ATC SCM 40 - first thoughts

[MUSICRAFT]

jtein:MUSICRAFT:Hi jtein

I am sorry for my late response as i have busy with other matters.

I hope it is not too late but i think you should also consider NAD C375BEE/C545BEE and ATC SIA2-150 MK2/NAD C545BEE.

To cut to the chase all these combinations have got their qualities

however i would personally choose the SIA2-150MK2/C545BEE combination to go with the SCM11's.

I don't deal with Chord Company and instead support Van Den Hul, QED and Black Rhodium. Van Den Hul's The Integration Hybrid is my favourite IC cable and the one that i would recommend for the non Naim based components. A speaker cable that i mostly use with ATC speakers is generic and only costs about £3/m.

I am more than happy to help you with ideas/recommendations and i truly appreciate you wanting to put business my way however i can't ship goods to Malaysia.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

Many thanks once again for your input and recommendations. Nope....you're not too late as I plan to get my gear only late next month. Actually, my listening room's dimensions are 5.45m by 5.0m. In fact, it's not an enclosed room but my living room which adjoins a 2nd living room, the dining room etc. So if I take into account all these, it would be 15.0m by 10m! Perhaps a floorstander might be in order?

Hi jtein

Thanks for your post.

What is your maximum budget for the cdp, amp and speakers?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:Hi jtein

Thanks for your post.

What is your maximum budget for the cdp, amp and speakers?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

I guess I'm willing to spend a maximum of £1,500.00 each for the cdp, amp and speakers. But I'm willing to stretch my budget to accommodate the ATC SCM40 if the sound really justifies the extra money.

Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

rick,im about to put my atc scm11's up for sale have you any idea what would be a fair price for them? thanks david!

 

[ear]

fowler everybody raving about them and you will sell...what will you be having instead?

 

[Anonymous]

ear:fowler everybody raving about them and you will sell...what will you be having instead?they are very good but im selling them to raise some cash for some atc scm40's!

 

[ear]

guess it makes sense like that

 

[MUSICRAFT]

jtein:MUSICRAFT:Hi jtein

Thanks for your post.

What is your maximum budget for the cdp, amp and speakers?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

I guess I'm willing to spend a maximum of £1,500.00 each for the cdp, amp and speakers. But I'm willing to stretch my budget to accommodate the ATC SCM40 if the sound really justifies the extra money.

Cheers.

Hi jtein

Thanks for your reply.

If £4.5k is your maximum budget than i would suggest that you than consider ATC's SIA2-150 MK2, SCM40 speakers and the NAD C545BEE cd player.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[MUSICRAFT]

fowler:rick,im about to put my atc scm11's up for sale have you any idea what would be a fair price for them? thanks david!

Hi fowler

If the speakers and packaging are in good condition than you should think about £600-£650.

Thnaks for your support.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

There's a fellow poster on Cyrusunofficial who is after a pair of SCM11's - go check it out - he called SBL.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

crusaderlord:''Van Den Hul's The Integration Hybrid is my favourite IC cable and the one that i would recommend for the non Naim based components''. i am interested in this point about the Integration Hybrid - i have been tempted to buy one before but went for a cheaper option of a VDH 102-III for £50. How do you feel the Integration compares to the one i bought - i may be prepared to recoup what i paid and try one if its that good !

Hi crusaderlord

I have owned the D102 MK3 and as good as it is for me the Integration Hybrid improved on it in every single area and than some. Hence why i have used the Integration Hybrid in RCA and XLR form for nearly nine years with many compnents/systems. It is my reference IC cable. Superb VFM.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

Hi again,

Does anyone else have thoughts on a comparison between the overall performance of the SCM 11 and the SCM 40's? I'm not expecting the 11's to compete with the 40's in terms of which is better, but am looking for observations on the strength's and weaknesses of either model/design.

They would be replacing a set of Stirling LS 3/5a v2 speakers (I've been using LS 3/5a's for many years) in a dual Hi-Fi/Home theatre set up.

Any constructive thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards,

David M

 

[Anonymous]

As a very enthusiastic ATC owner I can shed a little of my experience.

