ATC speakers / Monitors

[Chrise36]

Move production to China
Lower price by 50%
And sell a lot more speakers
That's what I'd do

Romania would be better than China

 

[Hear Here]

I must ask
ATC monitors are considered to be one of the best if not the best monitors on the planet, it's also a consensus on Gearslutz
But around here they're not very popular
I must understand why

After nearly 5 years and over 5000 replies, do you have the answer to your original question?

I used to own ATC Active 50 studio speakers and I think I know the reason why speakers designed for studio use are not particularly suitable for home listening, compared with good speakers that are designed for home listening. And it had little to do with measured accuracy!

 

[Pearljam5000]

After nearly 5 years and over 5000 replies, do you have the answer to your original question?

Not really
But I do learn from every comment

 

[Behrelec 37]

Try to understand. ATC is an underperforming product next to even better quality monitoring speakers. ATC has just fallen far behind in development. Sure, you can like them, but your understanding has to be titanium-hard in your brain to realize that you are really just playing with toys, not really higher-level monitoring speakers.

Look, quality is measured by many different metrics, as if in a common pool, and ATC is already showing red rejected in many competitive settings. This is sad, but realism is only progress forward, not backward in terms of technology.Some people just want to live in the old, dusty old pictures of the world.

 

[goat76]

If in the bottom line I the customer would pay less
And there's no loss of quality
Then yes I don't see why not

But one of the main problems is that there are quite often QC issues when a manufacturer doesn’t have full control over the production themselves. I think more HiFi brands should do it like ATC and Genelec, and start making everything in-house.

 

[dfuller]

But one of the main problems is that there are quite often QC issues when a manufacturer doesn’t have full control over the production themselves. I think more HiFi brands should do it like ATC and Genelec, and start making everything in-house.

If they have the technical ability to do so, I agree.

Not only does it help keep quality to standard, it also helps keep products repairable long term. Genelec can supply replacement parts for 30 year old speakers. So can ATC. Neumann, not so much - they don't make any drivers themselves and so when the production contract ends, that's it. Any supply they have is what they have.

 

[Chrise36]

Try to understand. ATC is an underperforming product next to even better quality monitoring speakers. ATC has just fallen far behind in development. Sure, you can like them, but your understanding has to be titanium-hard in your brain to realize that you are really just playing with toys, not really higher-level monitoring speakers.

Look, quality is measured by many different metrics, as if in a common pool, and ATC is already showing red rejected in many competitive settings. This is sad, but realism is only progress forward, not backward in terms of technology.Some people just want to live in the old, dusty old pictures of the world.

Not at all really. Just look at the comments of people having both ATC and newer "SOTA" monitors.

 

[Behrelec 37]

Unfortunately, too many listeners still have substandard quality standards if ATC is the nobility of art speakers. Toys should not be played with by adults, but only progressed in development.

 

[dfuller]

Unfortunately, too many listeners still have substandard quality standards if ATC is the nobility of art speakers. Toys should not be played with by adults, but only progressed in development.

You know, this is the kind of comment we try to avoid.

 

[Behrelec 37]

Things must be told with honesty of heart so that the competitive settings come out more clearly. so that the different causes and different factors of competition for superiority and quality can be separated, and so that people do not constantly walk around with their eyes closed and their ears in the fog, following the advertising speeches of market men.

It is always good to set up hard comparison tests and try different limits and find out if there is any truth in the advertising claims.

Speeches are speeches and actions are actions.

 

[Joe852]

For the ATC active, professional monitors what are the factors? ATC goes very loud without audible distortion. They are very reliable and can take a lot of abuse. The midrange is exceptionally low distortion. The woofers and tweeter are also excellent. Dispersion is good and any problems can be fixed with room treatment. It's mostly about drivers and they make their own to a very high standard. You can get parts for very old models. They cost a lot which is the main problem for most people. Since reliability and parts availability are important for studios cost is less a factor because they are paid by the hour. I know the Bagby review of the midrange is linked earlier in this thread. There are lots of products that can match ATCs in an area or two but I doubt they can compete in all of them.

I bought a pair of used 110s 10+ years ago and they're still working perfectly, sound stunningly clear, you can watch an action movie at full theater volume with zero audible distortion or strain. The bass is perfectly adequate, it's very dependent on room placement so if it's a little light I move closer to the corner. They sound just about right a few feet away. There's a lot of gain in the deep bass due to the room but that's with a sine wave, I rarely notice it on anything else.

Quality is expensive up front but audio isn't changing that much. I've got a 21 year old Bryston preamp that still works perfectly. No noise in any knobs and essentially perfect sound. And if something goes wrong I can probably get it fixed.

