These remind me of a lot of typical British "bookshelf" speakers of the 1980s. Back then "bookshelf" meant just that: you put them on your bookshelves, with books either side, and the baffle-step was compensated for. So I really am surprised to see the section which Amir highlighted in the manual stating that placement should be well away from walls. Do the manufacturers really not understand what they're doing? The speakers might actually sound quite ok on a shelf, close to the wall, not $4k good, though. The trip across the pond never benefits a product's value-for-money, but in this case it's almost a joke! $4k. Wow!
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ATC SCM19 Bookshelf Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Wait until A tests Linn!
Although I suppose they are technically Scottish.
Keith
That sounds like "One song to the tune of another" A reference which almost certainly won't cross the Atlantic well!
If they are shite they will be Scottish, any good and they become British.
Scottish then.
Keith
I like these, can you play Tetris on them.
I have a couple of tests for a reliable review.
First, did they make any attempt to measure the speakers frequency response? I know that's at best a partial test, but it's the single most important item. If it doesn't have a reasonably flat response, it may sound great on some recordings, but not on most others. Along with this, was any attempt made to relate flaws in that response to changes in how the recordings or pink noise should sound.
Second, do they start using audiophile speak. From the review
massive image scale in height and depth alongside smokin’ keyboards, conga et al that build an irresistible groove.
This ATC has superb bass, it goes low but is tight and fully textured
inky black recording
In general, it's about how much they enjoyed listening to their favorite recordings. It's not about how they compare with other speakers in that price range.
With Linn it should be Naim that tune.
Linn Kans are the deep-fried Mars bars of loudspeakers.
That's a slur on deep frying, and mars bars.
Stereophile also has measurements. This shows why the BBC dip misconception came to be, the speakers peaks ~4kHz off-axis, so neutral on-axis sounded bright. The dip was because it wasn’t well engineered, not that it’s preferred to have a dip.
Amirm needs to test some Naim electronics so i can fully indulge in a trifecta of national shame and embarrassment.
Wharfedales are pretty good, so own a pair of Jade 5’s, here’s the directivity of the Jade 7 as measured by Stereophile:
There is bulging in the upper treble, but the on-axis has a dip to compensate.
INCORRECT. The LS3/5A was never anything more than a minor player in the pantheon of BBC speakers. Its role was mainly office listening (for which purpose hundreds were installed – in this respect it is, possibly, the most numerous of all BBC speaker types). The closest it ever got to being a programme monitor was on small-scale speech-only radio outside broadcasts or possibly as the secondary or tertiary speaker in bigger studios. It was also installed as primary monitor in some radio editing suites but it was never a major player where serious quality judgements were made.
DSJR
Major Contributor
Linn and Naim 'parted company' back in 1985 - do keep up 
ATC know full well what they're doing and measure every speaker they make, or at least used to. These old 19's were designed that way for a reason!!! You lot may laugh because they don't look as good as Harman designed models, but with the SL driver introduction, the 50's too developed a slightly elevated upper mid balance (can't speak for the big ones in the noughties as I wasn't dealing with ATC at this time). My 20ASL pro's definitely had a similar response shape (as measured in an article on SoS I think it was) and mainly concerning the NS10 which has a seriously nasty peak above 1khz (but which worked very well on a bookshelf).
To suggest these are small 'toy' speakers is a reflection of the room size the person making the comment is used to. I suspect his favoured speakers wouldn't work in a smaller room.
Not sure if Billy Woodman designed these as he did the previous 10 and 20 models and he certainly doesn't appear to have had much input on the very latest models as I believe he's basically retired from day to day business (although he's always 'there' in the background I was told).
Here's the article I was trying to find, an 'appreciation of the NS10 plus response plots of the usual suspects of twenty years or so ago INCLUDING the original SCM 20 ASL Pro model I once owned (I doubt it was the older tower actives that were tested). The active 20ASL Pro had a bass lift adjustment which helped a bit, but by then the Vifa tweeter was showing its age in added grittiness on my pair and it was uneconomic to replace with the intermediate tweeter as it would have involved new baffles. I made good money on the sale, but these days really miss the tactile quality a decent monitor has.
https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/n/ns10m.pdf
ATC know full well what they're doing and measure every speaker they make, or at least used to. These old 19's were designed that way for a reason!!! You lot may laugh because they don't look as good as Harman designed models, but with the SL driver introduction, the 50's too developed a slightly elevated upper mid balance (can't speak for the big ones in the noughties as I wasn't dealing with ATC at this time). My 20ASL pro's definitely had a similar response shape (as measured in an article on SoS I think it was) and mainly concerning the NS10 which has a seriously nasty peak above 1khz (but which worked very well on a bookshelf).
To suggest these are small 'toy' speakers is a reflection of the room size the person making the comment is used to. I suspect his favoured speakers wouldn't work in a smaller room.
Not sure if Billy Woodman designed these as he did the previous 10 and 20 models and he certainly doesn't appear to have had much input on the very latest models as I believe he's basically retired from day to day business (although he's always 'there' in the background I was told).
Here's the article I was trying to find, an 'appreciation of the NS10 plus response plots of the usual suspects of twenty years or so ago INCLUDING the original SCM 20 ASL Pro model I once owned (I doubt it was the older tower actives that were tested). The active 20ASL Pro had a bass lift adjustment which helped a bit, but by then the Vifa tweeter was showing its age in added grittiness on my pair and it was uneconomic to replace with the intermediate tweeter as it would have involved new baffles. I made good money on the sale, but these days really miss the tactile quality a decent monitor has.
https://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/assetlibrary/n/ns10m.pdf
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DSJR
Major Contributor
Martin Colloms measured it in a HiFi Choice book at the time. Not bad but more of a curio with a soft clipped 20WPC with the wind behind it and severaly rolled off bass on the vinyl input (or peaked up lower hf, however you see the plot). Current issue smaller Naims do seem to be 20db or so better in terms of distortion on the Stereophile measurements I've seen but these days it's not saying much.
As an ignorant American, I had to do a search on deep-fried Mars bars. I had no idea this was a thing. I've always enjoyed Scotland, and some of my favorite colleagues over the years have been Scots, but now that I'm educated I have to say that Scotland just moved down a notch or two on my intelligence scale. A deep-fried Mars bar just might be the unhealthiest food ever conceived.
Only kidding. A little...
That would be deep fried pizza.
Keith
Keith
D
Deleted member 65
Guest
So did I, my (wealthy kid brother) had the biggest Wilson’s ( 200K USD) at the time, we both agreed on their SQ quality. Brother sold them off and bought a new boat.
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