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Are ATC SCM-7's equal to Dynaudio Audience 52's?

I'm buying a pair of ATC SCM-7's on the basis of several reviews. I have to buy them online because there are no dealers near me, and I'm getting a very good price.

The "What Hi Fi?" April 2003 review of moderately priced standmount speakers gave them an excellent rating and review. I have a NAD C372 integrated and I listen to a lot of opera, classical, and world music.

Does anyone have these speakers and are they satisfied with the sound? Originally I was comparing them to Dynaudio 52's. But now I'm considering some more expensive options--several models of Spendor's--S3/5e or S5e and used Dynaudio Contour 1.3se--all much more money than I had planned to spend!! Any advice?
ecce
lazarus28
339 posts
 
i agree with yuenricky in that they are super, super difficult to drive. they, like maggies, open up with lots of *clean* power. the active models are the way to do ATC - not only is the the power supplied, but you get the benefit of an active crossover.

as for the high-extension being weak, i can't say i agree with him, but they *are* using a new tweeter which is better than the last one. perhaps he was more bothered by the previous tweeter. i wasn't, but the new one is clearly better.

if you do decide to go passive, though, you'll be happy. ATC makes what i believe to be the best speaker in the world.
centurymantra
133 posts
 
I have only listened to a smaller Dynaudio speaker (perhaps it was the Audience 52?) in a store demo and recall that I liked their sound, although I can't offer too much insight since this was some time back. I just purchased a pair of ATC SCM7 speakers for use in my home theatre as rear speakers to match up with the ATC mains and center channel I am using. Prior to setting them up in the HT, I swapped them out in place of a pair of Harbeth HL-P3ES-2 speakers that I have in a different part of my house. Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with their sound, and they certainly gave the (slightly more expensive) Harbeths some stiff competition. A very clean, smooth sound that was quite alluring and with a character that I'd have a hard time summing up in words. I had a seat in front of the speakers and found them to be highly capable of letting me effortlessly sink into the sound. I'm feeling kinda bad about relegating them to the unglamorous duty of HT surround speakers at this point. I was running them off a 60wpc Densen B100 integrated amp and this seemed to match quite nicely. I expect that a different amp choice with a little more power and/or current could boost their performance even more. Obviously I'm a little biased, but I think ATC make awesome speakers and would say you made a fine choice. If you're getting a good price, I say stick with your original intentions.
blkadr
739 posts
 
On the minus side the ATCs thrive on big power and are only 84db sensitive. They also have physical limitations that will show up on material with strong bass at high levels.
On the plus side, they will rival just about anything out there from midbass up. Crossed over to a subwoofer (or two) they would surely make a fine fullrange system, but this can be tricky. I run my Quad 12Ls full range with subwoofers.
The Dynaudio Audience 52, Green Mountain Europa, Von Scheikert vr1 and Quad 12L seem to be the top rated monitors in this price range right now. I like the 12Ls Im using now very much. Any of these would probably suit your needs. The above speakers may be easier to drive and have less bass limitations, but on an absolute scale I doubt any are 'better' than the SCM7s you are considering (I came very close to buying a pair of SCM7s).
And to make things more complicated, someone has listed a used pair today....hmmmm.
Anyway you go, I dont think you will go wrong...good luck.
s23chang
620 posts
 
ATCs are great. However, it is very picky on amps. If you don't have a good amp then you'll never get the best out of ATC. As far as bass goes on the ATC, while it has one of the best mid bass, the SCM10s I have sounded much deeper than many floor standing speakers we have compared to. What does it mean? it goes back to amplification.
Sometimes it might be easier just to get active speakers from ATC.
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