ATC SCM7 Upgrade...

ROB2009

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Greetings all

I currently have a pair of ATC SCM7s connected to a Hegel H360, the speakers sit on a 1.8m wide wooden cabinet, but I don’t think I’m getting the most out of the Hegel. I see my options as 1) Replace speakers on cabinet. 2) Get shorter cabinet, put speakers on dedicated stands. 3) Get shorter cabinet and floor standing speakers.

I did demo the SCM11s placed on the cabinet, but they were too boomy in my room, I sit about 8ft from the speakers.

I know I need to demo again....but where to stare? Any suggestions folks?
 

ROB2009

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insider9 said:
How big is your room? Are you not keen on the sound and would prefer something different or is it just about improving what you have?

My room is 15ft x 11ft, I’m not unhappy with the sound, just want to get the most out of what I have.
 

CnoEvil

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IMO You won't know what your speakers are capable of, until you put them on decent, filled stands. The next best thing, would be to isolate the speakers from the cabinet, with something like Auralex SpeakerDudes or MoPads.
 
Q

QuestForThe13thNote

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Nice room. I reckon you are right about stands. With the bigger atcs you are probably getting more reverb interaction with your unit. Having them ‘in air’ on stands will make them tighter sounding. Or a pair of floorstanders either side of the unit. I wouldn’t confine yourself to atc as a pair of floorstanders, as some great brands from pmc, spendor, pro ac etc. How about some wood veneer neat iota alphas either side of the wood unit. Would reduce the domineering effect of speakers on a unit (when you have 3 with the centre speaker). They would be an upgrade over the atc scm7 I think, but maybe you want floorstanders in the 2-3 k kind of bracket to match the quality of the amp, as I’d doubt the plateau would be reached with those neats against such an amp.
 
ROB2009 said:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/62332045@N03/1975xA

I see what you mean. Nice cabinet. I would look at getting some Auralex isolation pads to put under the speakers on that cabinet.

Bring those speakers right to the front edge of that cabinet.

Oops, just seen CnoEvil suggested the very same. Oh well, there you go..... great minds etc. ;-)
 
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QuestForThe13thNote

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Correct me if wrong but I think the point of the post is that amp is £4K but speakers are under a grand, hence the need for the upgrade. Not about isolation pads no matter the set up, as however you set these speakers up they wouldn’t be as good as something more in tune with the amp. I’m sure that’s the thinking here.
 
QuestForThe13thNote said:
Correct me if wrong but I think the point of the post is that amp is £4K but speakers are under a grand, hence the need for the upgrade. Not about isolation pads no matter the set up, as however you set these speakers up they wouldn’t be as good as something more in tune with the amp. I’m sure that’s the thinking here.

The speakers are what's right about the set-up for that size of room. I t is irrelevant what you are driving them with in my opinion and I would be happy to use them with that amp in the right circumstances. They could easily be replaced by larger ATCs agreed you are going to be limited by the room. It would be an expensive upgrade as OP says if the cabinet has to be replaced as well.

Plus, if he wants to keep system synergy and if he is looking at keeping that centre speaker then this would be the way to go.

Personally I would upgrade to. ATC 11s and isolation pads and move speakers to edge of cabinet as the cheapest starting point.
 

Blacksabbath25

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I would say stick with those stand mounted speakers because your get even more boom coming from floor standing speakers as the floor standing speakers will be sitting right in the corners which will add to your problems .

like others have said buy some stands for the speakers you have now and see if you can move the subwoofer somewhere else to give you the room for stands but if your still not happy at least your got the stands for a little bigger stand mounted speaker .

or see if it’s possible to move the hifi somewhere where it will give you the room for floor standing speakers if it’s possible .

It’s definitely not the h360 that is the problem here it’s to do with room position and speaker placement
 

Leeps

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Personally, I think "upgrading" your set-up would be pointless and could end up sounding worse. I've "upgraded" before by buying more expensive components that I was, in the end, less happy with. Try to avoid getting on the "upgradeitis" band-wagon: it will end in tears!

I echo some of the previous comments that set-up, positioning and interaction with the cabinet and the room is more important than the components themselves. 3K's worth of speakers, poorly positioned will not sound any better than what you have now.

Also, yours is not a 2-channel set-up, so some of the comments made about changing your main left and right speakers would actually damage your multi-channel experience: you already have 3 well-matched front speakers, which is essential in creating a convincing multi-channel soundfield.

Also, in the size of your room, and the limited space you have to the left and right of the cabinet (even if the cabinet was smaller), I would rule out speakers any bigger than what you have now. Floorstanders standing squeezed in a small space between rear wall, side wall and cabinet is asking for trouble: boomy bass. Also, when watching movies, smaller speakers can sound better than floorstanders IMO: their speed can really whip effects around the room with more alacrity.

If it was me, I would do my best to make the quality of your system you already have shine to its potential. Try isolating your speakers from the cabinet. At the moment, your cabinet will be acting as part of your speaker, which neither cabinet or speaker was designed to do. You are not hearing your system at its best. I use Auralic mopads for my centre speaker (which is on a cabinet: I have floorstanders to the left and right in a good deal of free space). The mopads do help, although are still no match for dedicated stands. There are more expensive isolation products out there that I would try before looking to upgrade your system. You have a quality set of speakers driven by a very good amplifier. I'd be jolly pleased with your components and would look at set-up, positioning and room interaction more carefully first.
 
