Second system in the kitchen is well used but sound is OK, but no more than that: Bluenode 2i feeding a cheap Marantz unit, a long run in the ceiling of the cheapest speaker cable I could find when the work was done 20 years ago and B&W 686 S2 speakes attached to the wall using screws into rawl plugs !
Thinking of redoing it completely with an Atom as the source. Speakers will still need to be on the wall (and I’ll need new cable). Reading here I’ve narrowed speaker options down to the following and will try demo them:
ATC-HTC7 (thin, ie cosmetic reasons).
Proac Tablette 10 (very good reviews here).
Neat Iotas (very good reviews here).
A specific question I have is would an Atom have enough power to drive the ATCs ? The Atom is rated at 40W but the recommended power for the ATCs is >75W.
Well I’m an Atom owner and have ATC speakers in my main system, but, although there are forum members who use them together, I wouldn’t be inclined to do that myself. My experience is that sealed box ATCs thrive on a bit of power, which shows what they can really do, but I’m guessing as I have not listened to the Atom/SCM7 combination, personally. I’ve seen suggestions that SCM11s may be a little easier to drive, but whether this extends to the wall-mount versions I’m not sure.
I pair my Atom with Neat Iotas in the small bedroom I use as an office. It’s a fun little system within its obvious limits and majors in musical enjoyment. It ought to work well in a kitchen environment, though I suspect I’d find it too distracting while cooking!
I had Atom with Neat Iota then Alphas - the Neats are ok (not last work on detail) but you have to crank it up to get them to sing. .
I now have Atom with ATC11’s and they really are a good match, doesn’t quite hit the scale and depth of my main system but a little set up I could easily live with - ATC are great value and sound superb.
Kitchen set ups are interesting and each to their own but a QB would do more than a job for most.
Plenty of good on-wall speakers. The ATCs have a good reputation. As do the PMCs. I’m having good success with Dali Opticon LCR Mk2 but if you’re after something smaller, Dali Oberon Onwall.
ATC’s are power hungry, but I think you’ll be fine for a kitchen system. If this was a critical listening system I’d advise a more powerful amp. I own 5 of the ATC on-wall speakers in my home theater powered by a AudioControl amp producing 230w per channel. They sound great!
ProAc Tab10’s are a favorite of mine and would work well with your Atom.
