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ATC scm 50, Naim 500DR /552 & Audio T's Sofa

H

Hiesteem

pfm Member
So I took a trip to Brighton today to get my fix of Jazz cd's and on the way back I thought I would pop into Audio T to ask Julian and John about the latest bearing upgrade for the linn lp12.
I am in quite a good position because I only run a cd based system at this stage and so enjoy investigating all the turntable possibilities.
Whilst in Audio T I could not help but notice a gorgeous pair of ATC scm 50 speakers sitting either side of a Naim streamer and 500 & 552 pre amp.
Now I come from a time period in hifi history where a regular bunch of guys would disappear on a saturday morning for a sofa listening session in one of the various hifi shops in the city.
These were great times and the original days of sitting on tatty worn out sofas to get a taste of the latest new stuff often from Linn or Naim.

Anyway times have changed and fortunately so have the sofa's good job Audio T, very comfortable a definite upgrade!
So I was handed what I think is called a notebook to choose my album from and it was explained to me that I could listen to the same album I had just purchased on this notebook and listen to it through Naims streamer and through the 500//552 pre power and ATC 50 speaker combination.
So what's a guy supposed to do say no thanks I've gotta go home and cook dinner!

Anyway I decided to stay and put up with the huge dynamic swings this system and the ATC 50's were able to create in the most effortless way I have ever heard coming from a pair of speakers.
About 2 hours later I came to the conclusion that whilst this is probably one of the most enjoyable system sofa sessions I have heard and the ATC 50's have got to be the most serious quality speaker I have listened to I am more likely to purchase a turntable than streamer because I simply need to go down the store and physically find my cd or record , hand over some cash or plastic and go home and unwrap and place item into system and read liner notes.
Also I would like to thank Julian and John for allowing me to revisit the good old days and get a taste of the capabilities of modern Naim and ATC in the 21st century.
 
Whaleblue said:
Be interesting to compare that setup against Active 50s, fed by a £1000 DAC and simple (“cheapish”) streamer.

I know where my money would go!
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Yes they had ATC active amp and crossover on display and that's what I like about this speaker it allows a flexible approach and the built in amps with a Dac and streamer or CD player simplifies everything. Hopefully!
What struck me about the 50's apart from their sound was their build quality which was exceptional.
Anyway it will be interesting to see how ATC set things up on the open day .
 
Having owned SCM50 ASLs a few times my bets are you'll prefer the SCM50 PSLs with the 552/500 combo. You'll get way more current lower down. The ATC amp-packs are a bit weak IMHO.
The DAC/pre i was using with them were in the relms of the Weiss, Antelope Audio, Lavry and Resonessence Labs, the latter being the preferred option.

FYI - ATC may claim they have 3 amps per speaker, one for each driver and active cross-over, but they all work off one fairly mediocre transformer.
 
The SCM50ASL is probably the best 'real-world' high end speaker that I have heard. I say 'real-world' as its somewhat acievable and likely to work in most normal size listening rooms.
Prices have gone up a lot, even second hand as I remember seeing used pairs of SCM50A (non-SL) around £1.2k-£1.5k around 5-years ago, that was for the older classic standmount, rather than full floorstander.
 
Cereal Killer, post: 3914181, member: 8126"]Having owned SCM50 ASLs a few times my bets are you'll prefer the SCM50 PSLs with the 552/500 combo. You'll get way more current lower down. The ATC amp-packs are a bit weak IMHO.[/QUOTE]
Thats interesting what you say about the ATC active amps . I wonder if it might be how they are are set up within the speaker itself. I know the ATC amps, pre power etc do have a leaner quality but sometimes less overhang in bass and frequency extremes are a positive .
Anyway I can certainly see how the Naim 552/500dr combo fleshed the sound out and that the ATC active would sound leaner and perhaps quicker which ain,t no bad thing sometimes.
Wish I could say I owned them a few times though! Don't think I would be getting rid of them anytime soon if I were so lucky!
 
Hoopsontoast said:
The SCM50ASL is probably the best 'real-world' high end speaker that I have heard. I say 'real-world' as its somewhat acievable and likely to work in most normal size listening rooms.
Prices have gone up a lot, even second hand as I remember seeing used pairs of SCM50A (non-SL) around £1.2k-£1.5k around 5-years ago, that was for the older classic standmount, rather than full floorstander.
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I have to agree with you on that point. I have never heard a speaker with such full tonality and effortless dynamic swings and being a jazz fan with a bit of modern jazz/classical thrown in, i'm thinking Nils Fraum, Oliver Arnalds etc the system really fleshed out the sound making it quite a different listening experience than I am used too.
 
I have most if not all Nils' and Olafur's work so understand where you're coming from. My current setup has more dynamic swing from -60db and probably a higher SPL. All from a 21.5L 2-way speaker. But the amp is a two box integrated unit with 1800va of transformers and over 425,000uF of filtering capacitance behind it.
 
Due to a recent health scare (now, hopefully, diminished in seriousness), I decided to make life a bit easier for SWMBO if it came to the worst & so reduced my black box count. Out went two 500DRs, SuperCap, Avondale-modified SNAXO, and loads of cabling, my system now DBLs driven passively with 500DR/552DR, LP12, Melco, Dave/Mscaler, LP12.

In an attempt to simplify things further I thought I'd try a pair of ATC SCM100ASLTs, so my ever-helpful dealer arranged for a demo, using Melco, DAVE/Mscaler & 552DR. SWMBO came along (it would be her system after all) & we spent a fair while going through familiar albums. The ATCs certainly sounded very good indeed, and shone particularly with female vocals. My wife enjoyed them, but I kept my opinion to myself. On returning home we fired up the system, and my wife instantly preferred it. With no prompting from me she felt, good though the ATCs were, they sounded "Rather cold, not so nice" in comparison with the DBLs.

