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ATC50/ATC100 and walls...

JTC

JTC

PFM Villager...
Humour me on this, folks. IF I were to buy a pair of '50s or '100s (floor-standers only), how close to a rear wall can they go without significantly impacting the sound. Much as I love the Adams I have, I want floor-standers and the floor-standing active version of what I have is around the same price as a pair of 50 floor-standers. Even though they're bigger (height/width/depth) than what I have, they'll look smarter because stands almost always look untidy to me, and the Adams ain't pretty.

I'd hope to be able to sell the Adams for a good price, or keep them maybe (a bit OTT for a second system but it's an option).

Haven't yet listened to ATCs seriously (heard them a couple of times in the past and impressions were mixed though it was a long time ago and in unfamiliar rooms).

The big problem I have is that they'll have to go almost right up against a rear wall due to their depth and where they'd have to go. Any further out and they'd block access to a cupboard etc.

I'm a short trip from Audio Emotion and know the guys there so a home demo is a possibility, but given the size/weight of ATCs I wouldn't want to do that until I was serious. Especially as I'm no use to man nor beast whilst I wait for another op on my arm (six weeks ago I came close to losing my left arm in a freakishly bad broken arm, which is making me count my blessings that I can and will hopefully recover).

Anyway, the money's not really an issue (luckily enough) but despite that I don't want to buy new. Six grand seems to give a fair bit of choice of used '50 and '100 floor-standers, and with some luck I could get £1500 for the Adams, bringing the cost-to-change down to a slightly more palatable amount...
 
More info: room is 18' x 16' with a 11 or 12' ceiling, box window, carpets and I'm thinking of the speakers on either side of a fireplace, firing across the shorter dimension of the room. Sideways, there's plenty of space. Here's a pic to show roughly the situation (with the Adams):

system-jan-2012-1.jpg


Not a huge room but with sockets on either side of the fireplace a nice pair of floor-standing '50s or maybe even '100s could be just what would suit...
 
I had active 50's a few years back and they were only 20cm-ish way from the back wall and 1m away from the side walls. My active 25's are about 30cm away and 65cm from the side walls.
 
I'm thinking more like 10cm max. Or less if I can get away with it. The problem is the depth of the speakers. I'd have to have something of a gap so that I can get the XLRs in and get to the power switch (not to mention leaving some room for the sockets, which are on the skirtings on either side of the fireplace). It might be that 50s, with 20cm gaps, work better than 100s with 10cm gaps (the 100s are approximately 10cm deeper than the 50s)
 
Your room is ca. 26m2, more than my 22.5m2, and I have 100s.

They are about 35cm from the rear wall, and sound fine, much less problematic than the smaller Dynaudio Contour S3.4 I had before.

The Dyns were standing in the same position as the 100s, with roughly the same distance to the rear wall, and the digital room correction from my Lyngdorf amp I was using made a huge difference to the sound.

With the 100s, the room correction makes hardly a difference, to the point that it's probably no longer worth bothering for me. It's only when you go to antisocial SPLs that the 100s become 'too big' for the room they are standing in and/or are probably too close to the rear wall.

For rooms below 20m2 I would probably suggest a 50, rather than a 100, but 100s are fine for room sizes like ours, provided the SPLs they are used at are 'reasonable'.


Cheers,
Samuel.


PS:
Out of interest, the P25 you mention in your signature, that's the Rega P25 turntable? How do you connect it to your (audiolab) MDAC?
 
Hi Samuel, I bought a handy device off Amazon which basically is a stand-alone ADC, and despite costing only around thirty quid, it works incredibly well. Or, at least well enough to do the job whilst I wait for the MPAX :)
 
Cheers John for the PM :)

A friend of mine had the 50s and the 50 Anniversaries in rooms not far away from the size of yours - maybe a little smaller. He traded them both in for some 100s and reported a good improvement (although i've not heard the 100s yet, something i need to rectify!).

His are out into the room a bit though, maybe 100s with castors? ;)
 
JTC said:
Hi Samuel, I bought a handy device off Amazon which basically is a stand-alone ADC, and despite costing only around thirty quid, it works incredibly well. Or, at least well enough to do the job whilst I wait for the MPAX :)
Click to expand...

Thx for that. I am still looking for ways to connect a TT to digital-input-only Pre/DACs, should I go down that route.

Given that you seem to be more restricted with the positioning (you mention 10cm or less) perhaps the 50s are the safer bet after all - or try to arrange a home demo of the 100s.
 
The home demo bit in theory is a good idea but it's a lot to ask given the size of the speakers. However, I've bought a few things from the dealer in the past and they live fairly locally so it could be an option. Will call them for a chat soon...
 
I have active 100 classics in a room 17' x 16', ceiling height 9'. Because of chimney breast and alcoves, they are placed unequally distanced from the back wall: toed in 20cm and 30cm each corner to back wall for one, and 40cm and 50cm for the other. No bass boom whatsoever compared to other speakers I have owned. I thought they were incredibly unfussy of placement and have never felt the urge to play around with positioning after where they were originally plonked when they first came into the house. They are imposing though, if that is an issue.
 
Phone ATC, describe your room, and go with their recommendation. 100s would be fun in there, 50s will probably do.
 
My 100's are on either side of the chimney breast firing into the short side of the room (12.5 x 17.5 feet) and the amp packs are almost touching the back wall. It's not ideal but I can honestly say I haven't experienced any problems with their current position so close to the back wall.
 
Hi John,

ATCs 50s will be more than enough in a normal sized room. 100's are big speakers, especially as they are active and bass reflex tuned. I don't think you would notice a difference until you are at 80-90dB and properly pressurising the room.

Both speakers are basically fantastic. I remember spending some time with a pair of SCM50ASLs when the SL upgrade came out (1999?) on the end of a Theta Miles CD player (attenuated balanced output) and that has been my reference ever since. If I could find a set of those speakers for c.£2-3k I would do it instantly. It was more enjoyable than a pair of Wilson System 6s, even with that VIFA tweeter from a Heybrook HB1 or something like that.

James.
 
Yep, for various reasons. I'm also a fan of the look of the ATC floor-standers.

I'm going to call the dealer tomorrow and have a chat. Maybe it's a non-starter in this room, but I need to at least try.
 
I've only got the cheapo 20 floorstanders but they are the best speakers I've ever had!

Simon
 
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