Hi,
It's been quite a quest to find amplification that might drive my ATC SCM40s with the tonality that I thought they were capable of. They have the most astonishing mid with pretty much any amplification that I've tried, but getting the treble and bass right, to my ears anyway, was proviing more elusive.
I've auditioned quite a bit of solid state amplification including the rather lovely Perreaux 250i, which really got the bass working. The treble still wasn't quite right with massed strings etc. though (could be down to the Creek Destiny cdp a friend loaned me for the dem though)..
I'm hoping that I've found a 'solution' as have just demmed the Icon Audio 845 Signature monoblocks (90w triode design). Unfortunately, there was no dealer in London for Icon. So,hearing that the Icon chaps had a pair of SCM19s to hand I popped up to Leicester for a listen. The Icons drove the 19s with consummate ease, with a bass that astonished me (I thought I was back with my 40s driven by the 250 watt Perreaux again). I took along recordings which though beloved are quite difficult, and whatever I threw at the Icons they always sounded musical. Though they did not mask flaws or throw a veil over detail they managed to find tonality that I had not heard before (Fournier's Bach Cello Suites and Pires's Chopin Nocturnes were transformed). Adrian, the v helpful and patient chap at Icon took my astonishment in his stride, not realising perhaps how grim the recordings I played had sounded elsewhere. I think he might be quite used to a violin actually sounding like a violin rather than a high frequency squeak.
For a source, we were using the signature version of Icon's new valve cd player, the CDX1, which in this system with cds, sounded to me like an exceptional player and extremely good value. In fact I preferred it to a couple of players I had recently heard at twice the price or more. It has digital inputs, too (coax and opt. though no USB). So FLAC files etc. should be well accommodated by its 24-bit 192kHz upsampling DAC. I didn't listen to any PC files at the dem, however.
I'm hoping that the 845s will drive my 40s as well as they did the 19s, which though sharing the same 85dB sensitivity are a smaller speaker without an independent bass driver. Both have a very flat impedance curve though. So, fingers crossed.
Combining ATCs with valves is, I believe, something of a rarity. Has anyone else out there had any experience of this? I'd be particularly interested to hear from anyone who's heard the 40s and what cabling you've preferred.
Cheers,
Gena
It's been quite a quest to find amplification that might drive my ATC SCM40s with the tonality that I thought they were capable of. They have the most astonishing mid with pretty much any amplification that I've tried, but getting the treble and bass right, to my ears anyway, was proviing more elusive.
I've auditioned quite a bit of solid state amplification including the rather lovely Perreaux 250i, which really got the bass working. The treble still wasn't quite right with massed strings etc. though (could be down to the Creek Destiny cdp a friend loaned me for the dem though)..
I'm hoping that I've found a 'solution' as have just demmed the Icon Audio 845 Signature monoblocks (90w triode design). Unfortunately, there was no dealer in London for Icon. So,hearing that the Icon chaps had a pair of SCM19s to hand I popped up to Leicester for a listen. The Icons drove the 19s with consummate ease, with a bass that astonished me (I thought I was back with my 40s driven by the 250 watt Perreaux again). I took along recordings which though beloved are quite difficult, and whatever I threw at the Icons they always sounded musical. Though they did not mask flaws or throw a veil over detail they managed to find tonality that I had not heard before (Fournier's Bach Cello Suites and Pires's Chopin Nocturnes were transformed). Adrian, the v helpful and patient chap at Icon took my astonishment in his stride, not realising perhaps how grim the recordings I played had sounded elsewhere. I think he might be quite used to a violin actually sounding like a violin rather than a high frequency squeak.
For a source, we were using the signature version of Icon's new valve cd player, the CDX1, which in this system with cds, sounded to me like an exceptional player and extremely good value. In fact I preferred it to a couple of players I had recently heard at twice the price or more. It has digital inputs, too (coax and opt. though no USB). So FLAC files etc. should be well accommodated by its 24-bit 192kHz upsampling DAC. I didn't listen to any PC files at the dem, however.
I'm hoping that the 845s will drive my 40s as well as they did the 19s, which though sharing the same 85dB sensitivity are a smaller speaker without an independent bass driver. Both have a very flat impedance curve though. So, fingers crossed.
Combining ATCs with valves is, I believe, something of a rarity. Has anyone else out there had any experience of this? I'd be particularly interested to hear from anyone who's heard the 40s and what cabling you've preferred.
Cheers,
Gena
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