Active ATC speakers - Opinions please

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Hello,

It’s my first post here. I noticed there is a bit of an ATC following here, so I thought I’d see whether anyone has any experience of the
ATC Active range, i.e. SCM20’s SCM50’s.

I currently have the SCM 40’s powered by my Yamaha 3900. I’m looking at moving to a stereo setup in the lounge, but I don’t really fancy spending big bucks on stereo/mono amps, so I thought the active ATC’s would be ideal.

I remember reading from another ATC owner that he replaced the ATC inbuilt amps with £10,000’s worth of Chord power, and he ended swapping back to the ATC power amps, as they sounded considerably better. I’d consider them to be pretty good in this case.....

Before I look at getting a demo, I thought I’d see if there are any active speaker users here.

Cheers.
 
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Sorry, I'm not sure why my first post is formatted so badly...
 

proffski

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I have only ever used active ATCs in a studio environment. Breathakingly stunning and rewarding with quality input material. Totally unforgiving of rubbish signal., rubbish in rubbish out! You should already be aware of this. Passive are excellent and active just get better. What hit me most was the sheer dynamic range that they offered without running into distortion or out of steam. Magnificent beasts!! Models used active were 20s & 50s. I never got round to playing with the 100s...
 
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Anonymous

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Thanks for that proffski,

That's kind of what I've heard from people. Yes I know, some of my music
sounds awful, I put some of it down to my av receiver though....

I may have to have a look at demo-ing these. I'd love to look at the 50's
but I think my rooms just not big enough and they'd be against the back wall,
so they might not be best suited. Maybe the 20's!!

Anybody using actives in a home environment?
 
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Anonymous

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dazzler9000:Sorry, I'm not sure why my first post is formatted so badly...

Press Shift+Enter instead of Enter.
 

Frank Harvey

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Hi dazzler - might be your first post, but the name seems familiar....
emotion-1.gif


As good as the 3900 is, it will be holding back your SCM40's, which is designed around their own 2 channel amplification, so most AV receivers aren't the most ideal partner. ATC's can deal with most music genres given the right amplification, so I think you're right to finger it as a suspect.

There is a big benefit to active speakers as they cut out the passive crossover, which isn't a particularly efficient invention. Much of a speaker's quality is lost here. Active speakers tend to be so much more vivid, with far more attack to the leading edge of notes. A demo is recommended. And be ready to be converted! I've heard quite a few active speakers and none have failed to impress me.

The SCM20's will have more than enough power for most people in an average sized room, and I doubt many would be able to push them to their limts. As you are probably already aware, ATC's work extremely well against a wall, especially the entry level range and the active 20's as they're sealed cabinets.
 
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Anonymous

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hi guys, how much do the atc20's retail for? and what kind of amp would drive them to the best of there abilitys? just curious how much better they would be compared to the atc40's.
 
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Anonymous

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Those that fall for the ATC actives appear to go 'hook-line & sinker' in love - so there are devotees around certainly.

Whilst I kinda liked some of what they did, I ended up preferring a more traditional pre/power set up.

Like most of hi-fi I guess it's a case of listen and see what YOU think - but I reckon if you like them, you too may well be hooked!
 

Frank Harvey

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fowler:hi guys, how much do the atc20's retail for? and what kind of amp would drive them to the best of there abilitys? just curious how much better they would be compared to the atc40's.

Depending on finish, they cost between £5,400-6,300. These are for active versions, so no amplification is needed - you could argue they have the perfect, matching amplification already driving them. The passive versions are between £3,200-4,100 and ideally I'd say they need at least ATC's own integrated to start to get the best from them, as I would recommend with the SCM40's. ATC will tell you that they feel the SCM40 is better (overall) than the SCM20's, mainly thanks to it's high quality mid driver. Personally, I would recommend a listen to both, as they are different, just as we feel the SCM11's and SCM19's are different to the SCM40's. Some will revel in the unltra revealing nature of the 3 way SCM40 - others may not. I'm interested in hearing the SCM20's myself - if I can get a listen and compare I'll let you know.
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:
fowler:hi guys, how much do the atc20's retail for? and what kind of amp would drive them to the best of there abilitys? just curious how much better they would be compared to the atc40's.

Depending on finish, they cost between £5,400-6,300. These are for active versions, so no amplification is needed - you could argue they have the perfect, matching amplification already driving them. The passive versions are between £3,200-4,100 and ideally I'd say they need at least ATC's own integrated to start to get the best from them, as I would recommend with the SCM40's. ATC will tell you that they feel the SCM40 is better (overall) than the SCM20's, mainly thanks to it's high quality mid driver. Personally, I would recommend a listen to both, as they are different, just as we feel the SCM11's and SCM19's are different to the SCM40's. Some will revel in the unltra revealing nature of the 3 way SCM40 - others may not. I'm interested in hearing the SCM20's myself - if I can get a listen and compare I'll let you know.

ok thanks david. sorry if this sounds daft- im not that clued up with these things but you say active versions need no amplification what do you connect your cd player etc to and is the volume control etc on the speakers?
 