 

[thewas]

If in the bottom line I the customer would pay less
And there's no loss of quality
Then yes I don't see why not

When you or someone from your friends or family lose your job because of the attitude cheaper labour is better you will see it is very shortsighted.

There exist enough low budget products in the market, I am glad that Genelec produces their products under high social and ecological standards and this would be for me one of the biggest reasons to buy one and not if they stop doing so.

 

[Pearljam5000]

When you or someone from your friends or family lose your job because of the attitude cheaper labour is better you will see it is very shortsighted.

There exist enough low budget products in the market, I am glad that Genelec produces their products under high social and ecological standards and this would be for me one of the biggest reasons to buy one and not if they stop doing so.

Yes but why are you looking at it in a negative way?
If they make the products cheaper more people could enjoy them and afford them
Most of the products today are already made in China
Would you not buy an IPhone because it's made in China?
Jobs are lost everywhere
It's a fact of life
Would you not buy a company's product because they use AI and fired thousands of people because they don't need them anymore?
It's not black and white, like anything in life

 

[thewas]

Yes but why are you looking at it in a negative way?
If they make the products cheaper more people could enjoy them and afford them
Most of the products today are already made in China
Would you not buy an IPhone because it's made in China?
Jobs are lost everywhere
It's a fact of life
Would you not buy a company's product because they use AI and fired thousands of people because they don't need them anymore?
It's not black and white, like anything in life

Of course it is not black and white but this short sighted view is bringing the world to what it is evolving too. Genelecs are not a basic need, I would be happy if the basic needs for life become affordable to the whole world where the biggest percentage have no access to even those. When I was a student I only cared about price but now I try to see the bigger image and yes, if I had the choice I would buy an Iphone which is produced in my country and with high social and ecological standards even if it costed 50% more.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Of course it is not black and white but this short sighted view is bringing the world to what it is evolving too. Genelecs are not a basic need, I would be happy if the basic needs for life become affordable to the whole world where the biggest percentage have no access to even those. When I was a student I only cared about price but now I try to see the bigger image and yes, if I had the choice I would buy an Iphone which is produced in my country and with high social and ecological standards even if it costed 50% more.

Yeah because you have that choice
But people that don't have that choice have no choice but look mainly at the price
It's like saying I don't care how much food costs I want it organic and tasty and fresh
Not everyone has that privilege
Some will have to do with simple bread and butter
Obviously If I was rich I wouldn't give a damn about the price and would want the speakers be fair trade and made by hand locally etc etc.
So you can't be in a certain place in life and criticize another that is not in that place for wanting to be able to enjoy the same things.
You have different priorities than me because we're in different places in life.

 

[thewas]

Yeah because you have that choice
But people that don't have that choice have no choice but look mainly at the price
It's like saying I don't care how much food costs I want it organic and tasty and fresh
Not everyone has that privilege
Some will have to do with simple bread and butter
Obviously If I was rich I wouldn't give a damn about the price and would want the speakers be fair trade and made by hand locally etc etc.
So you can't be in a certain place in life and criticize another that is not in that place for wanting to be able to enjoy the same things.
You have different priorities than me because we're in different places in life.

Again, as I told you a Genelec is a luxury, not a basic need and this is very short sighted view as with this logic you could/might also loose your job and then your problem would not be if you can afford a Genelec but to survive. I am not rich, so I only wish and enjoy stuff I can afford and don't waste my life dreaming about stuff I can't.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Again, as I told you a Genelec is a luxury, not a basic need and this is very short sighted view as with this logic you could/might also loose your job and then your problem would not be if you can afford a Genelec but to survive.

OK you're entitled to your opinion
Let's agree to disagree

 

[thewas]

OK you're entitled to your opinion
Let's agree to disagree

Its good to discuss such things as hopefully it enhances the awareness of the superficial beauty of outsourcing to cheap production.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Its good to discuss such things as hopefully it enhances the awareness of the superficial beauty of outsourcing to cheap production.

There's no beauty in it
Obviously it's better to produce locally
But if you ask a homeless man that he'd live on the street or could afford a house because it's made in China and not made locally
Belive me he would choose the second option
And by the way I dont see it as luxury
I see it as something that can be more affordable and accessible to more people.
That has a beauty of its own
But like I said we'll probably never see eye to eye on this subject

 

[thewas]

And by the way I dont see it as luxury

Genelecs are a luxury in a world where 700 million people (8.5 percent of the global population) live in extreme poverty - on less than $2.15 per day.

I see it as something that can be more affordable and accessible to more people.

This is not thought through, by moving companies and production to low salary places more people will have less money to spend.