It’s a shame to do without the quality of the 40 just for the metal cover… I prefer it to a fabric that picks up dust and is damaged over the years!
I do think that their changed to the current grille was a bad move appearance wise. I normally leave grilles on, but with those ATCs I’d keep them off unless young children were around.
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FWIW I very much like the SCM 40 grille too and our granddaughter thinks it’s very trendy.
I have never used grills on any of my PMC or ATC speakers, I think they look more interesting without a bland slab of fabric or a sheet of perforated metal.
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Of course grills are a matter of individual taste and each to his/her own but I hate the look of bare drive units almost as much as the ATC metasl grills. I wouldn’t be so vehement if I didn’t have to look at them in my living room all the time - you can’t hide speakers! Looks are very much a deal maker/breaker for me - I don’t want to feel like I’m living in a bloody hifi shop. That’s MAF - Me Acceptance Factor, my wife would go along with whatever I wanted.
I’m “actively” considering PMCs - like what I’ve heard of ATC40As but wouldn’t have them in the house.
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You’re right, it’s down to individual taste. I prefer the look of a bare drive unit to a sheet of fabric. I can understand your problem with ATC if you prefer using grills, I’ve never had the metal 40 grills on once, the ATC Classic series have cloth grills.
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They look much nicer in the flesh, the curved shape of the cabinet is very easy in the eye. I have normalised the metal covers and find them quite aesthetically pleasing now.
Gary
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I have seen pictures where someone made his own cloth grills out of the ATC metal ones. Grill cloth wrapped around the metal. Looked nice and not very complicated.
My room is 4.8 x 3.3 so quite constrained for big speakers……
I tried 50’s before but in a different room of similar size and whilst their quality was obvious they over excited the room.
After consideration I will be sticking with my active 40’s and a pair of Rel s510’s. The subs have the flexibility to be adjusted and with a pair of subs they really do improve every part of the listening experience.
The system seems to be pretty well balanced so time to stick and enjoy the music!
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Nice 
Lovely listening room you have sir…
And looks like you have everything sorted.
Loving the mid century style chair and side tables.
BW
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G
Our music room is maybe about the same size, at around 4m x 4.2m.
Something different to look at and study in our room, past few days.
Small print says “ “Made in England, by ATC “
Another picture snap, from the other side of the room, listening position…
Trying these at home - on loan - for a few days this week.
Sounding rather fine here, in our house. ( So much better than in the demo’ rooms at Basically Sound).
Currently listening to Fink : “Nothing Is Ever Finished”, from Sort of Revolution, (2009).
BW
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Great album and those Atc’s look the business. Enjoy! (Agree that the small dem room is not brilliant )
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Let us now how you get on with the 20’s, they look very smart.
Gary
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Thanks
Sure. I meant they sound different, maybe because of a different room, but in a better way. More refined.
We have them set up as a perfect equilateral triangle, all three sides same, to listening position, with more space. Probably 7-8 feet apart and same across our music room to listening position.
The mids are definitely a little forward. Found that with 40’s too. (A trait that we like ).
The bass notes are tight and controlled. Bass notes only apparent where they appear in music. These lower register notes start and stop “on a six pence”. So much control.
I’m starting to understand the “active” sound, which is a bit more energetic, forward, lively, accurate across the full bandwidth. It’s creates for better separation between instruments and notes.
The best words I can think of is accuracy and control.
Feel the active 20 Towers have more power ( more control ) compared to 40’s.
Note : Playing music with our SN3 ( as pre amplifier only) the volume dial is around 9 o clock, for a decent level of listening. The 40’s needed 10 o clock, or higher.
These speakers seem big. They stand a little taller than the 40’s. They also make a big sound (authority) and have made quite an impression on us. My best mate ( my wife ) is really impressed with their sound. But not so sure about the speaker size. She also commented they looked like an older design ( which they are, from the mid 90’s). TBH, couldn’t agree more. Thought that was all a fair synopsis from her 
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Hope to see your pair of these in the “show us your ATC’s” thread.
FWIW, my 40A’s sound much better in my room which is slightly smaller than my dealer’s room aside from the odd bass notes setting the room off.
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Just studied yours…
( over in system pics.)
Like the 40’s in white, interestingly, quite like the black grilles on, with the white ones, ( same as in our pics).
Nice
Thank you. I actually like the grilles in conjunction with the white finish. The advantage, if you can call it that, of the more expensive ATC’S is the availability of a wider range of more premium finishes.
Budget and room size dictated that the 40A’S were as far as I went.
If you look through the thread, you may see the course I have taken to get the signal to the 40A’s and changing from the supplied mains cables. As ever, this is FYI, and not me urging you to spend££ 
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20’s are looking good, sounds like you are enjoying the experience of actives.
You mention in your post of better control, something I noticed when I substituted my 200dr for a much more powerful Bryston power amp, better grip, more authority in the way music is delivered.
Had you thought of maybe trying the passives with a more powerful power amp just a thought.
Watching your journey with interest just to see where you decide to go👍
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Sure.
Scratched that itch yesterday, back at Basically Sound.
Tried active vs passive with NC250 to understand more, (as suggested in last update).
Really needed to hear that one and now satisfied.
Sneaky peek of next update, (coming soon) …
Image : Our home system - with and without NC250 - to compare PMC active and passive ( as proxy for “decent power amp” ).
Long story short, passive with decent amp has merit, but maybe nuanced, rather than outright better… Still considering active options. Hope that will suffice for now.
Will post full update in time.
BW
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What I find really appealing with the PMC’s would be the upgrade potential, so if you are on a tight budget you could add the active power packs at a later date, l’m biased but I do like the look of the 23i’s.
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