Atc scm20

Hi-Fi Corner
1

Does anyone member of the forum have any experience of these speakers.

I am considering buying some as I am very impressed indeed with the SCM11s but they are not domestically acceptable to my wife. She much prefers the light oak finish of the SCM20 vs the SCM19s which are much cheaper and no doubt excellent.

The SCM20s are considerably more expensive (£1600!) than the 19s but have a better tweeter and British built cabinets.

I would like more bass than the SCM11s but really like tight and fast bass that seems to be a feature of sealed box enclosures.

I have some Proac DT8s which are very good but I find that the bass overwhelms the midrange to an extent and love the ATC midrange presentation.

Thanks for any advice that may be forthcoming. Source is a Rega Saturn, Tecnics 1210GR with Rega arm, amplifier Rega Aethos and on occasion Nait XS2.

2

i own 19 and I know 20 very well and I can confirm that 20 is better by any means, I wouldn’t have any doubt in the choice if money are not a showstopper

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3

Why not a couple of used SCM40?

4

Thanks.
Its the same issue with the cherry veneer cabinets and I strongly suspect too much bass in my room

5

I’m with you on this. I tried a pair of SCM11s but the cherry colour was horrible, like poo. And the black was just too black, and white wouldn’t work in our room. The 20ASLT active towers look hugely appealing and come in a fantastic range of veneers.

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6

I actually preferred the SCM20 stand mounts to the SCM40s but was over-ruled by domestic considerations not allowing stand mount speakers!

I thought the 20s were a little more refined but a close run thing. Certainly didn’t lack bass or dynamics in comparison to the larger 40s.

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7

Okay👍

8

Just a suggestion Doyard.
I had success using dsp (convolution filter) to reduce a room induced sub bass peak with my ProAc D20Rs. If you like the DT8s getting REW software (free), a UMIK1 (c£130 brand new) and some time to create a convolution filter maybe all you need.
Good luck.

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9

Thanks Tapp

You are not the first person to make this suggestion. I have no idea at the moment how to achieve this but will look in to it!

10

Thanks. Very useful information that may well guide my decision making.

There is a floorstander version of the SCM20 which is a cool £1850 more than the standmount version: an awful lot of money for a larger cabinet but it looks gorgeous.

11

Have you considered active, performed better than passive in my room. You may also consider a sub - Rel offerings work well.

Gary

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12

Thanks Gary,
I have heard great things about active speakers with optimised inbuilt power amplifiers and indeed when A British Audiophile reviewed the SCM19a he thought that they were superior to the passive version. Not cheap though!

13

I actually think they are cheap / great value when you consider you don’t need a power amp, speaker cable and you can loose a shelf or two of fraim. Through that lens they offer really good value v a passive set up.

Selling my passive set up (nap300, super lumina connectors and speaker cable, 2 levels of fraim and Focal Kanta 2’s and buying active 40’s made me a tidy return as well as a better sounding system.

As always with speakers a home demo is essential.

Gary

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14

I sometimes wonder if ATC might ever produce a tower version of the Active 25. That way one could get the SL version of their famous dome midrange in a smaller enclosure than the SCM50.

Roger

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15

Yes, I was having the same consideration.

16

Hi Gary,

Having checked out the price differential on the SCM20PSLT vs ASLT, which is £3500, I rather wish I had thought about this option before buying my latest integrated and could have used the pre out from the XS2 as a stopgap!

Tony

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17

Tony, Through the serendipity of the forum, if nothing else, your thread has made me aware of the possibility of my NAC152XS with a pair of ATC SCM19As as an endgame system. Thanks.

Hope it all works out for you, whatever you choose.

Chris

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18

I’d gently suggest that your Nait XS2 isn’t up to the SCM20. Neither are the Technics or the Apollo. You’d be heading into serious mullet territory.

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19

Thanks for the thread and the replies about ATC SCM 20. I had wondered why the 20s had received so little attention here on the forum. Mostly the focus is on the SCM 19 or SCM 40 from the Entry series. But some have also heard the 20s and prefer them. Very exciting. Maybe the 20s are really an insider tip in smaller rooms.

20

Thanks HH,
I really appreciate your honest opinion. My current amplifier is a Rega Aethos which is also probably not good enough for the SCM20s and neither is the Saturn in all probability. I probably need to change my profile details!
Thank again.

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