Hi Everybody,
On the verge of purchasing a set of ATC SCM11 V2, and have read about how power hungry they are.
Will my XS3 be sufficient in my 3m x 4m living room? I plan to have them 30-40cm from the front wall. My XS3 is powered by an AVoptions Tibia power cord into a Furutech wall receptacle.
So, enough power?
Thanks in advance!
You need to try them in your room. I wonder whether upgrading the Node to ND5XS2 might be a better way to go.
I would also strongly advise you try them in your room. I u-turned on my decision after demoing at home.
Tricky one as to whether to upgrade your source first (as HH says) or the speakers. If you do get the ATC, you will appreciate a better sourceā¦ By the way, my Nova drove the SCM11 (and the Neats) just fine.
Iād like to upgrade to the ND5XS2, but I listen to 90% vinyl at the moment, and really enjoy my 2M Bronze into the XS3 phono stage. There great synergy there. I could upgrade to a 2M Black, but my turntable setup guru measured channel output and said this 2M Bronze has nearly perfect symmetry on azimuth and output, so he recommended sticking with the Bronze.
ā¦hence the desire to upgrade speakers.
That said, ND5XS2 would be sweet. Very expensive with price increases here in Canada, but sweet.
Ah ok, understand. Have you tried the ATCs at home yet?
I havenāt, but this is a 2nd hand pair thatās just 3 months old. The guy is upgrading to active ATCs for the extra power handling. Basically a new pair for a nice price. Iād expect to be able to resell at approx. the buying price if I donāt like em.
Unless youāre after constant disco like listening levels then yes 
The ATC SCM 11ās should work quite well with your XS 3. I would have no problem with that pairing. Hopefully you will have a chance to demo at home.
Good luck with your decision.
nova driving scm 11ās here and they are 20cm from wallā¦ nice effortless sound
Apologies for going slightly off topic, a used DAC could usefully bump your Nodeās performance up for not too much money. I know we all recommend what we own, but I run a MK1 Chord Hugo into my XS3, and it sounds excellent. I have listened to it versus a ND5 XS2, into a XS3 and my Neat SX3 speakers, in a back to back demo at a dealer. The Chord sounded cleaner and clearer, the ND5 XS2 was a bit grittier (not in a bad way). Anyway, the point is the used Hugo cost 1/4 the ND5 XS2.
I love my XS3, it sounds indecently good, Iām sure I would have to spend a lot more to improve on it significantly.
Iām have a NAP110 driving a pair of SCM11 and no complaints here.
I think the NAP110 is 55w pc.
I had these speakers with an XS2 and they went plenty loud enough in a bigger room and were actually awesome in my opinion so much so that I sold them and then bought some more!
They really benefit from wall placement to reinforce the bass with was surprisingly ample and very fast ( 50cm from front baffle to rear wall).
Short answer: no!
ATC pairs them with their P2 (300W @8ohms). They will make sounds but they wonāt sing.
Hi @jlow, the āATCs are very power hungryā story is a bit of a myth. Theyāre not the most sensitive speakers around but they have a pretty benign impedance curve. However, realistic reproduction of instruments such as piano can involve large dynamic swings and even the smallest ATC speakers are built to cope with this. (Founder Billy Woodman was a jazz pianist and set great store by good reproduction of the piano.) This is where a more powerful amp can bring added realism to the sound even when playing at less than ear-shattering levels.
If you can resell without too much loss, Iād give the SCM 11s a try, but be aware that theyāve more to give if you upgrade your amp in the future.
Roger
The stand mount sealed box ATCs from my knowledge are very power hungry if you want any volume to speak of, just like most non ported speakers. To obtain reasonable bass requires about 70watts RMS.
I opted for the ATC SCM 50s as they are ported and sound fantastic.
If you want a lot of bass just go for ProAc floor standers the D48Rās will rattle your fillings loose.
Thanks for the input and advice, everyone. Has been most helpful.
I made the jump and bought the ATCs. Photo below!
Iāve connected my NAC A5 diagonally as recommended in another thread.
Now, Iāve got to do the mandatory ājumperā exploration. Iāve seen in this forum that some dig em, and some dig the stock plates.
Thanks again!
Any advice on jumpers?
I went single wire by undoing the crossovers plate in the rear and simply unbolting the treble wires and moved them to the bass connectors. Itās very easy to see once the plate is off. Better coherence and less connections
I recently got jumpers for my SCM7s.
I use entry level Witchat cables and so stuck with them for numbers.
Iād suggest getting A5 ones to continue the chain.?
It not easy to solder NACA5 with Naim SA8 plugs as an āFā connection to fit with the ATC terminal block.
This is how I had my SA8 āFā connections using Chord Odyssey into a Monacor (same shape/style as ATC). They fit, but only just.
However I would not use the nickel plated Naim SA8 pins into gold plated terminals, dissimilar metals can be a problem, they were for me.
