True… Ideally a few more active options in the Entry series would also be tempting and more budget friendly, however seems the smallest amps are the ones in the SCM19A, which would not fit in a smaller cabinet of the 7s / 11s / 19s.
Would require going class D or redesigning the range completely.
But I would estimate a non Special Edition SCM20ASL would be around £7.5k…maybe could stretch to that.
Pleased they’ve worked out. The last thing you would expect from a speaker with a 315mm bass driver is a lack of bass. If you can’t physically get, as you have said, the SCM150ASLT into the room, then the C4’s are a manageable solution.
Atom HE does use the same headphone amplifier circuit (developed as a new line/headphone amp for 500 series, using a modified 552) as 222 and 332. However in 222 and 332 the earlier stages are better and the headphone amplifier uses higher quality PSU parts etc.
Overall the 222/332 is a higher quality headphone amplifier than Atom HE. Atom HE is terrific and does have more headphone connection options. It is also smaller for headphone specific setups and perfect for desks.
People are often conflating more headphone connectivity options such as balanced XLR with better headphone amps. But this simply isn’t true as illustrated by the 222 vs Atom HE description.
Better connectivity options privide the icing on the cake for sure. But let’s not forget that even today you can buy a brand new high end dedicated headphone amp for $5k that is single ended only.
I thought I’d take a bit of a punt and go for some slightly more expensive XLR cables to see if they made any difference/improvement.
I didn’t want to go mad, so chose the Audioquest Red River XLRs, which are at the lower end of their range. The vendor I sourced them from were considerably cheaper than everyone else and offered a complementary 96 hour cable burn-in foc.
(courtesy of Future Shop).
I’ve only had them in situ since this afternoon, but am very satisfied. Bass seems deeper and even better defined, transients have even more attack and decay, and at the risk of sounding like a hifi pseud, one can hear deeper into what the artist/producer was trying to achieve.
I was not sure what to expect given assertions that changing XLR cables to more expensive ones will confer no advantage. Having spent less than £300, I am not sitting here desperately convincing myself that I have not fruitlessly spaffed ££££.
Somewhat to my surprise, I have found changing mains cables and XLR’s have had very decent results.
Can you tell me a bit more about your setup in the photo? Are they 19s or 11s? After a demo have some white 11s on order, if yours are the same can you measure the tweeter height from the bottom of the cabinet so I can work out the height I need. Also, are they oak? I was thinking of Ash but might be too pale. The contrast looks great with yours, and the wooden rack. Turns out the company is just a few miles away so good to support local businesses!
I just had some made up by Designacable. They were about £45 for a 5m pair. They were/are Van Damme cable with Neutrik plugs.
I did not want to spend a lot as I had to buy the CanfordAudio transformers at the time as well.
I’ve only listened to a few CDs so far -Whitest Boy Alive, Dire Straits’ Love over Gold (well I had to, didn’t I?), The Doors and LA Woman for example, but their is a distinct difference. I have not listened to anything a little more “sensitive”, but I feel the 40’s are so even-handed all types of music will benefit.
For context, the SPL app on my mobile was peaking at around 81db: I mention this as there is no doubt that the 40A’s come alive with a little bit of volume.
I was occasionally struck by becoming aware of things on tracks I had heard many times before that had previously passed me by. I was sitting in my chair tapping away on my phone or tablet, not sitting intently in “hifi demonstration” mode, and I was certainly not in "confirmation bias"mode, either
I installed Stack Audio Auva 50’s under my 50ASL’s. I had stock spikes + Linn Skeets under them before. I left the 3cm thick granite slabs under the speakers also but might remove them later since I’m afraid my kid might knock the speakers down from them some day. First impressions of Auva’s are very positive.