I’m thinking of upgrading to these from my Spendor A6s but have read that the ATCs are ‘power hungry’ and am concerned my 300DR won’t be powerful enough for it. Does anyone run this combination at all? I also listen to my system at low volumes late at night and have read that the ATCs aren’t great at low volume -
has anyone experienced this with them? I’ll obviously need to audition them but wanted to make sure they’re suitable before organising this. Many thanks, Pete
Lots of information on here - search is your friend.
Fantastic speakers; and yes the 300 should drive them well. I use a NC250 with mine. They do come alive with volume but that doesn’t mean they sound dull otherwise. Have a listen…they don’t suffer poor recordings particularly well however.
Just checked your profile - we use the same speaker cable for what it’s worth. I have no complaints.
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I bet the Active SCM40As would sounds great driven by a 252, no worries about lack of power.
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They’ll be fine with a 300DR, an ideal combination I’d say. (Of course, active would be even better😀, sorry!) When I auditioned them with my 250DR, I felt I wasn’t quite getting the best out of them, but a 300 is a lot gutsier and I think some prefer that combo to the actives (weird?)
ATC aim for neutrality and transparency, it’s an aspect of their performance that makes me and many devotees love them, but not everyone finds their honesty so appealing. If possible, audition to make sure you really prefer them to your Spendors.
Roger
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When I auditioned SCM40s I thought they were a little constrained by a 250DR, but really came to life with a 300DR, which I preferred to the SCM40 Actives, albeit at a significantly higher price.
As always, listen for yourself before you commit, and use a top quality source as these very revealing systems can often disappoint with poor sources or poor recordings.
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I run these with olive 250 and it’s fine but does start to run out of headroomet at session levels. I have run them with 300DR and it’s a fabulous combination…
The 300DR drives 50’s too.
You may wish to read my reviews of both speakers with Naim at Soundstage Ultra ..
They’re good at low volumes but are exceptional with a little more dB.
JonathanG
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I have had 40s for a few years, initially driven by a 250DR. This set up worked fine but when I upgraded to an NC250, the SQ took a very noticeable step up. However, if I hadn’t made the change to the NC250I would have remained very happy with the 250DR.
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Thanks for your comments all and my apologies for taking so long to respond. I’m getting some 40s for a home demo next week so I’ll let you know how I get on with them. Cheers
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I’m curious what cables folks use with their 40 Actives??
My 40As arrived with cables. My dealer just asked me how long I wanted them to be. Not sure whether they came from the dealer or were supplied by ATC themselves. When I rearranged the room a while back, they weren’t quite long enough so I ordered a 10m Mogami pair from Designacable and couldn’t hear a difference.
Roger
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I use Tellurium Q Black XLR and power cables.
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I used Mogami 2834 XLR very good especially for the price but I replaced them with Wireworld Eclipse 8 second hand, more expensive but better… the 40A well worth it!
I very much enjoyed your article Jonathan, thank you.
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I think I’ll use Cardas Clear for XLR’s and Shunyata Theta for power.
You could do worse than asking ATC for their recommendations on cables. They might just know a bit about how to get the best out of their speakers.
Roger
I’m using Grimm TPR XLR’s for my active 40’s. Compared to them to AQ Yukon and Black beauty and the Grimm’s bested them in most aspect and were much more neutral than the AQ’s. For power I use Yeti acoustics, a Dutch brand.
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@PeakMan , I did.
And what did they recommend?
Roger
Wireworld, Cardas, Shunyata
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Interesting. Thanks.
Roger