Hi everyone. As always, I need your valuable advice. I have a system like this: preamp, NAC 282/250.2. I currently have Rega RS 10 speakers, which I’d like to replace with passive ATC SMC 40s. What do you think? Thanks in advance.
I’m not familiar with either loudspeaker but I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work well. Quite a few here seem to use ATC’s and they are well regarded. I don’t understand why you would want to replace a circa £8K pair of speakers with something around half the price though. Unless you’ve decided that you really don’t like them.
You’re right, because I had the Ovator S 400 before and I didn’t mind them, so I decided on the Regas, but I didn’t have the right satisfaction. 
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OK that makes sense. Give the ATC’s a listen obviously before you buy and also try to listen to as many alternatives as you can. You really don’t want to have to keep changing at these sort of prices.
I love the ATC SMC40 and all the ATC actives, they’re in my long term plan.
Have a listen, but keep in mind the 250.2 will be redundant so its resale will add some gold to the budget
It’ll only be redundant if he changes his mind and goes for the ATC actives!
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How big is your room?
I found the 40’s liked a good distance apart and room to breath.
If you are looking at ATC speakers consider the 20 as well (tower or stand mount they both sound the same)
The obvious advice is take your time and engage a good dealer and do some demos, plenty of different flavours out there and of course how they interact with your room is king!
No, this will be my last choice (given my age and my financial availability), so I don’t want to make any mistakes and that’s why I’m relying on this magnificent forum.
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That’s a nice sentiment to express but please don’t rely on this forum to choose anything for you, especially speakers which are a notoriously personal thing. If you are able to then it’s really important that you listen yourself to as many alternatives as you can. I can appreciate your situation re age and financial postion. I’m assuming you’re getting on a bit, as am I, rather than very young! Making mistakes at this time can be disastrous as one can’t recover from them as easily as many years ago. So do listen if you can and don’t rush into anything.
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I run passive ATC SCM40s; previously with a 282/NC250 combo and now a 332/250.
They are very revealing and can sound incredible - however I think they polarise opinion.
They are a sealed box design so are less picky of location in a room than most but also respond well to careful positioning. Off-axis imaging is amazing due to the mid range driver, if that’s important to you.
I love electronic dance (and similar) music. I think they excel at this sounding very fast and punchy.
Are they the best HiFi? Perhaps not but they make listening fun…and they are built like a tank.
OK, you didn’t like the Ovators, now you are not keen on the Regas that replaced them. Be very cautious before you blame the speakers for your dissatisfaction. Both the Ovators and Regas are fine speakers, so have you considered their might be something sub-optimal elsewhere in your system?
I also have concerns about your NAP250.2’s ability to properly drive the ATC SCM 40s. There are plenty on here who will tell you even a 250DR struggles driving the 40s and the minimum required to properly grip the ATC 40s is a NC250, preferably a NAP300.
My strong advice is tread carefully and look at the rest of your system and how it is set up before swapping out yet more speakers.
If your source is still the ND5XS, or you have very basic supports/cables/LAN set-ups, I would be inclined to look at these first.
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ok thanks Nigel that’s why I rely on the forum to clear away any doubts
What is your source equipment?
Nd5xs. Cd5xs
Which do you use the most? You will get more SQ for your money if you could pick either streaming or CD to upgrade.
Clearly Naim’s CD development stopped a while ago whereas Naim streamer development is where they are focussing their efforts today.
I am a source first guy and while they are good, are they good enough for a 282/250 and the Regas? If you use a good dealer I would have a chat about options. An NDX2 might be a better move but a good dealer can run you through the options. Different speakers may or may not be the best option.
Neither of these is anywhere near good enough for your amplifier or speakers. The ATCs are very revealing and could make things worse. It is very possible that the reason you don’t like the sound of either the Ovators or the Regas is actually nothing to do with the speakers, rather it’s the revealing of source weaknesses.
Before changing speakers I would get a much better source. Then you can pick speakers to match what would be a much better balanced system.
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Indeed.
I hadn’t realised that. You definitely won’t be getting the best out of your system with these. It will work but you’re fighting a losing battle trying to improve things by changing speakers. You need to get a much better source or sources and only then should you start to consider the speakers. Also as suggested pay attention to racks and cables which can make a substantial difference.
@tarantina5555 i am confused. Your profile says SuperNait. Yet you say you have a 282/250.2. Which is correct?