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Review ATC SCM 40 A floorstanders.....finally

I thought I knew.  I thought I knew all about imaging, dynamics, resolution, PRaT, all the audiophile buzz words allowing one into the coded audiophile secret society pontifications.  I got schooled.  It’s called ACTIVE.  Everthing I’ve been yearning for has been solved with my new ATCs.  They just do musical reproduction with immediacy.  The attack is instantanious.  Bad recording, bad reproduction.  Great recording, great reproduction.  Period.  Fin.  Ende.

I’ve progressed through some fairly serious talent.  Great equipment I’ve enjoyed over the decades: always the journey, never having arrived at the ultimate destination.  I do not know why it took so long to depart the traditional souce, preamp, monoblocks, cabling and transducers formula.  I hope this encourages others to at least consider leaving the world of so many pieces and cabling.

System:  Naim UnitiServe with unknown serious external PSU, Nordost Valhalla II digital cable, Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC, Manley Neo Classic preamp with Takatsuki 300B tubes.  Decware ICs, Patrick Cullum Crossover II PCs, Furman IT Reference 15i power conditioner.  All components sit on Quadraspire Reference X stand.  Wireworld Silver Elipse 8 RCA to XLR interconnects from Manley 300B to ATCs.  Isoacoustics Gaia II footers.  I’m really there for now.  Tchau
celtic66
celtic66 OP
1,682 posts
 
Nothing on this website is biblical.  That said, I have lived with my ATC 40 actives for three years now and found any acoustical anomalies, nasties or plain deficits identified upstream, rectified and clearly not the fault of ATC design.

I had some muddiness in the bass.  Corrected most of that with a Decware ZLC power conditioner.  Remnants remained so I upgraded to Patrick Cullen Crossover II PCs.  95% remedied.  Contacted Kara Chaffee at de Havilland and she recommended a particular rectifier tube to replace her stock preamp tube.  

All problems solved by addressing other parts of the system.

I run about 7 degrees of tow in.  Speakers on Isoacoustics Gaia II footers and carpet discs.  System in OP is as stands except for the Mercury 3 preamp and Furman power conditioner.

9radua1   I hope this helps, calms and/or validates your purchase.  Once you are able to successfully dial them in, they truly are frightening.  The immediacy of attack, dynamic range and detail should all be astounding.  Best of success in your listening endeavors.
highstream
207 posts
 
Bass in the 40A not as tight as 19A. 19A and 50A use better Super Linear (SL) driver. A couple of reviewers more recently found the 40A midrange uninspiringly dry, something that could be overcome with other components. I did at first too, but am not so sure now.
m669326's avatar
m669326
330 posts
 
I have the passives, Which I love. I tilted them back a bit and took the edge off of the tweeter. Also, for low volume, I’m using a Loki, which is easy to flip on  and off , and has absolutely no hum or noise or anything else. There’s plenty of information about this inexpensive EQ device from Schiit Online.
m669326's avatar
m669326
330 posts
 
Also, to get the best sound, surprisingly I need to have no tow in at all in my space.
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lonemountain
469 posts
 
9radua
This is the most recent 40 right? I have no idea how this tweeter could possibly change. This tweeter is ATC’s handmade one, the same design and coil as the more expensive models use. It can dissipate huge amounts of power and keep working. We constantly measure them when pro or consumer speakers come in for service; we’ve never seen one change sound from new. Older ferrofluid models we used? Yes we’ve measured those changing, but not this ATC one.

I don’t know where to start but I’d think about other changes in the system and if they exist, bypass them. Did you change first reflection points somehow? Room? Anything different with source?  ATC's do make other system changes very easy to hear.

There is one thing I have heard of : people changing out speaker cables to a much heavier gauge (say 12) and running a longer run. These heavy cables raise capacitance and can affect top end negatively.

Maybe you could call your dealer and we get a conversation going?

Brad
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