Active ATC vs Spendor / Pass Labs
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.
But……. I have always wanted an active ATC SCM50A is what I always dreamed of owning with say a Benchmark LA4 Pre. about the same $$$ where I am for either combo.
I have heard the ATC - different room and gear. But I didn’t do the all listening levels demo. like I did with the Pass / Spendor. Just at a medium / loud level and was so very impressed. I can’t demo the ATC again, my dealer only orders them as someone wants one from ATC direct due to the current economical environment.
So… will I be unimpressed ordering the ATC at all level listening levels or will it not have the Pass / Spendor engagement factor that we quite frankly very addictive ?
I am really at a crossroad as which way to go.
If you get the ATCs make sure you have more than enough distance to allow the drivers to blend. when I heard them the dome midranges were noticeably incoherent with the other drivers (they have a very limited bandwidth compared to a conventional midrange). This resulted in frequent image shifting in vocals- very unpleasant. I was listening from about 15 feet away, i would recommend at least 20 feet. the Spendors on the other hand are incredibly coherent from 9 feet and beyond.
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By all means, do whatever feels right to you. None of us will be listening to your selections, nor should we be emotionally invested in those choices. Positively speaking, I’ve ATC SCM 50 actives and to my ears they do everything quite well and scare others who have engaged them. Same with the ATC SCM 20 passives I run. You’ve choices to make, not mistakes with the pieces presented. |
@avanti1960 wrote:
Above highlighted statement makes no sense to me. The 3-way active ATC's I've heard, with their famed ATC SM75-150S midrange dome, have been anything but incoherent sounding - even at closer distances <9ft. And the midrange driver doesn't cover a "limited bandwidth" but rather ~380-3.5kHz, and thus a substantial portion of the lower mids up through the upper mids. Most coned midrange drivers in 3-way setups can't cover this range, mostly because of beaming issues or irregularities in the upper registers. A lower crossover point (i.e.: <380Hz) would sit in the important "power region" - choices, and (different) compromises. A proposed +20ft. listening distance for them to cohere properly seems preposterous. That would make them a stretch for use in many if not most home environments, not to mention being highly impractical for their intended use in close monitoring recording studios. Maybe it's the highly revealing midrange of theirs that isn't your cup of tea? But incoherent sounding? I'd never call them that. |
Same. My ATC SCM50ASLTs are 9' away and completely coherent. @celtic66 is correct. The very low levels of distortion of these active speakers can at first be confusing to the uninitiated. |
