Thinking of pulling the trigger on a pair of these but my only concern is room size , my dedicated music room is 4.5 mtr x 3.2 mtr and the speakers would be firing across the 3.2 mtr width , I’ve a horrible feeling these will be overpowering, am I better of with the 11/19s and a sub
I have 40A’s in a room of similar size to yours. Check out the "show us your ATC’S " thread on this forum.
If possible, get a home trial via your dealer.
IME, with the speakers firing down the long axis, bass boom occurs irregularly due to some notes/frequencies/production setting the room off, I think
Demo is a no no , and yes I’ve read all that thread
I have the 40A’s in a similar room, 5.2 x 3.2, firing down the room, they worked ok firing across the room. Happy with the results.
I had atc scm40 passive in my room at 16mts and found them overpowering no matter how i positioned them. Don’t get me wrong they were a stunning listen eventually I traded them in for PMC twenty5 22i with pcm stands. Massive transformation very detailed a better top end extension than the Atcs.
I found the Atcs needed to be 900 mm away from the back wall to give a stage depth and width and control bass. Room treatment was out of the question due to waf. They are good but need room to breathe so to speak. If you can turn the volume up as well they deliver not good for low level listening
I think a lot will depend on your amplification - a grippy and gutsy amp will help keep the drivers controlled. Mine are 25cm from a back wall with no issues, and certainly don’t sound overpowering in an 18 sq/m room - more like large standmounts with the magic mid-range driver.
In my humble opinion, you’d be completely barking to buy a large expensive speaker like the ATCs without trying them at home. It really doesn’t matter that others have got them working in a room of your size.
Contrary to what Frank Zappa said……One size, does not fit all
Ah yes , as much as I like to crank them up they also need to be low volume friendly
250dr
They would be second hand , there are a lot about at moment , guessing I could sell them on at only small loss if needed
Although hearing at home is ideal, my experience it is possible to assess speakers elsewhere and have success, best done by taking one’s existing speakers and amp to the place of audition (unless the seller has same) and listening first to own speakers to set a baseline in the room, and then do direct comparison. It is of course not as certain as auditioning at home, but where that is not an option it minimises risk, and has certainly worked for me. In my view it would indeed be madness to buy speakers without hearing at all, as what one person loves another may hate …but sadly even that is not an option for everyone, though the greater the financial outlay tge more a trip to hear might become viable.
And I have done what I described in last post, buying secondhand from a private seller. People selling their own quality hifi gear are likely to understand and be amenable to such requests.