Can anyone speak to the suitability of the Atom with 7s?
I have a hard time believing it’s a good match, and am concerned if I got an Atom for my 7s that it would be a big downgrade from Hugo2/2Go with 32.5/hc/250. I’d love to be wrong though. The space savings would be welcomed in our living room.
Or alternative would be could trade in your 7s for active 19s and sell the power amp to fund. You’d need to use an output transformer to convert the preamp’s output to balanced - or also sell the preamp and use Hugo’s output similarly with a transformer to balanced. Or also trade up (at same time or in future) Hugo to TT which has balanced volume controllable output to feed the ATCs direct without a transformer… Alternatively Active 19s and the Atom HE, but how its DAC compares to Hugo I’ve no idea (to me Hugo was very much better than DAC of ND5XS, but that was a different Naim generation).
ATC don’t make active SCM7s. Cheapest actives are SCM19s, which are around 4,600GBP from memory.
@snarfy I’ve heard the 7s with an Atom and they didn’t grab me. They were rather polite and benefit from more power.
Thanks Oxbow -I’ve amended to suggest the 19
they do an active 20 in the studio range in black of you would rather have a stand mount over the 19 tower
The dealer came to pickup the 50’s, he brought the Altair and an Esoteric N-05xd to quickly demo them.
The Altair G2.1 (tested over ethernet only) is a good device regarding all the functions (server, streamer, dac, preamp, phono and headphone amp) it includes for the money. He lent me the Altair to play with on my passive system. Still owning an M-scaled Dave, so I may be a bit demanding even if I’m ready to live with a bit lower source, the Altair lacked a bit of dynamic, realism and the soundstage was not so precise. The different filters can help a bit, the dealer advised not to activate the oversampling in the Auralic. I tried connecting the Dave on the Altair, musical life, realism and soundstage were back. Actually listening to the CDA2, it sounds better for me than the Altair. Perhaps it’s another story with the Vega, would be happy to read your impression. Cheers
I can’t vouch for SCM7s with an Atom because I have not heard them.
Perhaps the dealer who does recommend this combination views it in a similar way to a system comprising Rega Planar 3, NAD3020 and Mordaunt Short Carnivals of forty years ago. In other words, a great starter set that many could be happy with.
But whether the Atom is preferable to what was once Naim’s top-flight amplifier combination is a different question!
Thanks for sharing, very interesting. I actually demoed the SCM100ASL with CDA2 and that demo made me order the 50ASL’s. CDA2 is very capable device and shares the ATC ”house sound” of extreme control, tautness and punchiness. I’m guessing that the preamp section of CDA2 is the key component there since my Linn ADSM/3 has more relaxed presentation. Then again the flow and ease of listening and following the music is just awesome with Linn.
The SCM20ASL Pro…?
and nearly 4 grand cheaper than the domestic tower version. Even with some good stands they’re still going to a lot cheaper.
After having a brand new pair of SCM20ASL’s for home demo for a few days, I very much agree with @PeakMan that active ATC’s don’t seem good for quiet listening. I tried them in a near-field position, 1 meter from my ears, and IMHO they sounded really boring at comfortable listening levels - compared to passive SCM19’s or my SCM12 Pro’s, which sound great in the same position with Naim amps. With the SCM20ASL’s, I had to move much farther away to be able to crank up the volume and get the speakers on song. And that volume level would have been way too loud for any long term listening, for that smallish room.
This must be a characteristic of the amps in the SCM20ASL model. I have had most of the entry-level passive ATC’s for extended home demo’s, and none of them have had problems playing quiet. Or even super quiet: Currently I have my SCM12Pro’s (similar to SCM11) in near-field, close to my kids’ bedrooms. When kids go to sleep, I just turn down the volume to a super-quiet level: They don’t hear anything but my foot is still tapping, with that NAP300 musical enjoyment that few other amps are capable of. 
Also, my NAP300 and NAP200 amps are dead quiet, as opposed to that rather quiet but somewhat annoying white noise buzz that the active ATC ASL amps had (I am sure this becomes less of an issue in a bigger room, listening further away).
The noise observation seems odd. The power packs on my active 40s are completely silent. I’ve had buzzing Naim boxes, especially an XPS that caused my long-suffering wife to complain and eventually led me away from Naim, but never from any ATC amp that I’ve encountered. I always assumed it was something to do with the the type of transformers used.
Roger
Yes - Naim power supplies can have transformer buzz - but this doesn’t affect the sound from Naim amplifiers - speakers stay quiet.
The ASL’s did not have any transformer buzz, but some constant and stable white noise from the speakers at all times when on - like an electronic white noise hash that some amps add to the signal. Do you hear it from your SCM40 actives, if you bring your ear close enough to the speaker cone? With the SCM20ASL’s it bothered me when sitting in front of them, at 1 meter distance in a quiet room.
Passive SCM40s pre-moving to my new home.
They sounded great in my old home and fortunately sound as good if not better in the new home. Pic will follow once decorating of the lounge is completed.
I noticed reading through the thread a few people commented about bass being overpowering with the 40s, I found in both rooms, moving them by small increments, sometimes as little as a centimetre, adjusting toe-in I could overcome this easily. I also found you could end up with a bass light sound too. Well worth experimenting with positioning these speakers I think and making a note of how far the speaker is from the walls etc to easily get them back into the sweet spot after moving them.
My Supercap hums as Naim power supplies are wont to do, but my ATC’s are silent (or at least inaudible to me) apart from switch on/off thumps.
I have my connected to the Supercap via 4-pin Din/Canford Audio transformers and XLR cables, giving fully balanced connections.
So, are the speakers slightly faulty, or is the problem in the interconnects?
Regarding the lack of vitality at low volumes, I agree to a qualified degree, but would say that it only takes a small increase in volume for them to come alive.
Having said that, I briefly listened to passive '40’s yesterday through a Rega amplifier, and they are damned good!
You may have heard the common hiss of the Naim preamps when nothing is playing.
My experience after owning passive 40’s with Naim amplification, then 40A’s and now 50ASL’s, is completely opposite to yours. With active amplification they play much better on all volume levels. Also SN2 + HCDR + passive 40 vs 40A there was much stronger bass, more authority, overall very much better dynamics and bigger sound with the actives. This wasn’t even a close battle.
I agree @Patu. My 50ASLs play well quietly too. I had very sensitive DeVores before the ATCs and these are often cited as great at low volumes, being sensitive and valve friendly, but the ATCs have 350 Watts per channel and also sound great at any volume. I did find that cabling made a huge difference though, perhaps as the volume levels reduce the additional clarity and contrast that a better cable can bring makes a difference? That would be less crucial at higher volumes where the visceral power carries the music better?
Ah, that’s how to make ATCs in cherry veneer blend in, paint the walls orange.
Yes I went through over half a dozen different XLR-cables with 50’s. Eventually I settled to MCRU made Belden 8402 with Silver Neutrik connectors. Extremely good and balanced sounding cable.
