burhan:I know you regard the ACT SMC40's very highly but with so many good speakers out now do they still rank as the best available for the price. How about Spendor A6 or B&w 805S with a ATC SIA2 150 and are these speakers a good match. Any plans to review TEAC's Esoteric X05 and any thoughts about the brand. Thanks.
Hi burhan
I hope you will not mind me replying.
The SCM40's are stunning speakers and imo are the finest at the available at the £2k price level and beyond. One of the the main reasons for their superb performance lies with the studio mid Soft Dome drive unit. The sheer scale, precision and technology involved in it's build (as with ATC's other drive units) is impressive to say the least.
The SIA2-150 is just as impressive as the 40's and like them can imo offer levels of power, control and performance beyond it's price level.
The SIA2-150 is an ideal match for the the 40's and will help open up the performace potential of those superb drive units. I have used an SIA2-150 with the 40's at home for a long time and the combination (due to it's power, low distortion etc.) provides a clear, precise, neutral, uncoloured, natural and powerful presentation. It's a combination that i had on for many hours a day without any fatigue setting in and this was with listening to a a lot of DAB radio at 128kbps!
The Esoteric's are excellent players although i have not tried them with the ATC's. You may also want to consider the Chord electronics Blu/QBD76 combination.The Chord's are stuning in their own right and work superbly with the ATC's.
http://www.atc.gb.net/studioDriveUnits.htm
http://www.atc.gb.net/downloads/CompanyProfile.pdf
http://www.atc.gb.net/scm40.htm
http://www.atc.gb.net/sia2-150htm
http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/products_detail.asp?id=30
http://www.chordelectronics.co.uk/products_detail.asp?=52
I hope this helps.
Thanks
Rick @ Musicraft