Hi, following the reviews on this site, I ordered a rega Elicit-R and a pair of ATC SCM11. However, I thought the rega was very much inadequate for the speakers. After reading through the forum found that some people have paired the Cambridge Audio 851W with the SCM11s and the results were quite good. Apparently, the best result was obtained by buying two 851Ws and run them as monoblocks.
So, I went ahead and bought a 851W and the resulting sound was better. But you had to listen at high volumes and the source had to be good. All the new stuff sounded impressive but the older CDs from Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Steely Dan, etc. sounded thin with no bass and at times shrill.
One day, out of curiosity, I connected my old Exposoure 2010 amp (70 watts per channel) to the SCM11 and was quite surprised by the sound. The older CDs came alive, all the instruments and voice were discernable, the sound was open and wide and I didn't have to turn up the volume all the way up beyond the halfway mark. Also the shrillness was gone, and I could listen to my old rock CDs for hours without fatigue.
I almost gave up on the Exposure amp as it sounded quite muddy with my JBL L100 speakers but it sounds best with the SCM11s specially with the 70s genre songs. The new amps, however, sound wonderful with the JBL L100s but the SCM11s are way clearer.
I feel the Whathifi reviewers should always mention the amplifiers they were using especially when they are recommending a pair of speakers. People like me who live in countries where it's impossible to find dealers who would carry even one brand of HiFi equipment let alone multiple brands. BTW, I am keeping all three amplifiers, I could probably sell them but I won't.
So, I went ahead and bought a 851W and the resulting sound was better. But you had to listen at high volumes and the source had to be good. All the new stuff sounded impressive but the older CDs from Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Steely Dan, etc. sounded thin with no bass and at times shrill.
One day, out of curiosity, I connected my old Exposoure 2010 amp (70 watts per channel) to the SCM11 and was quite surprised by the sound. The older CDs came alive, all the instruments and voice were discernable, the sound was open and wide and I didn't have to turn up the volume all the way up beyond the halfway mark. Also the shrillness was gone, and I could listen to my old rock CDs for hours without fatigue.
I almost gave up on the Exposure amp as it sounded quite muddy with my JBL L100 speakers but it sounds best with the SCM11s specially with the 70s genre songs. The new amps, however, sound wonderful with the JBL L100s but the SCM11s are way clearer.
I feel the Whathifi reviewers should always mention the amplifiers they were using especially when they are recommending a pair of speakers. People like me who live in countries where it's impossible to find dealers who would carry even one brand of HiFi equipment let alone multiple brands. BTW, I am keeping all three amplifiers, I could probably sell them but I won't.