Still doing my homework regarding new speakers, is anyone using the above, I they ideal for small listening distance with a distance, roughly 9 foot away, these would be partnering a Naim nova, thank you
I have a pair in my living room and I went for them because they are small and to my ears sound really wonderful.
They say they need power to drive them and initially my Unitilite was fine and then I upgraded to a Roksan Attessa Streaming Amp, which works well.
Mine are on q-acoustic concept 20 stands.
They play nicely at lower levels and better at higher levels.
We sit about 10ft from them and they are about 10ft apart. I guess not ideal, but it’s a home not a demo room.
As ever try an audition first. I demoed some Sonus Fabers which were nice but to me not as good as the ATC. I also hanker for some Neat Iota Alpha, but they sound dreadful in my space. I did audition the ATC at home and they were clearly different to the Linn 109s I was replacing. I do love my ATC.
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That looks wonderful. I bet that when you close the curtains you’ve an acoustically ‘dead’-ish room with very precise sound.
A fine sound in my ‘desktop system’, where they the SCM-7 sit on the windowsill of the bay window, with a curtain drop on the outside of each speaker, and of course nearfield listening. Works for me, and looks ok. Not an ideal placement, where on top of stands may well improve the sound, but I have to have the hifi systems in a domestic situation, no special ‘listening rooms’ here.
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I’d consider the SCM11s if your budget goes that far. They should work fine at 9ft distance, would give you a rather fuller sound and are often reckoned to be a bit easier to drive than the 7s. Ideally audition both at home if that’s possible.
Roger
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Deffo worth trying the 11’s . I had 7’s and loved their fast immediate sound but the lack of any bottom end was too much… the 11’s however are nearly as fast but richer and more weighty.
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I urge caution. Take ATC’s advice, the speakers need some grunt.
My one-time NAP200DR made the SCM7s I owned sing. My NAP155XS - broadly equivalent to the power output of a Nova - not so much.
Sorry, because I know full well this is not the reply you want to hear. Ultimately, you must try the combo and see if it suits you…
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In fact, the Nova’s output is 80W, whereas the 200 DR is 70W and the 155XS 60W. Watts aren’t everything of course, and as ever it’s essential to try speakers with the amplifier. For example, I wasn’t happy with the Nova with ProAc Tablette 10 Sgnature, whereas they work well with the PMC twenty5.21i, which aren’t the easiest to drive. The ATC 11s are pretty chunky things, which may or not be important here.
Yup, it’s probably nap 200 or SuperNait what’s the minimum level to get them sing. I’ve seen that phenomenon with other small / inefficient loudspeakers. Tempted to try 7’s myself!
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As I said.
It was actually your experience with the Nova and the Proac Tiddlers that prompted me to reply, Nigel. Otherwise, I might not have bothered.
But none of this changes the fact that the SCM7s are terrific speakers when matched with the right gear.
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Looks like they might no be suitable with my nova might still book a demo, still interested in the small Neat Iota
Neat iota’s are nice but they need a bit of volume to get the most out of them……low volume listening was not too great.
I was considering an atom and scm 11’s - so much conflicting advice on if the Atom can drive them affectively……
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Morning,
Please do.
I would hate it if anything I had written about our hobby would discourage you from a demo. And whatever the outcome, you will learn something valuable.
C.
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I rather agree with @Farthings-cat that Iotas really come alive with a bit of volume, but that’s even more true of ATCs in my experience. The Iotas I run with my Atom are good fun in the small room I use as an office — not the last word in refinement but very musically enjoyable. A Nova should drive plain Iotas even more effectively, but I’d also listen to Iota Alphas in that setup.
Roger
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I had the alphas on the end of a nova, nice speakers although not the final word on detail.
That said the room they were in was tricky being round!
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I asked Richard from ATC at the Acoustica show which speakers were most suitable for the Atom .
After a moments thought he actually said the SCM11 were slightly easier to drive which was interesting .
My parents have an Atom , I’ve heard both the Iota’s and SCM7’s sounding lovely in their listening space .
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I’m sure Tony will oblige with both 7’s and 11’s…in fact he may well have exdem 7’s …
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For what its worth, I owned a pair of ATC SCM Speakers and ran them on my system for a year and they were fabulous speakers. Do not hesitate to give them a workout with your NOVA.
Hopefully you can find a dealer to allow a home demo.
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