Atc smc40

Intrigued what an ‘Anglosaxon’ world is… In the UK the term is usually used to refer to Old English language and medieval customs as used and written about by Chaucer etc … which hadn’t been spoken (usually) in England and Scotland since the Middle Ages… and is almost unintelligible to modern English speakers, but one or two expletives and taboo words, specifically four letter ones have migrated over the centuries from Anglosaxon to English. :grinning:

:joy:

In Switzerland (French speaking part) we sometimes use that expression to wrongly refer to some parts of the Commonwealth, mostly UK, Canada, USA. In fact it’s quite vague, I have to admit. I shouldn’t have used it. It’s not very English. It’s more like a bad translation of an idiomatic expression.

But interestingly the expression exists in English, with a quite different meaning.

Indeed, Anglosaxon culture and language is studied by some historians and linguists, and Chaucer is considered a significant if not the most significant author and poet of the Middle Ages in Britain.

And if you are interested very close to where I live are the historic sites of the medieval Saxon King Raedwald of the Anglosaxon period at Sutton Hoo… google it … though most of the treasures were either pilfered by the later Viking invasions or have been moved to London now.

Geoffrey Chaucer seems to be an important author of English literature and poetry. Undoubtedly a difficult reading for someone used to less demanding literature.

My grandfather lived in that region (Kent) but I never had the opportunity to visit that historical site. Maybe one day with my daughter.

It is pleasant to sometime deviate from the usual subjects.

Thanks Simon! :smiley:

Hi Thomas, indeed it’s good to drift sometimes … Kent was and is still outside East Anglia, about 90 miles due south, and south of the River Thames (East Anglia currently comprises of the modern day counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and is a subset of current administrative region of the East of England),
In Anglosaxon times Kent was it’s own Kingdom… in modern day England Kent is a large county in the South East England region.

Anyway perhaps back to ATC SCM40s now :grinning:

I’ve just spoken to the guy (Mark) at the distributor and he says if I pass along your contact details then he can organise getting a set across to your local dealer for you to then listen to/borrow. The problem is I don’t know how to do this without running fowl of the forum rules :frowning:

Thanks Patu. I have a HiCap DR with my Supernait 2, so an audition might well be worth doing. Thanks again for your feedback.

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Okay so this afternoon was the ATC SMC40’s vs RAM30’s shootout. At the end of the afternoon one pair went back with the dealer and that was the RAM30’s!!!

I really did NOT expect that but the SMC40’s are the clear winners. Detail and mid range the RAM’s were pretty damn close to the AMC’s but what swung it was the bass. It was miles better controlled with the SMC’s. Yes the RAM30’s go lower but on some tracks it was simply too over blown and tended to draw your attention away from the music. In contrast the SMC’s remained controlled whatever we threw at them. I hasten to add it’s my room that is the issue the suspended floor, no carpets, is just too much for the downward ported RAM speakers. The closed box SMC’s simply strolled through this without breaking into a sweat.

I honestly didn’t expect that outcome. Tracks which we played at a lowish volume with the RAM’s we cranked up an extra 2-3 notches with the SMC’s and they still kept their composure.

So now sat here with the SMC40’s playing in the background.

Next problem is satin white or satin black but that’s for SWMBO to decide :wink:

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Thats great Steve , Satin Black look really good from where I’m sitting . Are you going Passive or Active 40’s ?

Hi Steve, thanks for thinking of me but I actually spoke to Karma A-V Today and they are going to send a pair of 30’s to my local dealer! They said it may take a couple of weeks as they only have 2 pairs for demo, very excited! Funny that you should mention the ATC’s as they are next on my demo list, passive and active.

Passive… a couple of reasons really but the main one is cost !

I’m rooting for the satin black but SWMBO is undecided. Hopefully she’ll have decided in the next couple of days so I can get them ordered… not sure how long the dealer will let me keep his demo pair :frowning:

Well one of their demo pairs should be back with them soon. I’m a little upset that the RAM speakers didn’t some through and I’m sure, if you have a concrete floor then they would sound great. The bass extended further than the SMC40’s but just didn’t mix well with the wooden suspended floor. I reckon with a solid floor the decision might well have gone in favour of the RAM’s.

Well I do have solid floors with nice thick underlay and carpet so they could be perfect! Just to make sure before I part with my money I am going to another dealer to listen to the 40’s (active and passive). The Karma guy said that the company who sprays the side cheeks of the 30’s are the same people who spray F1 cars so imagine the finish! I love little details like that. :blush:

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Not sure about that but they do look sexy in black :wink:

Aaaah yes cost , for some reason I thought you had a 250 you could sell to help fund etc . I was lucky that by the time I scaled down my system and sold everything I ended up about even . I also thought going active would save me money in the long run with less amp faffing …

I recently bought a pair of ATC SCM20ASL speakers to go with my Nova, absolutely amazing speakers, the mid range is the best i have heard and the new tweeter is amazing too and great tight bass, but i shall soon be buying a pair of JL Audio F112 subwoofers which will i certain bring audio nirvana,

I have owned Sonus Faber,Gryphon Mojo s2 and most recently BW 805D3, the ATC’s are altogether something else,

I’m getting the active ATC SCM19A for home demo tomorrow. Will do comparison against my current setup (nDAC - SN2 - SCM40 passive) and also try out different configurations. The dealer brings Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ to try out with them but I plan on borrowing Hugo TT2 and Naim 272 also, possibly even NDX2 but even though there’s variable output on NDX2, I realized it doesn’t have headphone amp so I’d need separate headphone amp with it. I’ll keep you updated.

looking forward to your findings, Patu. Regarding the ndx2 variable output , having heard it on the nd555, It cannot be confused with a good preamp, like the 202 or 272. Alternatively , you could pair it with a townshend allegri , for a breathtaking result.
I was not convinced when i ran my TT direct on my 19a , but TT2 could be different.

Not familiar with the RAm speakers but my ATC SCM 40A are the best speakers I’ve ever heard at anywhere near the money , and you get power amps built in so serious box count reduction !

Well, the advantages of active vs passive are quickly clear when I’ve been now listening to the SCM19A five to six hours yesterday and two hours today. I have two configurations, NAC272 + upgrade PSU to SCM19A and then Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ to SCM19A. First the 272 sounded slightly “meh” but it needed to warm up properly, today it sounds much better. Mytek is surprisingly good little box though, I never thought it’d perform this well. It sucks though that 272 doesn’t support Roon. I have lifetime license for Roon so this is kind of a deal breaker for me. I’d need external bridge to use 272 with Roon. I really don’t understand why Naim won’t bring Roon Ready to older streamers. I might borrow the NDX2 later this week but I’m not sure if that’s the way to go either.

Incredible control, insight and power with the active ATC. They keep up with the music better than my passive SCM40A driven by SN2. Better clarity and insight. Only thing it falls short on compared to passive SCM40 is low end, which doesn’t go as deep. With 19A it’s super tight and controlled though. Otherwise it offers just stunning sound quality. I’m so used to deeper bass though that now I’m already thinking if there’s a way I could go for active 40A but that’d mean serious strip down of my front end (to afford them). Mytek does great job in front of these though. Presentation is different from 272 but not clearly worse I’d say.