Yes same dealer, Geoff is doing well selling ATC at present. think he told me he now sells more than any other dealer !!
Interesting thread.
I am tempted by the Active 40s. I heard them at the recent Acoustica show and they sounded fab.
Does anyone have experience with Active 40s in a small room? I demoed the passive 40s which I loved but found the bass too overwhelming for my room (3.5 x 3.5m). I’m using passive SCM 19s which work really well for my room size.
I would stick to the 19s for that room. The 40s were too much for my room (approx 4m x 4.2m)
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I wasn’t impressed with Chord Shawline, shielding was poor. If a power cable touched it then buzzing could be heard. Not the case with Mogami 2549. I also preferred the sound of the Mogami.
If passives already have too much bass then actives are not for your room. They sound much more powerful (especially low end) than passives. I had no problem with passives in my room but actives went slightly too bassy. Luckily I got it under control with Linn ADSM and space optimisation.
Thanks @Patu, that’s what I suspected. Your system with the Linn ADSM and optimisation sounds like the way to go for controlling bass output. I’ve only just got my 252/SCDR/250DR so I’m not looking to move away from Naim right now. Also, my passive 19s work much better in my room compared to the passive 40s so I’ll leave as is.
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maybe you should try active 19s in your room then…
I tried the active 19s but actually preferred the less ‘incisive’ sounding and more forgiving passives.
I had the same experience as Patu, the 40 actives had more perceived bass than the 40 passives.
maybe it is time to accept, that if even if it did not work out for you , it could and is working for others.
Interesting to read about various experiences with active v passive ATC’s.
One of my concerns about the passive ATC’s was whether my olive NAP250 would be man enough to drive them so yesterday while I have the demo ATC SCM40’s here I thought I would give them a good workout!
I can confirm that running the NAC102 at 3/9ths on the volume dial gave what I would describe as my ideal critical listening level - pretty loud, but not party levels although it was hard to hold a conversation over the music without resorting to shouting!
I upped the volume to the noon position and this was seriously loud, too loud even for a party in my house. I ran it like that for around 25 mins even searching out tracks with extreme bass and which were very rocky tracks.
NAP250 was pretty warm but highest case temp directly over the transformer measured 45 degrees centigrade.
The sound remained controlled at that level although I confess to finding the top end rather piercing at times although always clean. I personally find the ATC tweeter to be slightly more piercing than that fitted to my SBL’s and in danger of sounding less refined. Bass continued to be unbelievably firm and taut though. There were no indications of compression.
Overall musical balance was significantly better than the SBL with a sense of far wider bandwidth especially at the low end. Detail retrieval was slightly better than SBL - usually because they were capable of reproducing sounds at the low end - bass synth notes etc that the SBL’s gloss over. In the midrange too though I would say the ATC were retrieving more detail and elements buried in the mix came more to the fore.
I would be tempted by the active’s but to be honest if they have more bass than this I suspect they would boom in the room. In terms of presentation this current combination seems incredibly even handed and balanced. Where there is bass on a record the ATC’s deliver it driven by the NAP250 with nothing left out. Where records don’t have genuine deep bass the ATC don’t augment it.
They’re certainly the most impressive speakers I have ever had in my home.
J
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You would need to hear: it is possible that the ATC’s own amps are better matched and so have better control than the NAP.
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It’s now 3 months since I got my passive 40s and I’m still going through the process of ‘re-discovering’ my music collection 
The change (for the better) compared to my old proacs is just amazing. Every time I listen, a new, to an album I’m finding new detail, better imagery, and better bass with that legendary ATC clarity and mid-range.
This is how I thought about it first also. Maybe the actives only have punchier/better controlled bass than the passives? I was right and wrong. Yes, they definitely have tons more control and grip than SN2 ever had on the passives. But I was very surprised to find out that the overall balance of actives is clearly bass heavier than with passives. Of course this is because ATC’s own amplification drives the speakers to their absolute best potential and limits. This means that the bass performance is much more powerful than what SN2 can do and now when I think about it afterwards, it makes perfect sense.
About active 19’s, I had them in demo for three weeks before I got the 40A’s I ordered. They are very good speakers but need careful matching not to sound too clinical or piercing. Their sound signature is leaner and more neutral than with 40’s, which sound a tad warmer and smoother, but not in a bad way.
If you’re even mildly thinking about Active’s I’d try them , otherwise it will be an itch that may not go away … As Patu found the Active’s have more Bass and your 250 with Passive’s may strike the perfect balance but it would be interesting to find out if funds permit .
I used to have passive 19’s driven by a 250DR and that was a great combination , I only changed as I’d extended the living room which doubled space and also wanted to reduce box count .
I’ve heard of people Bi-amping ATC’s with Naim 250’s to great effect so that could also be an option later .
when I listened to ATC SCM40 + 250DR & 300DR and then ATC SCM40a
From memory the passive with 300 had the most bass, but the actives very close and certainly more controlled.
the amount of bass can be amended by the distance from the back wall, but to be honest it’s pretty unfussy
Absolutely, others may have a completely different opinion after listening. Out of interest did you compare the 19 passive with the active version?
I thought scm40 is the most complete speaker I’ve ever listened to. Unfortunately, I had to let mine go as room just couldn’t handle the bass.
Having heard the ATC SCM40 at a show, I am forever looking for these speakers for sale (as used), but they are rare on the second hand market…!
I wonder why!
Yes . I had the passive before the active . I used them with a SN2 and a 32.5-SCDR-Nap160.
The matchup happened at my dealers. The passive were driven by a heed elixir : The dealer does not stock Naim and I wanted to use something close to the Naim sound. The passive setup was so outmatched that at some point, i stopped the comparison and kept listening at the active. I was using very familiar tracks, and was astonished to hear new things in those tracks , things i was not hearing at home with the very revealing 19 passive. The timing was also a lot better ,the bass was tighter and faster.
Surprisingly , I came out of the demo even more impressed than when i heard the 40a ( with a dave).