Indeed. That’s an interesting looking speaker @Tesilk with the wider baffle and separate amp pack.
ATC - specially made for one client in Russia, to be hang on the wall.
I bought them as he didn’t use it finally.
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We should ask folks at ATC who made it?
Now these speakers are in my house in Yerevan, Armenia. Globalisation …
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Excuse my “hi-jacking” this thread, but can anyone comment on the compatibility of ATC SCM40 (passive) with a SN3?
My friend is considering these over some B&W805D3 (and a few others he’s slowly but surely striking off his audition list: various Focals, KEFs et al).
His room is roughly 4m x 6m.
I have demo’d a SN3 with SCM40s - excellent combination. I ended up going down the active route. The only thing to be aware of is that the SCM40s will sound even better with more power, so you’re missing out on their full potential without this. To my ears they still sounded better on a bare SN3 than other speaker offerings from the usual suspects, but much will depend on the individual’s musical preferences and the room acoustics.
My room size is also pretty close to your friends. Can he demo a pair?
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Thanks.
I’m not sure, but he’s seen some on the Bay, and is asking me to help him garner any apposite information.
He keeps wavering between spending a bit more than the ATC 40 asking price (sub-£2k) and going for a pair of the speakers I have (the 805D3).
However, they are only on his shortlist because he’s heard mine a lot. Initially he wasn’t a fan but having demoed some others recently and then coming back to hear my B&Ws he thought they were a preferable choice.
We have a member @Patu who had SCM40’s for quite some time with a SN2 before going down the Active route . If you use the search function you’ll find plenty of related posts.
I used to have passive SCM19’s with a SN2 and really enjoyed that system . It was transformed by adding a 250DR though. The 40’s will sound good but your friend could take them a lot further .
Thanks Pete, good to know that my friend may need more power on tap.
I’ll refer him to the other posts you mention. Thanks.
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When I first moved to ATCs in my main system I auditioned the 19s and 40s in active and passive forms, both the latter driven by a 250DR. The only combination I was not entirely convinced by was the passive SCM40s. I didn’t try a 300 in place of the 250 (I went for the actives) but I’ve heard that pairing subsequently and to my ears that really brought the 40s to life. Personally, I’d want more than a SuperNait driving them, but that probably just reflects my taste in audio reproduction.
I don’t know if your friend has already bought the SN3, but if not, they might like to audition one against ATC’s own SIA2-150 which is a 150wpc integrated that, naturally, works well with ATC speakers including the SCM40s. It costs about the same as an SN3, too.
Roger
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Thanks Roger.
Yes, he has bought the SN3 already.
Your experience seems to echo the view that an SN3 alone wouldn’t necessarily get the best out of the SCM40s.
I’ll relay all this to him and then see what his thoughts are. He’s a sound engineer and music lecturer by trade, and is accustomed to monitor/near field critical listening. We’ve had many evenings with my various systems down the years and he’s never been wholly satisfied or maybe acclimitised to this mode of playback and music reproduction. Despite this he’s keen to get a Hi-Fi set up in his living space, partly in an attempt to move away from his mixing and mastering day job, and to reconnect with music in a different way to his day job(s). Hence, the SN3 and subsequent speaker choice being his first foray into a living room set up.
He quite likes the ritual of vinyl, but is a full on digital listener, mostly AIFF and or FLAC files from his studio’s computer set up.
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Don’t ‘pi$$ on his bonfire too much’!
I’ve heard the SN3 and SCM40s together when demoing for speakers. It sounds great but the SN3 is just scratching the surface of what the ATCs can deliver.
I subsequently bought some SCM40s but run them off a New Classic 250 which really gets them moving.
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I used my SN2 with ATC SCM40 for a year, and it worked very well. One can also find it is a good thing that these speakers will respond well to upgrades, be it amplification or sources. It doesn’t mean they lack something obvious with the SN3.
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The SCM40s do like power but Naim amps play very well with them so I would think an SN3 would have enough Naim watts to work well. And when he gets the upgrade itch, then he can focus on the amps and keep the speakers for use with his NC300 system.
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IME SN2 just wasn’t enough for 40’s, not even with HCDR. And don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this combo for ~five years. But the thing is that I didn’t know back then how the 40’s can sing when given enough power (active for example). The difference is profound, like a different speaker I’d say.
I had the passive 40’s + SN2 + HCDR combo for a long time and never experienced boomy bass or room mode problems with them. But when I changed to actives, there was so much more bass power that I had problems with slightly boomy bass and room modes. So more power can also bring some challenges when fitting the speakers in the room. I never drove the passives with anything else than SN2 + HCDR and overall, compared to this, I find the actives clearly better.
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