What I'm struggling with is why solicit comparison between the 11 and 40???

Surely 19 vs 40 would give a more even distribution of strengths and weaknesses? Particularly as its from the 19's up that you get the famed SL driver.

 

[Anonymous]

The 11's are a much better fit in my room, and because of their smaller size I would be able to use 3 identical speakers for the Home Theatre LCR, while maintaining the quality for Stereo.

Because of the relative size of the 19's once they are on stands they will sit at almost the identical height and footprint as the 40's, and if i'm going to go with the larger speaker I would likely go all the way to the 40's in order to realize the 3-way speaker design and dedicated mid-range driver.

So a short answer is, if I'm going to go for a speaker bigger than the 11's I'm not going to stop at the 19's - might as well get the floor-standers as there isn't much difference ergonomically.

david

 

[MUSICRAFT]

David M:

The 11's are a much better fit in my room, and because of their smaller size I would be able to use 3 identical speakers for the Home Theatre LCR, while maintaining the quality for Stereo.

Because of the relative size of the 19's once they are on stands they will sit at almost the identical height and footprint as the 40's, and if i'm going to go with the larger speaker I would likely go all the way to the 40's in order to realize the 3-way speaker design and dedicated mid-range driver.

So a short answer is, if I'm going to go for a speaker bigger than the 11's I'm not going to stop at the 19's - might as well get the floor-standers as there isn't much difference ergonomically.

david

Hi David M

If the SCM40's are within your budget and if you can accomodate them than i believe you should consider this as your first option. I think every area of performance below the top end is significantly improved upon by the SCM40's over the SCM11's. An important part of this improvement is down to the studio Soft Dome mid range unit.

SCM40's (F/R) with C1 (C) is significantly better than SCM11(L,C,R). Better still SCM40 (F/R) and the truly superb and very heavy C3 centre (which uses two SCM11 mid/bass drive units) that i have used for nearly three years solid.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

In that case then there is no comparison, go for the 40's if budget allows.

 

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:David M:

The 11's are a much better fit in my room, and because of their smaller size I would be able to use 3 identical speakers for the Home Theatre LCR, while maintaining the quality for Stereo.

Because of the relative size of the 19's once they are on stands they will sit at almost the identical height and footprint as the 40's, and if i'm going to go with the larger speaker I would likely go all the way to the 40's in order to realize the 3-way speaker design and dedicated mid-range driver.

So a short answer is, if I'm going to go for a speaker bigger than the 11's I'm not going to stop at the 19's - might as well get the floor-standers as there isn't much difference ergonomically.

david

Hi David M

If the SCM40's are within your budget and if you can accomodate them than i believe you should consider this as your first option. I think every area of performance below the top end is significantly improved upon by the SCM40's over the SCM11's. An important part of this improvement is down to the studio Soft Dome mid range unit.

SCM40's (F/R) with C1 (C) is significantly better than SCM11(L,C,R). Better still SCM40 (F/R) and the truly superb and very heavy C3 centre (which uses two SCM11 mid/bass drive units) that i have used for nearly three years solid.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

How would you feel about using either a single 11 (or even a single 7) as a center speaker?

david

 

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:David M:

The 11's are a much better fit in my room, and because of their smaller size I would be able to use 3 identical speakers for the Home Theatre LCR, while maintaining the quality for Stereo.

Because of the relative size of the 19's once they are on stands they will sit at almost the identical height and footprint as the 40's, and if i'm going to go with the larger speaker I would likely go all the way to the 40's in order to realize the 3-way speaker design and dedicated mid-range driver.

So a short answer is, if I'm going to go for a speaker bigger than the 11's I'm not going to stop at the 19's - might as well get the floor-standers as there isn't much difference ergonomically.

david

Hi David M

If the SCM40's are within your budget and if you can accomodate them than i believe you should consider this as your first option. I think every area of performance below the top end is significantly improved upon by the SCM40's over the SCM11's. An important part of this improvement is down to the studio Soft Dome mid range unit.