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Anonymous

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dazzler9000:

I currently have the SCM 40's powered by my Yamaha 3900. I'm looking at moving to a stereo setup in the lounge, but I don't really fancy spending big bucks on stereo/mono amps, so I thought the active ATC's would be ideal.
<!--[endif]-->

have a close look at the AVI 9.1 active speakers.... a lot cheaper and although I have not heard them, I have read many good reviews from owners ....

there are some AVI owners on this forum who all seem happy , so am sure you will get some more details/advice from them
 
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Anonymous

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As Craig suggested - you need a good pre-amp

Source goes in to the pre amp as normal, then use Interconnects (maybe long ones!) to the speakers ..... no speaker cable required ....
 
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Anonymous

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FrankHarveyHiFi:
Hi dazzler - might be your first post, but the name seems familiar....
emotion-1.gif


Depending on finish, they cost between £5,400-6,300. These are for active versions, so no amplification is needed - you could argue they have the perfect, matching amplification already driving them. The passive versions are between £3,200-4,100 and ideally I'd say they need at least ATC's own integrated to start to get the best from them, as I would recommend with the SCM40's. ATC will tell you that they feel the SCM40 is better (overall) than the SCM20's, mainly thanks to it's high quality mid driver. Personally, I would recommend a listen to both, as they are different, just as we feel the SCM11's and SCM19's are different to the SCM40's. Some will revel in the unltra revealing nature of the 3 way SCM40 - others may not. I'm interested in hearing the SCM20's myself - if I can get a listen and compare I'll let you know.

Hello,
Yes, I am a regular member on another forum
emotion-5.gif
When you said that ATC claim that the 40's are better than the 20's, did you mean the passive or active? I'm guessing you mean the passive. The only reason I'm put of the active 20's is because they're 2-way opposed to my current 40's, with the legendary mid driver.

I'm sure they must be in another league though..... The 50's look truly great, but I'm not sure they'd be happy wedged in the corners of my room......

Thanks for your comments guys, I'll have another read over them now.
 
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Anonymous

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Craig M.:
no you need a pre amp, and given how revealing they are - a very good one.

Yes, I like the look of the Pass Labs XP-20
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I can dream I suppose.....
 
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Anonymous

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As dim-span has said the Avi's are very good,but may not be in the same league as the ATC actives, but at about £1100 you would not expect them to be! We are very happy with them and I am enjoying so much more music!! more often.Nick
 

Andrew Everard

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dim_span:have a close look at the AVI 9.1 active speakers.... a lot cheaper and although I have not heard them, I have read many good reviews from owners ....

Another fine recommendation of a product you've never heard, dim_span...
 
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Anonymous

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Cheers, I'll check them out.

My main goal is to get something that I'll want to keep for years, instead of box swapping all the time. My current speakers are very nice, but I'm not hearing them at their best at the moment.
 
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Anonymous

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Andrew Everard:

dim_span:have a close look at the AVI 9.1 active speakers.... a lot cheaper and although I have not heard them, I have read many good reviews from owners ....

Another fine recommendation of a product you've never heard, dim_span...

yup .... like I said, I have not heard them, but others on this forum have ... and some on this forum own them and speak very highly of them ... and many on other forums rate them highly

so Andrew, have I done wrong by suggesting that the OP researches these further, even though I have clearly stated that I have not heard them?

so .... what's your opinion Andrew? .... or do you prefer to sit this one out?
emotion-5.gif
 
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Anonymous

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Andrew Everard:

Having not heard the speakers in question, I offer no opinion.

I find that to be the best course of action...

like I said before, if we only had to give suggestions on what we have heard, most of us would only be posting on the 'what are you listenening to' thread

and like I said, I read suggestions and comments on several forums ....

The OP asked a question asking for advice on active speakers, and clearly stated that he does not wish to spend a lot of money .... after numerous posts, no one mentioned the AVI ... so, I offered my advice ....

it's up to the OP to research further .... and to be Frank, I don't really care what he ends up buying, but feel that I have advised to the best of my ability (with my limited knowlege)

afterall, I thought that was what forums were about .... trying to help if and where possible?
 

Frank Harvey

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fowler:ok thanks david. sorry if this sounds daft- im not that clued up with these things but you say active versions need no amplification what do you connect your cd player etc to and is the volume control etc on the speakers?

I think your questions have already been answered, but as Craig states, the quality of the pre (and the source) will determine what you get from them. I've heard the active SCM50's (or 100's, can't remember) along with their SCA2 pre-amp with high quality CD source - they sounded stunning! Playing a drum track on them, it was the closest I've ever heard to a real set of drums (not inlcuding my own speakers in that of course
emotion-2.gif
).
 

Frank Harvey

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dim_span:have a close look at the AVI 9.1 active speakers.... a lot cheaper and although I have not heard them, I have read many good reviews from owners ....

Sorry dim_span, but as good as the AVI's might be, the ATC actives aren't only in another league, they're in another world compared to the AVI's.
 
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Anonymous

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the active 50 SL for example is close to the price of the wilson speakers.

How would one compare the active to the likes of say the Wilson Sophia or the Wilson Watt Puppies ?

Looking forward to hearing opinions on this matter.
 

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