Active ATC vs Spendor / Pass Labs

i know all three brands of gear you mentioned quite well, i still own spendors, several pass amps, as well as two pair of atc powered monitors -- that said, i have not heard the exact models you mention, much less head on, in my own space (i have heard them in demos at shows and dealers)

my educated guess, but still a guess, is that the spendor combo will produce a more textured lower treble and midrange and driven by the pass amp, while the atc's will deliver a touch deeper (but equally rhythmic) bass

i would also guess that the atc’s will play louder will less strain (a tremendous strength of the better atc models), but there will be less midrange 'magic' that is spendor's main strength

to be sure, both setups will be rather unforgiving of less than excellent recordings, as either can easily sound shrill and overly forward if fed less than an ideal signal from the source/upstream

i suspect if you like the sound of the spendor d9.2/pass combo, you would also be very pleased with the powered atc’s in an overall sense of sonic quality but the atc's may have a bit of cooler more exacting personality in the midband

Thanks for that.

The ATC was magnificent at loud volume levels, but who listens at that level all day every day ?

I think that I’ll take an amp/speaker set up that “can” wig out at high levels, but is just as good at low level background levels.

I had a lovely demo. of a Pass INT 60/ Spendor D9.2.

Had all the musical flow, engagement at all volume levels that I could ever want. A truly impressive demo....

I think your statement says it all.  Bird in hand, and all that! 

This is a tough one and Good Luck to you in advance.

I have not heard the Spendor 9.2. I have listen to (in detail) to a setup comprising of Spendor 7 with some expensive MBL gear. I really liked this demo and this speaker was one of my top 3-4 choices.

I then got a chance to listen to the ATC actives at AXPONA playing Daft Punk (Lose Yourself To Music). This combination was very musical and groovy. Unfortunately it was was out of my budget and I decided to not think about it. I will be honest and say - I did NOT get a chance to listen to those speakers at moderate volume. It was the fag end of the show and the music was loud - but super engaging.

If this speaker falls within your budget, try finding ATC owners on this and other forums and pose this question to them. BTW, the ATC and Spendors fall in completely different budgets.

I like active speakers as well as passives.  I think if I were to go with active I'd want a really smooth or colorful preamp to go with it.  I've done direct from DAC to amps before and it left me feeling like it was all too analytical.

But then, I love Conrad Johnson PV preamps too, so my tastes may not be yours.