Help/advice from ATC SCM40 owners past and present,please

[Musicraft]

@Monkey_Jim

My son used a NAP100 on his passive ATCs and enjoyed it a lot. I gave him my NAP250 when I upgraded to active ATCs and he was surprised at the improvement it brought, but this was only comparative; he was never unhappy with the 100 until he heard what the 250 could do. If you like the overall sound from the ATCs, then I think almost any naim amp is good, it just depends how much goodness you feel you want or need?

Good to hear

Btw, we’ve got NAP 300 DR’s on order and one NAP 300 DR is for a client who preferred the combination of NAP 300 DR/SCM40 over SCM40A.

[Monkey_Jim]

I connect from the PS DIN4 to two XLR, but my dealer said, as @ChrisSU says, that it’s actually a single ended connection. I have 2m a side and it sounds great. Not sure how long the connection could be, but I think remember @Richard.Dane saying that the PSs weren’t really designed for long cable runs of this type.

[Musicraft]

@ChrisSU

A problem you may have with Naim preamps is that they are not designed to drive long cables which may be required to connect to active speakers. That isn’t to say that it won’t work, but something to be aware of especially if your rack isn’t close to the speakers.

With appropriate cabling lengths of up to 10m can be used without a drop off in performance.

[Monkey_Jim]

Ok, great. I stand corrected. Thanks @Musicraft

[ChrisSU]

I don’t think 2m leads would be a problem. If your rack is not between the speakers and you need 5 metres or more I imagine it could become a more important issue.

[ChrisSU]

@Musicraft

With appropriate cabling lengths of up to 10m can be used without a drop off in performance

That’s good to know, thanks. I don’t know if all Naim preamp outputs are the same in this respect? Presumably it’s a similar issue to using a low level sub connection where long cables don’t always work well.

[BigAl]

@Simon in Suffolk covered this a while back.
All you need for a balanced connection is (from a Naim Psu)is a 4-pin din to 2phono; add 2 Canford unbal to bal transformers and XLR leads and you have a balanced XLR signal from an unbalanced source.

[Monkey_Jim]

I think some here used a different connection method with some kind of single ended to balanced transformer. It sounded as if this was connected from the preamp itself rather than the PS, but not sure which is best. Perhaps someone will comment on the benefits of that approach?

[Monkey_Jim]

Thanks @BigAl !
I suppose the main advantage of using the transformers is to drive longer cables? But sounds unnecessary if you’re using less than 10m runs per @Musicraft comments?

[BigAl]

I believe that is correct, in essence. Richard has commented in the past that long cable runs with XLR terminations can cause instability.

The thing is the ATCs are designed to run optimally with a fully balanced input signal.

[Ardbeg10y]

Have you tried the Atom HE into active Atcs?

[PEFGis]

@Christopher_M

I have a near equilateral triangle with lots of toe in.

Yep. Lots of toe in with the traditional equilateral triangle arrangement worked best in my room with my 40 passives…

[PEFGis]

@Ardbeg10y

Have you tried the Atom HE into active Atcs?

That’s what I’d like to know. Has anyone tried this. I read somewhere that the XLR outs in the Atom HE are not true fully balanced. In a recent article somewhere (I can’t find it now), Charlie Henderson talked of a sort of Psuedo balanced output. I think that’s how he put it - sorry I can’t remember where I read this. Someone else may have read this and chip in here. I’m still keen to see if anyone’s tried the HE into actives though…

[Musicraft]

@Ardbeg10y

Have you tried the Atom HE into active Atcs?

Yes with SCM40A and SCM100ASL professional monitors.

[OliveAmps]

This is a very good question. I previously had Active 10’s and heard pretty extensively - at my old dealer’s - his Active 100s. The 100s were controlled by a 552 (this back in the early to mid 00s) and I drove my Active 10s with a few different Naim pre’s, ultimately ending up with the 52. I’m probably one of the few people who has gone from active ATC to passive (w/ Naim). However, from my experiences, removing the NAP & NACA5 from the equation does lead to a loss in the traditional Naim boogie. With a NAC & NAP, I find the music to just be more fun. It’s the “something’s missing”, the all important missing ingredient.

[Farthings-cat]

Ultimately it’s about matching a system with the acoustics of the room you use. Following a house move I learnt this the hard way!

Gary

[silverback]

When I started to put together this system the thought of an Atom HE did spring to mind, this would have given me the Naim streaming platform and I could of simply used it into my Bryston power amp but after reading some of the negative opinions of mixing Naim with other manufacturers I decided again it, mainly for the reason of loosing that Naim signature sound, I did wonder for a time if I should of followed that route, certainly would of been more cost effective, so I understand your comments.

[Christopher_M]

@Monkey_Jim

My son used a NAP100 on his passive ATCs and enjoyed it a lot. I gave him my NAP250 when I upgraded to active ATCs

You are spoiling that boy! :-)))

[NoNaim]

Currently running a Atom HE into SCM40A

[Ardbeg10y]

You are living my dream, NoNaim.