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Pre for ATC actives

A friend of mine uses an Audiolab 8200DQ with his SCM50ASLs. Plenty of analogue and digital inputs, nicely built, great sound.

I have one too and I love mine.

The DQ seems quite rare but you can pick up a CDQ for about £500.
 
Just been looking and there are a lot of nice digital options suggested but I do need 2 or more analogue inputs.
On a slightly different note, I am new to the XLR connections thing and if my understanding is correct they are all basically the same and providing they are of decent quality the length of the run is not a problem, not that I need longer than 4m ?
 
I use a Primare Pre 32 with MM30 digital board fitted driving SCM20 active towers. Nice, neat, low box count, good sounding set-up for the family room.
 
Loti said:
Just been looking and there are a lot of nice digital options suggested but I do need 2 or more analogue inputs.
On a slightly different note, I am new to the XLR connections thing and if my understanding is correct they are all basically the same and providing they are of decent quality the length of the run is not a problem, not that I need longer than 4m ?
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XLR is for sure the way to go, 4m is absolutely not a problem. And no need to get suckered into exotic cables, plenty companies like www.designacable.com will supply well made cables at fair prices.

https://www.designacable.com/studio-leads-4/mic-leads.html?connection_type=217

Just about the only choice you have is whether to use star-quad cables or not. The advantage is less susceptibility to some kinds of interference, the downside is longer runs might be problematic. And of course colour - the Van Damme cables come in several different colours, that help the cables fit with your decor.
 
When I decided to get active 50's earlier this year I spent some time prior the purchase, to work out if I needed to change any other units. Already had a MFA Baby Ref v2 which I did not want to change but if needed to then I would have, luckily the combination works very well together. Another vote for designacable, the only change I had to make was getting some 4m XLR cables and the star quad Xlr's mentioned above were just the job.
 
Loti said:
Just taken the plunge and got a pair of ATC 50ASL and now need to get a suitable pre as my Croft does not have balanced ouputs , which I would like to use and also I am not sure of its suitability with the ATCs I have thought I would get an ATC pre as I assume they would be the best for their speakers but been reading up and there are various suggestions any thoughts or experience would be appreciated.
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Over the years in different rooms I’ve used Meridian digital and analogue pre’s, Mytek Brooklyn, ATC CDA2 & CA2, Audiolab M DAC all balanced, to ATC actives. All worked a treat but to be honest I can’t fairly say one was better over the other, too much of a time gap and as I say different rooms.

I’d not totally rule out your Croft yet, just get some standard XLR -RCA cables, Van damme will work and readily available for not too much outlay. If there is an issue it could be an impedance mis match but I am not sure if that would be a problem, just guessing.

My first Meridian pre, the Dolby Surround 541, only had RCA outs and that worked with my active ATCs at the time but it did bother me that I was not running a fully balanced pre. In hindsight did it matter, properly not.

If I were not running a 5.1 primary system and needed 2 analogue inputs I’d definitely consider a variety of makes, budget depending of course and a lot already mentioned;

-ATCs own ie CDA2, CA2 mkii
-Meridians old 502 which does pop up from time to time for not a lot of money / ATCs original CA2, the mid sized unit
-MFA options
-MiniDSP SHD

I think it’s possible to home dem all the current models mentioned, the older stuff would be a punt on ebay or similar.

As a left field option - I’ve being using a Meridian 568.2 (accepts digital and analogue inputs and has xlr outs) on and off for 20 odd years. My current pre is the equally ancient 861v4, running into 100ASLs, I use this for its bass correction as well as the fact I run a balanced 5.1 system.
 
AndyU said:
XLR is for sure the way to go, 4m is absolutely not a problem. And no need to get suckered into exotic cables, plenty companies like www.designacable.com will supply well made cables at fair prices.

https://www.designacable.com/studio-leads-4/mic-leads.html?connection_type=217

Just about the only choice you have is whether to use star-quad cables or not. The advantage is less susceptibility to some kinds of interference, the downside is longer runs might be problematic. And of course colour - the Van Damme cables come in several different colours, that help the cables fit with your decor.
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You can have long runs of star quad if you pick a low capacitance one, like Gotham GAC 4/1 (I use with ~11m run) or Mogami 2534 (not tried, myself). Both of these are double shielded (GAC 4/1 shields are both braided).
 
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Hi Loti,

From a cost perspective, you can buy and/or loan an adapter(RCA to XLR) and connect using your existing interconnect and Croft preamp. Listen for a few days, if you like what you hear, then keep using the Croft preamp. Buy a custom made cable connecting your preamp to speaker if adapter is making you feel uneasy.
 
I only ever had ATC 7s once, which were good with Exposure, so why not try one of their 3010 or 5010 Pres?
 
My system for a few years, ATC SCM50 ASL Speakers, cables RCA to XLR made up by ATC, Avondale Grad 1, TPX4 very happy with the result. Long term will probably to downsize, hearing f**ked and moving to a smaller house.
 
essgee said:
When I decided to get active 50's earlier this year I spent some time prior the purchase, to work out if I needed to change any other units. Already had a MFA Baby Ref v2 which I did not want to change but if needed to then I would have, luckily the combination works very well together. Another vote for designacable, the only change I had to make was getting some 4m XLR cables and the star quad Xlr's mentioned above were just the job.
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Those are the same cables I use and they sound good and are great value...
 
Bryston BP25 or 26 are good 2 channel pre-amps. Some are quite old (20 years) so can be had at a reasonable price.

The surround sound processors also have the same 2 channel pre-amp circuitry (although different power supply). These come up a lot cheaper, i.e. an SP1 with a reasonable built-in DAC are about £500.
 
Congratulations! I'm waiting for 50ASL to arrive also, should be ready by the end of march. ATC is slightly behind schedule, thanks to COVID-19. I'm updating from 40A and have been using Linn Akurate DSM Katalyst with them, great combo and space optimisation helps to fit the speakers in room. I auditioned half a dozen different dac-pre's before I updated from passive 40's to active ones. Linn ADSM came out as winner but I also liked PSAudio DIrectStream a lot. I use Linn Silver XLR cables with this setup but have also Mogami 2549 pair with Neutrik connectors which sounds almost identical. I could live with either one of these cables.
 
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I'm possibly in this dilemma depending on whether I go for ATC actives or Dutch&Dutch. I have looked at the miniDSP, but it just doesn't quite stack up for me as its limited on analogue inputs. I think the question I am asking myself is do I want room correction or not? I heard a Hegel Mohican CD player through their P30 pre into ATC40aS and that sounded bloody amazing to me, but my room may change that. I guess a home dem would be required. Did wonder whether to stick a room processor between the pre and the actives, but that goes against my new minimal boxes philosophy. Should have kept my active Naims and SL2s, I knew where I was with them... box count hell aside :D
 
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