2. home-theater
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ATC for Home Theater???

Has anyone ever heard the ATC Speakers? I found them at the CES last year. For either Music or Home Theater, they are truly jaw-dropping! This is the system that won the Stereophile System of the Year for 1999. They had the 70's which is ~$93K for 5 speakers and a Sub. I've found that the 70's are so expensive because of their exotic and contemporary finish. The 50's, 100's, and 150's are a MUCH better buy for the money, and frankly sound better! All fully powered w/ 3 amps each. I also just got back from CES a couple days ago. Sony had 5 ATC 150's and 2 Subs to demo their SACD Surround sound format. I was just blown away by these unknown cats from the UK! I understand that a pair of Active 50's will run around $14K... I hope that they've finally gotten their distribution and marketing problems in the US cleared up!!! They're going to be HUGE...
hager_charles
k_peterso
32 posts
 
Ah, such things to dream on. I have an all LINN setup and would trade for ATC if I had the cheese. The midrange is spellbinding.
hager_charles OP
51 posts
 
Wow, K peterso, that's a serious allegation over Linn!!! I haven't heard a Linn home theater myself, but have read many reviews that it was supposed to be the bomb... My ATC's should be arriving in another week and I'm getting so anxious to hear them... I broke down and bought 3 of the ATC active 100's for front 3 speakers of my home theater. I hope that they're as good in my home as they were in the CES show. How, by chance did you get a chance to hear them??? It's nearly impossible to meet anyone that knows almost anything about them, let alone reviewed them!!!
k_peterso
32 posts
 
I first heard them in Cambridge, UK about ten years ago; active 50s- the memory is still with me. There is a dealer here in Chicago that currently sells ATC.

Passive 20s with klout[s] are quite nice too. ATC trades a small amount of pace/tunefulness for an equal amount of detail over LINN; perhaps a little dryer too. Dollar for dollar I prefer LINN, since dollar-wise they are a better value. But ATC midrange to me is pretty tough to beat. And, the two match well- e.g. Ikemi front or Kairn pre.

How do you like them now that they are in? Not many subs will match the 100s, though if you need a sub now your room must be a sonic challenge. I would imagine you are quite pleased.

I would take a similarly priced ATC setup over Keltiks without blinking. Lower down, LINN gives the 20s and 10s fair competition. I think many who listen to ATC for the first time may believe the bass to be a little lacking- until the source actually contains some. My initial impressions of LINN were similar until I realized how incredibly faithful the gear actually is.

Cheers
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