Leeps said:
Personally, I think "upgrading" your set-up would be pointless and could end up sounding worse. I've "upgraded" before by buying more expensive components that I was, in the end, less happy with. Try to avoid getting on the "upgradeitis" band-wagon: it will end in tears!

I echo some of the previous comments that set-up, positioning and interaction with the cabinet and the room is more important than the components themselves. 3K's worth of speakers, poorly positioned will not sound any better than what you have now.

Also, yours is not a 2-channel set-up, so some of the comments made about changing your main left and right speakers would actually damage your multi-channel experience: you already have 3 well-matched front speakers, which is essential in creating a convincing multi-channel soundfield.

Also, in the size of your room, and the limited space you have to the left and right of the cabinet (even if the cabinet was smaller), I would rule out speakers any bigger than what you have now. Floorstanders standing squeezed in a small space between rear wall, side wall and cabinet is asking for trouble: boomy bass. Also, when watching movies, smaller speakers can sound better than floorstanders IMO: their speed can really whip effects around the room with more alacrity.

If it was me, I would do my best to make the quality of your system you already have shine to its potential. Try isolating your speakers from the cabinet. At the moment, your cabinet will be acting as part of your speaker, which neither cabinet or speaker was designed to do. You are not hearing your system at its best. I use Auralic mopads for my centre speaker (which is on a cabinet: I have floorstanders to the left and right in a good deal of free space). The mopads do help, although are still no match for dedicated stands. There are more expensive isolation products out there that I would try before looking to upgrade your system. You have a quality set of speakers driven by a very good amplifier. I'd be jolly pleased with your components and would look at set-up, positioning and room interaction more carefully first.

+1

The ability to go up to SCM 11s is still a possibility though, I wouldn't go any higher.
 

ROB2009

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Thanks for the comments, that’s the great thing about posting on here, lots of knowledge and differing opinions
regular_smile.png


The speakers do sit on small isolation pads but not anything like Aurelex, I reckon it would be worth trying that first. Just one question, as the speakers are sealed with no rear ports, will the distance they sit from the wall have that much of an impact? Clearly I will try this, but wondered what the thinking is by moving them to the front edge of the cabinet.
 
ROB2009 said:
Thanks for the comments, that’s the great thing about posting on here, lots of knowledge and differing opinions

The speakers do sit on small isolation pads but not anything like Aurelex, I reckon it would be worth trying that first. Just one question, as the speakers are sealed with no rear ports, will the distance they sit from the wall have that much of an impact? Clearly I will try this, but wondered what the thinking is by moving them to the front edge of the cabinet.

It's not the rear wall that matters so much with speakers of this type, I was more concerned about reflections from the cabinet in front of the speakers themselves. In my experience if placed like they are you are more likely to get a better presentation by moving them to the front of the cabinet almost as if they were on speaker stands. Just my half-pennies worth, others may have differing experiences. But repositioning is a cheap option ;-)
 

DocG

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Al ears said:
ROB2009 said:
Thanks for the comments, that’s the great thing about posting on here, lots of knowledge and differing opinions

The speakers do sit on small isolation pads but not anything like Aurelex, I reckon it would be worth trying that first. Just one question, as the speakers are sealed with no rear ports, will the distance they sit from the wall have that much of an impact? Clearly I will try this, but wondered what the thinking is by moving them to the front edge of the cabinet.

It's not the rear wall that matters so much with speakers of this type, I was more concerned about reflections from the cabinet in front of the speakers themselves. In my experience if placed like they are you are more likely to get a better presentation by moving them to the front of the cabinet almost as if they were on speaker stands. Just my half-pennies worth, others may have differing experiences. But repositioning is a cheap option ;-)

+1

And you could futher improve your result by coupling (= blutacking) your speakers to a slab of granite and then decoupling the slab from the cabinet.

Nice cabinet, by the way!*smile*
 
DocG said:
Al ears said:
ROB2009 said:
Thanks for the comments, that’s the great thing about posting on here, lots of knowledge and differing opinions

The speakers do sit on small isolation pads but not anything like Aurelex, I reckon it would be worth trying that first. Just one question, as the speakers are sealed with no rear ports, will the distance they sit from the wall have that much of an impact? Clearly I will try this, but wondered what the thinking is by moving them to the front edge of the cabinet.

It's not the rear wall that matters so much with speakers of this type, I was more concerned about reflections from the cabinet in front of the speakers themselves. In my experience if placed like they are you are more likely to get a better presentation by moving them to the front of the cabinet almost as if they were on speaker stands. Just my half-pennies worth, others may have differing experiences. But repositioning is a cheap option ;-)

+1

And you could futher improve your result by coupling (= blutacking) your speakers to a slab of granite and then decoupling the slab from the cabinet.

Nice cabinet, by the way!*smile*

Agree regards cabinet. Not too sure about coupling speakers to anything then decoupling the lot. Seems overkill but then again I have never tried it. ;-)

Decoupling, to me, is a necessity in cases such as these along with floorstanders on anything other than a solid floor.

Gaia isolation feet are on my Xmas list....
 

ROB2009

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Mopads being delivered Monday...

Thanks for the nice cabinet comments, hides all the AV components and streamers a treat. www.avsoul.co.uk

Have moved speakers to front edge of cabinet, definitely improved the sound stage
thumbs_up.png
 

DocG

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Al ears said:
Agree regards cabinet. Not too sure about coupling speakers to anything then decoupling the lot. Seems overkill but then again I have never tried it. ;-)

There’s two kinds of people in the world: those with OCD and those not frequenting hifi forums! *wink*
 

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