Atc speaker connections

Diagonal is best I contributed to a large thread about this recently.
Use the connecting plates and put the positive to the highest frequency unit and the negative to the bass.
Costs nothing to try.

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Hi Skeptikal i found on my atc scm40 passive using original link plates to be best and wired diagonal gave best outcome.
ATC know what they are doing their speakers are tested using link plates to give best results.
I found jumpers ruined the sound

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Oh no! I’ve been bought a set of jumpers for Christmas, for my SCM7s!

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I’m wearing all mine at the moment!:rofl:

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I’d be interested to hear your findings and thinking of getting some for my SCM7s. Happy Christmas.

Thanks, and to you! Will let you know…

C.

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No worries hope they improve sound for you I’m sure they will. Everyone’s setup is different I was a tad disappointed using jumpers and with 3 terminals they are tricky setting up to avoid shorting.
Link plates gave more clarity and detail

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I have tried short NAC A5 jumpers on my SCM 40s, it didn’t make any difference to my ears, so I have swapped back to the supplied links which are very neat, and I strongly suspect is how ATC intended the speaker to be used.

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@Roog I have wondered if making the jumpers out of the cable ATC use internally would be a better choice than NAC A5. It would be interesting to know if anyone has tried this.

Buy Kudos speakers then you can have the internal wiring all the way to the amp. :thinking: :+1:t2:

I doubt if ATC use anything out of the ordinary for internal cabling, they are after all a no-nonsense speaker manufacturer for the pro market.

There is another way though, my ATC SCM40s have a three way terminal panel on the back of the speaker where you find the links. If you remove the screw fastened panel you can move the internal lugged cables onto one set of internal terminal posts, obviously all (3 cables) of the positive polarity (+) wires go on one of the (+) terminals and the 3 negative polarity (-) wires go to the internal (-) post. This solution uses only the ATC supplied wires in the box and needs no additional wires. This avoids the need for links altogether using just one set of (+) & (-) terminals. This mod is of course reversible too.

I haven’t performed this modification myself because I very much doubt that this would make any difference to the sound. After all, there are many ‘low cost’ push fit connectors and standard hook up wire used in the HiFi chain, but because they are hidden inside the HiFi boxes, no one frets about them and neither do the manufactures.

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But then you have to listen to Kudos speakers. :tired_face: :cold_face:

Roger

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Yo Ho Ho.

I’ve done that on my scm 11’s and there is a slight increase in coherence

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So happy I read this! I had jumpers made up to match my cable seemed ok…. Put the Original ones back on…. :man_facepalming:t2: diagonal etc bloody hell what a revelation! The do know what they are doing after all

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They do I found that, the manufacturers link plates are better in my system

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I experimented with connecting the speaker cables to highs, mids and lows. The best to me was definitely the mid-terminal, giving the most balanced sound. Also replacing the metal plates with something better is good practice. I used strips of NACA5 since I used that as speaker cable back then.

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I bought the Chord Signature jumpers, spade at one end and Ohmic plug at the other. Fitted on Boxing Day. I went with the diagonal connection pattern to make them fit more easily.

Initial impressions are that they make the SCM7s sound more complete, more finished. By this I mean that the drivers sound even more integrated (smoother perhaps) and the timing is even better. They also seem to make the small speakers sound bigger. I have noticed that I am turning up the volume more and enjoying it.

Absolutely no down sides. And what do you get for 250 quid in our hobby, quite frankly?!

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Thanks for the update.

Definitely something to consider when the urge to tinker raises its head.

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I have recently replaced the metal plates on my SCM40s with short lengths of internal wire from some deceased good quality speakers, going directly from binding post to binding post. A bit fiddly to get them in but it was worth it as the difference was much greater than I expected. My initial observations are that the bass is fuller and with more weight to it, the mid is clearer and slightly sharper and the top seems crisper and more to the fore. Sound is generally more coherent, seeming very energetically present whilst having a more relaxed feel as if the system is having to work less hard to get the improvement. The cost of this was a few litres of petrol to drive to see a friend who works in the hi-fi trade and suggested trying this.

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