Show us your ATCs

I have a similar size room, 5.1 x 3.2, have been considering 50’s for a while.

I’ll follow your plotting with interest. My dealer keeps saying 50As would work fine in my room which is a similar size and my Linn streamer/pre supports space optimisation, so I may be able to address room issues that way. But there’s also the visual aspect: they will be more dominant in the room than the 40s and the cost aspect: I’ve already spent a lot this year. But the temptation is strong …

Roger

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I would have gone for these in a heartbeat.

Except for the fact that my room is on a second story and they wouldn’t have fitted up my stairs case, even unboxed.

My room is 60 sq meters approx, didn’t have the possibility to demo them at home, they sounded awful at dealers so I just bought my 50As based on tests in hifi magazines and once installed at home it was - wow, this was the way to go absolutely.
You may consider 100s or more if your room is much bigger, as for 60 m2 50s are perfect, and me personally I prefer 50s compared to 100,150 as they are much more musical than bigger versions.

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My ATC dealer delivered some 150PSLT’s to a customer’s upstairs room: it took 3 of them to get them installed with no damage to speaker and property…

My room is c11.5 sqm.

I’ve never heard any ATC’s other than mine, but see the big ones as the spiritual successor to the DBL, which I heard active 30+ years ago, and which were, to coin an over-used phrase,stunning

I have heard several 50s in small rooms before buying mines.
Well, the only word I could find to define my feelings was “ cacophony”.
Music blown away, windows ringing.
It was just before I discovered actives and proper positioning in big space. You really need to try first.

I have 40A in 24m2 (6x4), the sound is very good and the bass superb, I do not see myself replacing them with 50…

What I find remarkable with these speakers is that sitting in the sofa, standing in front of the speakers, right or left the timbres remain the same… the bass are also clean, there is no loss of treble, the image changes very little (as long as you stay between the speakers), these are the only speakers I’ve listened to in my room that are like this!

50ASL here in 4,75 x 7,m and they’re placed asymmetrically on the long wall, since the space is open concept kitchen + living room. They do wake a room mode at ~36hz here, which can be problematic with certain music. I play all my music from my own digital library + streaming through HQPlayer and Roon so I have no problem fixing that little room mode with DSP. I actually use a quite advanced DSP called Virtual Bass Array for the frequencies under ~200hz. The rest stays untouched and everything sounds wonderful.

An interesting afternoon at a dealer.

Not my ATCs, but soon maybe. SCM40As fronted by a 222. Sounds wonderful.

Also plugged in an Atom HE (as I have one) to hear the difference…… not much as it happens!

But the 222/40A combo obviously is better at all the main skills.


Daz

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That’s some praise vs your current system, are you thinking of changing what you have for the 222/active ATC option?

Hi.

I’m short, yes. I want to reduce box count and at the same time I believe that modern technology is biting at the heals of the ‘classic’ way of source / pre / power.

I’m currently back home listening to my setup and trying to remember all the good points from the demo room. Obviously impossible, especially as my ‘musical memory’ is terrible!

Headphone wise, the 222 trumps the HE. Proper side by side comparison with both units running as a Roon Group.

But the side by side comparison of the Atom HE and the NSC 222 was interesting. It may form part of my purchase path. Get the speakers, run them from the Atom HE and when funds allow, purchase the 222.

One point to note, the demo room was very neutral, with just the right amount of treatment and very quiet. My living room is a bit more lively, particularly in the bass. But the SCM40As have such a great grip of the low end, I doubt it’ll be an issue.

Home demo to come.

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And of course you can lift further with npx300!

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I can! :flushed:

Did you try any other ATC amps before the one you’ve got? Their pre amps get great reviews. It’s one of my options going forward.

Qutest
M-scaler
CA2 or SCA2
SCM 40As

To much choice!

But I still want to down size……

Daz

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I can see Ansuz switch, Chord noise-cancelling device and upgraded power cables at least so that system might be not that simple :slight_smile:

Hope the home demo goes well. I was a bit worried whether they would work in my room but once they were in the lounge for home trial, I simply wanted them to stay! Unfortunately my dealer needed them back for another customer to try at home so I had to revert to the old set and wait impatiently for my own pair. They’ve since seen me through two source upgrades and responded with aplomb.

I’d only swap them for 50s which my dealer says would work in my room, but I’m not so sure and they’re a big step up in price.

Roger

Very good spot. I listened with and without the fancy accessories. Ended up with PowerLine Lite, ATC stock leads and an Audioquest Ethernet (forget which one but about £100. The xlr - xlr leads were Chord ST.

The switch was finally bypassed straight to the wall.

It all sounded similar to me.

I’ve never been able to discern differences in expensive leads, maybe it my 55 year old ears with their inbuilt tinnitus!

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The 40A’S are a top product in my very biased opinion :grinning:

I actually added Titan Audio Helios mains cables to mine and they did actually make a fair improvement. I am not one for “confirmation bias” but was impressed at the time. I would not discount the effect decent mains cables can have.

I should add that I had had my speakers for months before getting the Titan cables.

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hi! can you explain nuances between NSC222 and Atom HE (on actives) ? thnx

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If I understood correctly the 222 is not better than the HE except the headphone output? When I compared the HE at home with my 272 I found the 272 (without power supply ) much better except the headphone output… (with 250.2 et Focal 1028be)