For once I agree, partly, with you, Nigel. They would be totally out of place in your living room. For starters they are about three times the size of your PMCs and also would not fit your wife’s tasteful decour. As for the grill, I am not a fan either but once removed they look great in my listening room and a perfect match for my NSC222.
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I’m looking at the SCM 11’s as I’ve heard great things about them but just wondering whether they might sound a bit bright and just too revealing as they were, I believe, originally studio monitors
Judging by other people’s experience here I am sure they’re a good match for your XS3. I had PMCs in the past but have moved to active ATCs and would not go back to them.
Actually the PMCs I had were the since-dropped stand-mount members of the Fact family: Fact 3s. They sounded OK driven by a 250DR but the ATCs just had an extra transparency and realism against which the PMC’s aural picture was thicker and more congested.
But returning to the OP, is there absolutely no possibility of hearing before you buy? It’ll be your ears, not other forum members, doing the listening.
Roger
You can’t blame Mrs HH. The ‘tasteful decor’ is my doing.
Au contraire, my dearest friend. I was paying her a compliment for what I thought it was her decour.
She is not responsible for you trying her patience and changing speakers and Hifi bits every other day. You’re a very luck man, mr Nigel.
In my defence, I’ve had my speakers for nearly three years now.
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I wouldn’t describe them as bright. I’d describe them as ‘honest’ and pretty neutral. The bass is detailed rather than hefty. I did find fiddling with the distance behind them helped to tune/refine the bass. Too close to the wall gives a bit more but perhaps a bit ‘clumpy’ sounding for my tastes. I have mine in a big awkward space and use a small REL sub alongside. I don’t think I would need that in a more conventional room.
Quite a few speakers I have heard over the years have preferred superficially impressive bass over bass detail and nuance. As a long term SBL, then SL2, user I suppose I might well say that.
Bruce
I think they look good in white. Without the awful grilles!
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The SCM 11 are part of a “domestic” series and in fact when I was auditioning, we did compare against PMC 20 21 (current model at the time) and the PMCs were the bright sounding ones.
The third pair in the listening lineup were some Kef reference (forget the model) but I do vividly remember wincing at the noise they produced.
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I have owned ATC SCM 11s and listened to SCM 7s several times. Both are good pairs of closed-back speakers that deserve good stands. The SCM 7s are less demanding in terms of room acoustics. The 11s need to be placed further away from the walls; they can favour the lower midrange/upper bass, which may justify a less powerful amplifier such as the Nait XS, Nap 180 or 200, but they are better with a Nap 250 if the room allows it.
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Thanks Nigel, yes, I had ATC SCM7s with my NAC152XS, FCXS, NAP155XS. Nice speakers. I think I wrote on the forum at the time that in my opinion they had elements of Naim’s SBL and Quad’s ESL63.
The reputedly easier to drive SCM11s definitely deserve a home audition with @ninanina’s Nait XS3.
Ultimately I found that Naim’s own loudspeakers breathed more easily [read: Allaes are more efficient] with my XS series amps than my SCM7s. But in a hobby predicated on ‘the narcissism of small differences’, the SCM7s were very good indeed. A positive recommendation. So, to the OP, SCM11 home dem very much advised.
There’s a lot to like about ATC.
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That made me smile - so true…..
I have owned SCM 11, and SCM 19 and older style SCM 12. Yes the newer model have a smoother impedance curve and so gone are the days of needing excessively powerful amps to stop suck outs etc.
However they are infinite baffle designs so benefit from the amp having useful power in the lower frequencies (which is not the same as saying the power of the amp). The domestic ATCs can be wonderfully detailed in the mids - but I would say they are slightly forward overall as a consequence - and so more careful matching is required. If the amp and system is not particularly forward sounding they can really gel otherwise they can sound dry.
I never felt the NAP200 was a superb match - sure it was totally fine - but not magical. However the NAP 250.2 I felt really gelled with the SCM 19 and the 19s provide some extra scale over the 11s - for obvious reasons - which may or may not be that relevant depending on your musical choices.
I did like the Nait XS2 with the older 11s..
So my experience other than with the N50 has been with older Naim amps - so I suggest as Chris points out audition is probably key - even if you have to travel to hear, but set up with your electronics.
Thanks for everyone’s response, it really helps
The trouble is trying to audition ATC’s as I have no dealer nearby that stocks them
I had the 11’s with an atom and they worked well, lost a bit of performance if turned up as the atom isn’t the most powerful but for a one box 2 speaker system it was brilliant.
I agree with HH the PMC is a pretty speaker but as you can see the side on view is quite prominent in my room and I didn’t like the side on view of the PMC. That aside they didn’t like my room so were easy to rule out.
So many book shelf speakers available at this price point so I would take your time and visit it a few dealers and get a sense of what you like.
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Does your dealer stock anything you fancy?
I believe that my local dealer has PMC’s and a few other brands available
They can obtain ATC’s but don’t hold them in stock
I had SCM11s with a Nait XS2 for about three years and thought that the combination was outstanding. Had no issues driving them in a medium sized room and there was no shortage of bass on bass heavy tracks.
They can sound rather dry and analytical for some and would benefit from a sub woofer to allow more range. I have now have ATC SCM20 and Proac D20Rs with a Rega aethos amplifier. The 20s are exceptionally good but would also benefit from a sub: not so the Proacs imho.
I still remember the 11s very fondly with the XS2 and reckon that they gave me 95% of what I have now.
My advice would be to go for it as they are pretty room agnostic being sealed boxes.
Good luck.
Tony
Without wishing to state the bleedin’ obvious, it’s really important to hear speakers with your equipment, and ideally in your own room. I realise that the latter is not always possible, especially in the US it seems. ATCs do seem to be having something of a Forum moment. A while back it was Kudos that was the speaker du jour, and now it’s time for ATC to have their moment in the sun. Just remember that the best speaker for you is the one that matches your new Nait, and which works in your room. Perhaps it’s worth you saying which speakers your dealer carries.
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Yes overall I think hearing and matching speakers to your home environment trumps choosing a make you can’t home audition.
Many Hifi speakers are designed to provide in room responses, so the positioning and room matching becomes fundamental to the overall performance for quality replay.
I find the better the replay equipment and more resolving and accurate the speaker is, the more essential proper room matching is required as shortcomings become more obvious, and once you start noticing something it’s very hard to un notice it.
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