SCM40's (F/R) with C1 (C) is significantly better than SCM11(L,C,R). Better still SCM40 (F/R) and the truly superb and very heavy C3 centre (which uses two SCM11 mid/bass drive units) that i have used for nearly three years solid.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

How would you feel about using either a single 11 (or even a single 7) as a center speaker?

david

 

[MUSICRAFT]

David M:MUSICRAFT:David M:

The 11's are a much better fit in my room, and because of their smaller size I would be able to use 3 identical speakers for the Home Theatre LCR, while maintaining the quality for Stereo.

Because of the relative size of the 19's once they are on stands they will sit at almost the identical height and footprint as the 40's, and if i'm going to go with the larger speaker I would likely go all the way to the 40's in order to realize the 3-way speaker design and dedicated mid-range driver.

So a short answer is, if I'm going to go for a speaker bigger than the 11's I'm not going to stop at the 19's - might as well get the floor-standers as there isn't much difference ergonomically.

david

Hi David M

If the SCM40's are within your budget and if you can accomodate them than i believe you should consider this as your first option. I think every area of performance below the top end is significantly improved upon by the SCM40's over the SCM11's. An important part of this improvement is down to the studio Soft Dome mid range unit.

SCM40's (F/R) with C1 (C) is significantly better than SCM11(L,C,R). Better still SCM40 (F/R) and the truly superb and very heavy C3 centre (which uses two SCM11 mid/bass drive units) that i have used for nearly three years solid.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

How would you feel about using either a single 11 (or even a single 7) as a center speaker?

david

Hi David

Thanks for your post.

Whether it's for use with SCM11's (L/R) or SCM40's (L/R) i would at a minimum use the C1 Centre.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[koolkeith]

I can't find a rear view of the 40's on the web so could anyone tell me the distance from the back plate to the floor so I can work out how much cable I need. I'm thinking I'll get Atas bi-wire & use a jumper. Is it the mid that should be jumped ?

Thanks.

 

[lordmortlock]

Hey Koolkeith

Its about 200ml from the base of the cabinet to the top of the back plate. The jumper provided is a triple so you'll need cable jumpers.

 

[koolkeith]

Many thanks your Lordship, maybe I'll go with Atlas 3 instead.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi David M....may I know what cdp and amp you are using to drive your prospective SCM40s? Thanks and cheers.

 

[Frank Harvey]

There is a large benefit for going for the same speaker as a centre as you have for the left and right. Panning effects are more convincing, and any voices that are being distributed between the front 3 speakers due to changing camera angles also sound 'right', rather than the way they normally change in timbre when using most supposedly 'matching' centres. Worth a try.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone used these with a Cyrus setup?

CD XT-SE / DAC-X Pre-VS2 / Twin 8-Powers in Mono (could add a third later).

Current living room 15 x 12, living room in Texas about 30 x 15.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Rick and Frank for the separate comments. Obviously I need
to try and make some time to listen to the two options now that things
are getting narrowed down. I must admit I'm not a big fan of dedicated
center channel designs and have a lot more success over the years with
coherence and integration with 3 identical speakers. But I'm definitely leaning toward the 40's and cannot use a 3rd so I will have to choose a different model. I'll let you both know what I discover.

Jtein, you asked about my set-up - It's complicated.

The speaker system connects to 2 separate front end systems (1 for HT & 1 for Music) using a common amplifier. The amp is a Bryston 9 BSST connected to my LCR (Bi-Amping the two L-R speakers and a single channel going to the center speaker).

On the Analogue side my pre-amp is a Modwright SWL 9.0SE but I don't really use a CD player (most of my music listening is on Vinyl) which consists of a Rega P5 with a Tom Evans Phono.

On the HT side I use Pioneer stuff - a Receiver (Pre-outs to the Bryston) plus Blu-Ray & DVD. If I'm listening the music the digital stuff is out of the loop and if I'm watching a movie the Modwright goes into pass-through. It's complicated I know, but I only have one medium sized room and I'm quite dedicated to all aspects of Hi-Fi!

The ATC speakers are quite fantastic, and I've very excited about integrating them into my system - the Stirling's have done yeoman's work for me, but from what I've heard from the ATC's they are on a different level than the LS 3/5a design.

regards everyone,

david m