from other posts, but they all fit. I haven't discovered any genre they can't handle with elegant aplomb (I told you I write). I don't think they do badly with poor recordings, either. Crap is crap as far as I'm concerned. I don't expect any equipment to transform crap into gold (okay, I didn't say I was a GOOD writer).

I would agree that the ATCs don't do anything to boost low volume listening, and that's fine with me. On the other end of the spectrum, the complete lack of distortion at high volume is amazing. Like others, I've been able to listen much louder than before with no discomfort, allowing me to notice all sorts of stuff in the music.

Even when I don't care for a performer or a track, if it's well-recorded, the literal sound is often beautiful enough to capture my interest. I've never had that experience with other speakers. I listen to great variety of genres. I think the speakers like string and wind quartets and quintets the best, with women's voices and live bar bands next.

They're in a very complex, impossible to describe room and I've not employed any room treatment or testing. There is no spot in our house beside exactly where they are, and the opposing wall is all windows to capture a beautiful view. There's thick carpeting and complexly slanted high ceilings. All in all, the ATCs seem to do a good job of overcoming these obstacles. I'm sure they'd sound even better in another room, driven by more high-end equipment, but...

I can certainly grow into them, starting with my DAC. Someday...

So there you go.

Marc