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I would expect absolutely certainly as you’d get that superb midrange unit, and deeper bass.
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it is often possible to audition speakers when buying secondhand - anyone selling decent speakers is likely to understand. You may be limited to their room, in which case take your own speakers and listen first to establish a baseline for the sound to compare. (I have done that with private secondhand sellers.)
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Only problem I see here is that your listening position is against the back wall(?) This might cause some bass boom when going up to bigger speakers. I have similar sized room with 50ASL’s (and 40A before them) on the long wall and also not in the middle but the sofa is 1,6 meters from the back wall so plenty of air around the sweet spot. This helps, especially with bass performance.
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That’s a really good idea thanks 
Yes sofa is hard up against back wall which is a stud cavity wall. Difficult to do it any other way without losing space in the room.
Wildo. 
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Hard against a wall is very bad for the treble end again, near reflections muddying the sound - getting seating position away from wall can be more significant to sound quality than doing same with speakers - speakers depend on their design, and mainly affect bass end, seating position affects all parts of spectrum.
Incidentally, in discussions of room size, 5x8m is on the large side, by no means a small room
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Go for 40 scm I took delivery of mine 3 weeks ago absolutely superb stunning midrange very deep controlled bass YOU will not need a subwoofer. They are a joy to own beautifully made they give you a very detailed sound. Oh by the way if you think they are big 
worry not there is no difference in cabinet size compared to scm 19. I thought the same, factor in stands they are 30mm taller. The scm 40 do not lack bass extension I’m sure many owners on here will agree it’s controlled bass and true detailed sound 
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I am using a Chord DAVE pre amp output directly into the ATC SCM40 Actives and Melco server. Wonderful combination, great value, space efficient so don’t need a rack. Inspired selection by my dealer, just had to buy it.
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The performance of the system as a whole benefits from incorporating effectively aligned, calibrated and dialled in subwoofer/s. For eg. even the overall performance systems with SCM50ASL and SCM100ASL can be substantially improved on with a subwoofer/s. Therefore in comparison incorporating a subwoofer/s to support systems with SCM40P’s or SCM40A’s is a no brainer.
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I presume that any system can be improved by a well integrated, calibrated subwoofer or is it only ATC systems which are apparently lacking in bass performance?
I must admit, I am somewhat bemused by the description of ATC speakers having poor bass. The ones that I have heard (and I have two pairs of small ATC speakers - SCM7 and SCM10 IIRC) have excellent bass (mine, being small, you would expect to have little bass, and they are, of course, not as deep as bigger speakers, but they have good bass). And don’t forget that the bass driver in the Naim DBLs are ATC units.
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Its not a characteristic I recognise either, but aside from weirdos like me taking measurements, I sense that the public need for bass has increased perhaps leading to a normalisation. From my memory, mainstream HIFi and perhaps music in the 60’s and 70’s had less bass.
I don’t think anyone meant to suggest that the active ATC’s have poor bass, just that their active closed design with high damping factor, and their neutral (monitor like) tuning, focuses more on speed and accuracy rather than low end punch. Ofcourse room type and placement also make a difference, so how they realistically perform will depend on the circumstances.
Some other speakers go a bit deeper by design but may be less neutral in their tuning or not as fast, there are always tradeoffs ofcourse. Either way it doesn’t mean that the ATC’s perform poorly in the bass region, as mentioned they are still some of the best (active or not) options out there.
Active and passive versions will also generally perform slightly differently in the bass department. The passive version will have lower damping so can be more punchy in the bass, but at the expense of some speed (this is true for all active/passive designs). So it’s best to keep them separate in discussions where possible!
I demoed atc at audio T with and without sub, there is a difference but is very subtle, imho either having it not is question for personal preference and listing room, my atc replaced pcm 20.23, atc are much punchier sp?vin the bass is more up front
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@anon4216120 To try and answer your question, I auditioned a range of speakers (Proac, Spendor, PMC, ATC etc.) a few months ago and ended up buying a pair of SCM40 actives. Lots of good options out there at this price level, but to my ears I liked the insight and balance that the ATCs brought. I would describe them as honest speakers - they don’t try to accentuate any part of the music. The bass is tight and solid, not overemphasised or boomy.
I was about to pull the trigger on the non-actives when my dealer suggested I try the actives. Home demo’d both sets at the same time, so was able to make a direct comparison. The actives had the edge, though not night and day difference, and I liked the simplicity of the actives which then only require a streamer/DAC/preamp, which allowed a one box solution.
After having them home for 2-3 months I’m still completely and utterly addicted to them. I can’t get enough of them. 
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That wouldn’t, by any chance, be the JL Audio Fathom v2 @ £7k? Clearly not, must be their Gotham v2 @ a modest £16k. Just trying to remember who stocks them … 
Roger
After 50 odd posts the conclusions seem to be, in the majority, if you can fit the 50ASL speakers in (and you can afford them) then they’re the ones to go for or at least trial. Otherwise the 40 Actives. 
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Good bass and deep bass indeed are not the same. I’m not sure anyone suggested the 40s have poor bass? In my case my reference to uncertainty about their bass (and indicating not having heard) was specifically low bass.
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The use of a subwoofer is of paramount importance. For eg. picture below shows Bowers & Wilkins 802D2’s which are perfectly capable of good quality low frequencies. However this system features a pair of JL Audio Fathom f112 v2 subwoofers in use with a crossover point to the main speakers set at 80Hz, so the 802D2 speakers are relieved of the need to produce deep bass. It’s a good starting point as it relieves the main speakers of the bottom two octaves (20Hz - 40Hz and 40Hz - 80Hz) which lowers distortion in the main speakers. The Fathom f112 v2’s do a much better job in this region. As a result the system is more transparent and dynamic from bottom to top, at low volumes as well as at higher volumes and the space in the original recording is much better defined than the 802D2’s on their own.
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If I had that system I’d be wanting a proper rack before installing a sub 
Unless the room is huge the speaker spacing can’t be optimal either…
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