Are ATC SCM40 comparable to Focal Sopra 2 speakers?

I’m certainly not suggesting that the SCM40 actives are bad speakers. I just found the 300DR to show the control is has over the passive 40 in a way that made for a more enjoyable listen to my ears. The amp is more expensive than the active 40s, and given the benefit of putting it in two separate boxes rather than squeezing the amps into the base of the speaker cabinets, perhaps it’s not so surprising, although what you don’t get, of course, is an active crossover with a dedicated amp for each driver.
Regarding preamps, the system I used to listen to the SCM40 was NDX2/XPSDR/252/300DR. I haven’t heard the new 222, but although it is lower in the Naim hierarchy it has the advantage of a balanced XLR output that matches the input of the ATCs, and should do a better job of driving long interconnects than an old school Naim preamp. When I was considering the SCM40s I also had a listen to the actives driven by the balanced XLR output of a Chord Dave DAC/preamp and this seemed to do a better job than the 252.

I think a limitation of the 40 is its roll off, -6dB at 40 Hz, which is why if I were considering ATC I’d be more interested in the 100 or 150, though 40 with a sub might be a very good solution (depending on the sub), and certainly the 40 and especially the 40A, appears to be a real bargain

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50ASLT also

Given your musical tastes I’d ‘test’ your shortlist by listening to speakers with a very different presentation - say Harbeths or Grahams. You may reject them out of hand because of the old school looks but you may learn something about what you are looking for in a speaker.

I’ve been down the same journey a few years ago. The Focals and ATCs are great speakers, always impress in a large demo room. They are both very revealing but I found them somewhat relentless. You may decide that’s just what you want but their revealing nature will drive a desire to upgrade the front end. Definitely do a home demo. They are both big speakers and it’s the bass that is most likely to cause problems with room interactions.

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Hi @Neil_D - thanks for replying. You’re the first and so far only person here who’s actually heard the Sopra 2s with the Uniti Atom and I’m pleasantly surprised to hear that you liked the combination! I have however since posting decided not to go with the Sopra 2s since it’s too much of a risk without auditioning. My room is also not too large so there is the worry that the Sopra 2s could overpower them (although from some videos on YouTube the Sopra 2s seem to be used in really small rooms as well).

@Innocent_Bystander - unfortunately this is not an option in this particular case as the costs involved are too much. However, I do try and audition systems when I travel to get a sense of them. It can be unfair to the dealers though as I’m unlikely to be a paying customer. I do inform them of this though and usually just listen to whatever systems they have rigged up and without taking their salespeople’s time. I have managed to listen to some nice systems like this including the Magico A3s in Paris and the Devore Fidelity/Audio Note/Harbeths/Dynaudios/KEF Reference and a few others a couple of years ago in the US.

For the price of the sopra are selling second hand for me is a great buy, you can deal with the electronics later and even it could be a great match for you, and if it does not work you will end selling them and not losing any money.

Most of us do not have perfect rooms, and the systems work great for us, even if they could be better in a perfect room most of the time we can’t have the luxury of that.

Your amplification is more capable than my supernait 3, and the supernait 3 plays great with the sopra n1. The unity atom as a pre is more forgiving than the supernait in most respects, so the sopra high frequency will not be a problem, for sometime used a unit I atom HE as a pre amp and worked great, I missed some resolution and clarity but it worked very well.

Then you have the room to deal, as any other speaker in existence have to deal with room.

@ChrisSU - thanks for clarifying, appreciate all your inputs.

@Michael17 - thanks for your inputs. I did listen to Harbeths a couple of years ago but didn’t like the presentation too much (at the dealers) and haven’t considered them since. Haven’t heard Grahams though. I was very excited about the new Klipsch Cornwalls 4 but in listening to them was very disappointed. I do try and listen to a lot of new speakers when I get the opportunity and recently the ATC SCM 40s were the speakers that impressed me the most and are in an attainable realm for me. A speaker that really impressed me many years ago was a model by YG Acoustics but that was squarely in the ‘lottery’ category!

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I stayed away from Focal sopra for ages because of what i read about them from people who own Naim stuff, i used to own dynaudio countour 20, i now own sopra 1 and the difference is amazing, sopra is better in every way. I think there are lots who dont like Focal for political reasons so its important to listen to them in your room

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@Damien0 - thanks for your response. Good to see another person happy with Focals but Im not sure I follow your point on then being unpopular for political reasons?

