500 DR v ATC active speakers,

:+1:

Dave - you acknowledge that it’s “not ideal” but I fear that arrangement will undermine your audition. The speakers you are using will interact with the unused pair, and you won’t be using the optimal positioning. I sure you already know this so please forgive me for reminding you. Once you have accustomed yourself to the tonal differences between the two I really would encourage you to get your Neats out of the room before giving the ATC’s a thorough listening to.

Mike

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Yes, I get that, Mike, both as regards positioning and interaction, and I may well decide to remove the Neats after the weekend.

Mind you, have you ever tried shifting a pair of MF9’s? !!! :sweat:

One under each arm Dave :slight_smile:

I always used to move speakers out of the room when demming potential new speakers, You can’t have two pairs of speaker in the same room.

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I appreciate that, Dave. At over 60kgs, you need a mate round to help. It will be worth it, though.

11

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Was this what you had in mind? :blush:

They all say that! :slight_smile:

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Enjoy!

Sounds like a nice weekend to me

Actually… no i want to see stereo speakers not double hernias! :smile:

We all know that good speaker sound is very dependent upon good acoustic interaction with the room where they are placed, so would be nice to see a bit of the room environment and in relation to speaker placement.

I envy you having the floor space that can use the 100s, my music room is a modest 27 square foot so i’m considering SMC40A which are [ only ? ] 36 kilos each :sweat_smile: :sweat_drops:

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That’s day two of the ATC active 100’s demo underway … I posted earlier that they are a very accurate speaker, if somewhat more “forward” sounding than I’m used to with the Neats.

It seems to me that the Neats have more “weight” in their presentation, which contradicts what I was expecting with active speakers, whilst they also seem to connect better on an emotional level.

I know this will read as being a bit vague and wooly, but that’s how it seems to me.

My missus, who has been proven to have much better ears than me, when it comes to analysing sound, will have a listen later, and we’ll have to see what conclusion she reaches, completely unprompted by me.

Tomorrow, I’ll drag the Neats out of the music room, and position the ATC’s properly … who knows, they may then come into their own? :thinking:

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Hi Dave, very interesting to read what your findings are.

A couple of questions since I’m also contemplating ATC active speakers.

  • What are your room dimensions?
  • Have you considered the ATC50A?
  • Could you post a picture of the speakers in your room?

My room is about 54m2 and in future will be extended to about 60-65m2. I was wondering whether the 100s would be simply too much speaker for the room.

Hi, Tom,

I have a dedicated music room, which is approximately 10m X 6m, though the listening position is about 5m from the speakers.

I have a 500DR power amp lined up in a few weeks time, and simply had a “what if” moment, to see how active speakers might compare. My dealer had a pair of 100’s available for home demo, so I just went with those.

That’s the home demo of the active 100’s completed, and the outcome is somewhat unexpected, to say the least.

I removed my existing Neats from the music room in order to give the ATC’s a proper outing, and enlisted the help of my missus, whose ears are far superior to mine, when it comes to analysing sound and music.

Her conclusions, unprompted, were broadly the same as my own, in that, surprisingly, the active speakers sounded rather flat and uninvolving, compared to the Neats.

I had expected the ATC’s, with their onboard amps, to be more dynamic than my passive speakers, but the Neats were the clear winners.

I’m not sure that this tells you much about active v passive, but I do know that, similar to Mr. Kipling, Bob Surgeoner at Neat does make exceedingly good speakers.

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The thing with speakers is they all have their own characters, and some people like the character of one, some another. From the description here of the ATCs, it may be that they are more neutral than the Neats, and you and your wife like what the Neats add - but that is a simply a guess as I don’t know the Neats (the ATCs are fabled for their accuracy). Alternatively, picking up another comment of yours regarding ‘weight’, given that your roo is very large it may be that the SCM150 may be better than the 100 as their bass extends lower.

As you knew they would be Dave. Your conclusions are exactly what I was expecting, the ATC’s are mighty fine speakers but they are deadly accurate and factual. If that’s what you want then they are perfect for you.

However if you want musical enjoyment then the Neats are going to be for you. What the Neats add is the dynamics, fun factor if you want to call it that. They dig out emotion and connect you to the music in a way that the ATC’s just can’t.

If you remember my long thread, many moons ago when after listening to many speakers I went for the Neats, the one comment that sticks with me is that the Neat MF9’s just paint a 3d picture of music in front of you.

Now just imagine how much better that picture is going to be with a Naim 500 DR painting it?

Kind regards

PB

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:open_mouth::open_mouth:

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I await the next thread with eager anticipation Dave :slight_smile:

The expression “foregone conclusion” springs to mind.:joy: