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ATC buying advice

Hi everyone,

I am planning on buying new speakers for a music room I am setting up, and would like some advice from people with experience with ATC--which is the brand I would like to buy the speakers from. I do like to buy extras like an additional preamp and sub from the same brand if possible.

The room is around 48 m2 and 3m high and has no soundproofing, bass traps or anything. I just want to start with a setup that is simple for a starting enthusiast and will be appropriate for the size of the room. That's why I am leaning towards active speakers, such as the ATC SCM40A. Budget isn't really an issue but I do want to keep it relatively simple to start with.

So, I have a few things to figure out, taking the ATC SCM40A as a starting point:
- Pre-amp. The setup will also include a Rega P10/Aphelion2, and I've been looking at the Rega Aura preamp too. But I have no experience with this and don't know if a ATC SCA2 or CDA2 might be a better option (I do like the integrated cd-player of the CDA2);
- ATC SCM40A vs SCM50ASL (Pro) / ATC SCM50ASLT or higher. I understand I will have to listen to multiple speakers and audition preferably in my room, but purely based on your experience and the fact I will use the speakers for home listening. What's your take? I do like the look of the 40 towers in satin black, and know the pro's are less-refined looking. But ultimately it's the sound that matters most. If that means I have to go for the 100's or 150's, so be it.
- Subwoofer. Based on whether I will go for an 40A or up, do you think it would be preferable to go for a subwoofer? I read a lot and the opinions vary and it comes down to personal preference. I do like some bass, but I mostly listen to rock, classical and soundtracks. If I'd go for a sub, would single C1 Sub Mk2 suffice, or would you opt for 2/3 or the C4?
- Cables. What cables do you recommend for my DAP, TT and the rest? Again, I am inexperienced in this and open to suggestions.

All advise is welcome!

n777
gregm
3,396 posts
 

Hi - here are a few pointers based on experience (i.e. subjective).

ATC active vs passive: like you, I would go for active.

SCM40 vs SCM50: the 50s are definitely better, albeit industrial looking compared to the 40s By better, I mean truer to the source material; so, for large scale orchestral music, or opera the 50s will outperform the 40s. For pleasant sound the 40 are nice - dynamic & precise with the wonderful ATC midrange

Pre-amplification: buy yourself the best possible within the price you can tolerate. The ATC mid & upper FR is precise and you will hear preamplifier shortcomings. Buy used if necessary. I am thinking of CAT Ultimate, EAR 912, FM acoustics, CH precision, and similar.

-My experience comes from listening to 40s, 50s and 100s - mostly passive. I had the latter at home for a while. I listen a lot to, and generally judge by, classical and jazz.

-Positioning ATC speakers starts with finding the right listening position first, otherwise yuo might find them bass-shy. Locate the optimum bass point(s) in the room: that is (those are) the listening position(s). Place speakers in relation to that seating position.

Good luck!

 

n777 OP
3 posts
 

@inna you are right, budget is around the 30k-50k, but I didn’t want to limit the options because I am able to stretch the budget if needed (say for a SCM150ASLT with a good preamp) and people tend to limit their advice based on the budget. But then again, your assumption is that if someone has saved up and determined that his (or her?) budget easily accommodates for any of the ATC speakers within the 40-150 range, he or she ‘has unlimited budget and is looking for free consulting’? 🤔 I think you are underestimating how intimidating the space can be, and the more you read, the more difficult it gets. Over the past months my search for a good set up has resulted in a list with over 10 different ‘great brands’ for just for the preamp alone, from McIntosh to Luxmans, Naims to Passlabs. That’s just the preamp, I haven’t even started looking at passive vs actives speakers and possible amp combos, cables, good combinations with turntables and the right phonostages and amps for those, subwoofers, speakerstands etc. It’s not easy to determine a starting point when you don’t have a reference and I don’t have the time or interest to drive around the country from store to store and audition them all.

So I do think these forums can be very valuable to those who are looking to get some advice from people who have some experience as opposed to going to a dealer who wants to sell what he has in store.

@gregm Thank you! In terms of your experience with the 50s vs the 100s, do they make a big difference? By the looks of it the 100’s seem quite large for my space, or do they open up on lower volumes too?
Will check out your preamp suggestions and take your positioning advice to heart.

erik_squires
15,805 posts
 

Get the main speakers.  Try to place them as best you can.  Use the AM Acoustics room mode simulator to find the lowest modes and keep the speakers out of the lowest modes.  Same for your listening location.

Go from there.

Chances are you'll at least get absorbers and diffusors in the room which may be all you care for.  If you are still feeling a lack of bass that requires more care and feeding to do right, so this is IMHO a good stopping point.  As I wrote here, you have no idea what the room response is going to be until the speakers are in the room:

 

https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2021/12/room-speakers-eq.html

soix
8,765 posts
 

Given the 100s may be too large for your space, I wouldn’t hesitate to go with the 50s and a pair of good subs (IMHO you’d still want subs with the 100s anyway as they only go down to the mid 30Hz range).  The subs will help you better manage the bass in your room and go much lower than either the 50s or 100s giving you a more full-range experience, which is not a small performance boost.  Also, if you share what sound characteristics are most important to you you can get some very good preamp recommendations here to help narrow your choices quite a bit and make your search much more manageable and less daunting.  Hope this helps, and best of luck. 

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