My take is that from the joining of Naim and Focal under the one parent it seemed to be fashionable to knock Focal speakers possibly because they were seen to be usurpers of Naim S-series speakers, or because they were seen to be diluting the brand image. Whether that is actually the case where people have had a serious listen is of course impossible to know, but they seem to be rather “Marmite” from people’s descriptions, but in a recent poll 7% of responders use them, the same as Proac, slightly more popular than ATC and Dynaudio , and beaten only by Naim and Kudos. What I know of ATC speakers is that they are renowned for neutrality and accuracy. I am not sure about Focal.

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Thats exactly what i was referring too, honestly i stayed away from focal for years thinking they were a terrible match. in reality my system has never been this good. wish i had bought my current Sopra 1 much sooner. one thing i did notice…they did sound a bit odd with naca5, i went with chord signature in the end and my system clicked right into place. just awesome

just to add…with naca5 it sounded like i was listening to drive units. the second chord signature went in the speakers vanished completely. loads of depth and width

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These are nearly in each opposite side of speaker performance signature.
I’d be surprised if you like Dynaudio after hearing Sopras, or vice-versa.

After reading your thoughts about the NACA5 I am a little bit concerned, I asked my dealer to send me a 3 meter pair to have the recommended naim cable, I also have the sopra n1 connected with a pair of audioquest Robin Hood speaker cables, and I am waiting for two Powerline cables I hope when they arrive it wasn’t a bad move on my side.

Also one Powerline alone did not do that well, but the order was made some time ago.

i use powerlines on everything and found them very good, it was naca5 i thought was a bit strange on my stystem. with that being said chord signature xl is a lot more money

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I use sopra 2 stated on the 252 dr then 552 dr 300 dr amp …and also use them with an onkyo txnr 5010 amp just for a change of sound and also av … Tons of bass even tho i use rel s812 for los oct soubds awsum …i wouldn’t say sopra are bright but they do.eed a good burn in n an occasional blast n ull b very happy as everyone is different …i gave no room treatment previously speakers were Rf 7.11 they got put on rear duties and b@w before that …sopra play everything i chuck at them music wise and movies n sumtimes they make me grin lije a madman as they sound well awsum …yep they get slated with naim …but no complaints here

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Hi All,

Today I went back to the dealer and auditioned the ATC SCM 40 passives and also a pair of ATC SCM100 ASLT active speakers (active 40s are not available for demo and not going to be in the near future unfortunately). I was hoping to get a sense of ATC active speakers but now I’m even more confused because I enjoyed the passive 40s a lot more than the active 100s! They were both in 2 different rooms and run with different sources. The 100s were run by a ROCKNA streamer and a ROCKNA DAC and a Gold Note preamplifier. The passive 40s were driven by a Gold Note DAC & power amplifier.

The 100s sounded clean and not distorted in any way even at higher volumes but they just didn’t sound exciting. They almost seemed a bit too docile – clean and clear but not lively in any way. Vocals seemed to be a bit recessed (where instruments seem to dominate a bit) but just vocals were really very good. Even though these were the 100s the bass was just not enough, again they seemed a bit too clean. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Metallica sound so ‘polite’! The much smaller 40s on the other hand seemed to have so much more slam on the bass and all the music I tried seemed so much more ‘alive’. It wasn’t as clean as the 100s for sure but seemed a lot more enjoyable and on all types of music.

This experience has left me even more confused about my original plan to get the active 40s (based on how much I liked the passive 40s), since they’re supposed to be better by most reports and are a simpler option (lesser boxes/cost). I’m now wondering if the active ATCs are very different from the passive ones in general (more clean/clinical?)

I guess I’m trying to understand if the SCM 40 actives are more likely to sound like the 100 actives rather than the passive 40s?
Thanks.

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Guessing the professional back ground of ATC could be more prominent in the 100’s, studio monitor type sound where nothing is added or taken away, very clean and controlled, can’t really find the words to describe it better, where as the passive 40’s are adding their own flavour into the music, if that makes sense.
Would imagine the active 40’s might be a mix of both, maybe leaning slightly more to the 100’s sound signature.
These are just my thoughts, others with personal experience of both speakers will probably be better qualified to answer but not totally surprised at your comments after auditioning both.

I was surprised to find that I preferred passive SCM50s (powered by a 300DR) to active 100s in my dealers demo room. I also preferred passive to active 40s but that was at a different time and in a different room.
I’m pretty familiar with my dealers demo room, having spent far too much time in there over the years, but still I think these first impressions, while useful in highlighting the differences between components, don’t give you a full impression of what you will get in your own room.