As others have mentioned, the magic is in the bass and mid range with ATC - the bass and mid range are so clean and tangible that this is immediately easily noticeable versus other speakers. The tweeter is a new in house design and has no Ferrofluid - it has a double spider - perhaps the only tweeter using this design. All three drivers are entirely made in house by ATC. My speakers and class A to 2/3 power active discrete component amps are entirely made in the UK by ATC. The sound is neutral and precise and totally natural/realistic. If you are a stickler for precise timbre of sound for percussion, vocals, piano and pretty much anything at live music levels then you can’t go wrong with ATC - especially the larger models - no speaker I know of has better driver integration or such extremely low distortion at high SPL than a large ATC. Recently I simplified to their active 150 elliptical design which has a 15" woofer. They all sound very similar even active vs passive.Īs you go larger and go active the clarity and distortion drops while the SPL capability increases to truly incredible dynamic levels. SCM 20, SCM 20SL, SCM100A and their C6 subwoofer and even their largest active centre channel. They have the same sonic signature but the 40s have a much "weightier" presentation.ĪTC speakers have three main strengths: neutrality, resolution and bass quality.Ī lot of people don't like neutral speakers (they might prefer Raidho or B&W, with their explicitly designed "not to be flat" response) but personally I do.īass is tight and articulate due to either sealed box or a very low Q port tuning in their larger have used extensively since ’95 ATC speakers. May also be partially due to the increased complexity of the passive crossover in the 40. Technically this could be because the mid-woofer in the 19 is the SL "Super Linear" version, whereas the woofer in the 40 is their standard version. Interestingly I think the SCM19v2, which is a standmount, is higher resolution than the SCM40v2. Take a look at the size of the mid-woofer in the SCM19. I'm not a speaker designer but I think it is because they are using extremely beefy drivers (large magnets with underhung coils). Resolution wise (which covers off microdynamics) I think these are without peer at their price point. Further you put them, more perception of depth you have. IMO depth is nearly entirely a psychoacoustic construct that depends on how far away from the front wall the speakers are. Will also be exhibiting at the CA Audio Show with ATC in August. We also have some other interesting stuff like the new NAD M22 Ncore amp. Well Drubin (and knowing you are local) I have all the ATC Hi-Fi Passive series including the SCM19v2 and SCM40v2 available for demo in our showroom in Fairfax, CA (Marin County). Great overall speakers, and I wish they had more exposure here in the U.S. I really can't fault them in any other areas. Can't say I noticed anything regarding micro dynamics, but we usually demoed them with more dynamic music so that might be why. Perhaps the new 40s improve in these areas if they represent an evolution of the house sound, but I have no idea. Again, this is just relative to speakers that excel in these particular areas. It's not that they don't image well, it's just that compared to other what I'll call the more "audiophile" oriented brands they don't portray (or some would say exaggerate) things like depth or width of the soundstage, and I'd agree the venue info is a little less apparent as well. Where I found them to fall a little short was with respect to holographic 3D imaging. To me, the midrange is about the best I've ever heard in terms of power, resolution, and an utter lack of any distortion or strain. I worked for an ATC dealer a while back, and we didn't carry the 40s but I got to hear the 20s and 50s quite a bit while I was there.
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