ATC SCM19 Bookshelf Speaker Review

[Ra1zel]

Yep, but the midrange dome is made by Dynaudio I've heard. I think the bigger models (O400, O500C) used ATC midrange domes.

The dome used in neumanns is better than ATC anyway

 

[Andrea Campagna]

If you don't have quality watts to drive these professional speakers you better forget it and review some other cinese crap... probably the 80% of the music you listen to is created and produced with these drivers...

 

[YSC]

If you don't have quality watts to drive these professional speakers you better forget it and review some other cinese crap... probably the 80% of the music you listen to is created and produced with these drivers...

IIRC amirm uses Mark Levinson amps enough to drive huge floor standers, if thats not quality watts..

 

[DSJR]

The 19 and 20SL's all seem to have this basic response (the 20ASL Pro's I had definitely did, although the actives had a bass-lift control to help flatten the lower midrange) but not sure my original 20 passives from thirty years back did anything like as much although there was a measured response 'glitch' where the dome took over at 600hz or so. Equalising the bass up a little (+2 on the control) on my 20ASL pro's gave a 'thumpy' bass quality nothing whatsoever like the easy 100A 'tones' I loved so much back then - why I'm suspicious of the small-cone wonder-monitors with DSP to extend the bass down unnaturally for such a small driver...

Yes, they need good old fashioned POWER to move them along, but power is cheap today, so not an issue if they appeal. The 19A active floor standers are brightly lit I admit, but in a smaller room and set close to the wall behind, I didn't find it at all unpleasant (no eq settings on these from memory).

Subject to confirmation, I'd suggest the SCM11 model may well be more neutrally balanced, but again, cheaper far eastern made speakers now may make it look too expensive (I'm thinking babies from Wharfedale Diamond, the Linton Heritage which come with stands cheaper in the UK, Q Acoustics if their current range hasn't gone off the boil in terms of subjective balance and so on - I'm suspicious of KEF's at this price but that may well be unfair).

I hope ATC can continue and eventually to innovate again. Not sure the personnel are there now to be allowed to do it now Billy's gone.

 

[Purité Audio]

If you don't have quality watts to drive these professional speakers you better forget it and review some other cinese crap... probably the 80% of the music you listen to is created and produced with these drivers...

That would explain a lot.
Keith

 

[Rednaxela]

you better forget it and review some other cinese crap

Are you all right?

 

[goat76]

That would explain a lot.
Keith

What do you mean by "that would explain a lot"?

 

[Soniclife]

What do you mean by "that would explain a lot"?

Same point I made here?

 

[ahofer]

I had missed this until it got trolled up again.

These measurements explain a lot about an audition of these speakers I arranged back in 2018. Nice to correlate the measurements to my subjective memory.

 

[goat76]

Same point I made here?

I answered that in the thread you linked to.

 

[dfuller]

I had missed this until it got trolled up again.

These measurements explain a lot about an audition of these speakers I arranged back in 2018. Nice to correlate the measurements to my subjective memory.

Yeah, this particular size of ATC (SCM19 or SCM20) all measure like this. I think the idea was originally that they were supposed to be "NS10s, but not terrible" - i.e., they still did the mid hump thing, but were much better in terms of driver quality (ie, distortion) and more robust. On a meter bridge, the 2-300hz area is boosted dramatically from console bounce, so that upper mid thing is far less severe.