I'm still rather curious about how a pair of active ATCs would sound in my room, but I think the next size up might be a better option.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Due to a recent health scare (now, hopefully, diminished in seriousness), I decided to make life a bit easier for SWMBO if it came to the worst & so reduced my black box count. Out went two 500DRs, SuperCap, Avondale-modified SNAXO, and loads of cabling, my system now DBLs driven passively with 500DR/552DR, LP12, Melco, Dave/Mscaler, LP12.

In an attempt to simplify things further I thought I'd try a pair of ATC SCM100ASLTs, so my ever-helpful dealer arranged for a demo, using Melco, DAVE/Mscaler & 552DR. SWMBO came along (it would be her system after all) & we spent a fair while going through familiar albums. The ATCs certainly sounded very good indeed, and shone particularly with female vocals. My wife enjoyed them, but I kept my opinion to myself. On returning home we fired up the system, and my wife instantly preferred it. With no prompting from me she felt, good though the ATCs were, they sounded "Rather cold, not so nice" in comparison with the DBLs.

I'm still rather curious about how a pair of active ATCs would sound in my room, but I think the next size up might be a better option.
Click to expand...
Maybe the right ATCs for you to try at home would be the ones with the same size bass unit as your DBLs - after all, Naim used ATC bass units in the DBLs. Note that since those days ATC have improved their bass units with their “SL” technology.
 
AndyU said:
Maybe the right ATCs for you to try at home would be the ones with the same size bass unit as your DBLs - after all, Naim used ATC bass units in the DBLs. Note that since those days ATC have improved their bass units with their “SL” technology.
Click to expand...
Indeed, the next size up uses the same size bass units as my DBLs which is why I suggested them as an option. The other potential issue is with positioning - I understand the ATCs can cope with being fairly close to a back wall, but how well they'd perform where they'd have to go in my room's debatable.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Due to a recent health scare (now, hopefully, diminished in seriousness), I decided to make life a bit easier for SWMBO if it came to the worst & so reduced my black box count. Out went two 500DRs, SuperCap, Avondale-modified SNAXO, and loads of cabling, my system now DBLs driven passively with 500DR/552DR, LP12, Melco, Dave/Mscaler, LP12.

In an attempt to simplify things further I thought I'd try a pair of ATC SCM100ASLTs, so my ever-helpful dealer arranged for a demo, using Melco, DAVE/Mscaler & 552DR. SWMBO came along (it would be her system after all) & we spent a fair while going through familiar albums. The ATCs certainly sounded very good indeed, and shone particularly with female vocals. My wife enjoyed them, but I kept my opinion to myself. On returning home we fired up the system, and my wife instantly preferred it. With no prompting from me she felt, good though the ATCs were, they sounded "Rather cold, not so nice" in comparison with the DBLs.

I'm still rather curious about how a pair of active ATCs would sound in my room, but I think the next size up might be a better option.
Click to expand...
Tony I can only imagine how dynamic your system must sound whether scaled down or not as you have clearly had an idea of the sound you like and want to create.
Those 500 DR's are something and driving a pair of DBL'S with such an amazing front end is an end game system in itself.
I am glad to hear you are recovering and simplifying life, I know to be the best healer.
Ps. I still hanker for another LP12, just miss the subtle sound and putting a record on such a lovely turntable is an essential part of the process.
 
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Cereal Killer said:
I have most if not all Nils' and Olafur's work so understand where you're coming from. My current setup has more dynamic swing from -60db and probably a higher SPL. All from a 21.5L 2-way speaker. But the amp is a two box integrated unit with 1800va of transformers and over 425,000uF of filtering capacitance behind it.
Click to expand...
Yes aren't they just fantastic musicians and feel they have introduced me to a perhaps a modern form of jazz/classical fusion.
I was wondering if your amplifiers are Audionet? I would be interested to know especially if they can produce that much dynamic swing.
 
Suffolk Tony said:
Due to a recent health scare (now, hopefully, diminished in seriousness), I decided to make life a bit easier for SWMBO if it came to the worst & so reduced my black box count. Out went two 500DRs, SuperCap, Avondale-modified SNAXO, and loads of cabling, my system now DBLs driven passively with 500DR/552DR, LP12, Melco, Dave/Mscaler, LP12.

In an attempt to simplify things further I thought I'd try a pair of ATC SCM100ASLTs, so my ever-helpful dealer arranged for a demo, using Melco, DAVE/Mscaler & 552DR. SWMBO came along (it would be her system after all) & we spent a fair while going through familiar albums. The ATCs certainly sounded very good indeed, and shone particularly with female vocals. My wife enjoyed them, but I kept my opinion to myself. On returning home we fired up the system, and my wife instantly preferred it. With no prompting from me she felt, good though the ATCs were, they sounded "Rather cold, not so nice" in comparison with the DBLs.

I'm still rather curious about how a pair of active ATCs would sound in my room, but I think the next size up might be a better option.
Click to expand...

tony good to hear all is looking better health wise for you
 
As with most things is in not also a question of what you already have and are used to, what you would need to shift to buy something new and any resultant loss? All feature in your buying decisions.
For most with no equipment and a healthy budget starting to-day would suggest a streamer front end/pre and then active ATC's as giving the best bang for the buck. Old ones like me have decades of kit and thousands of LP's and more than a few TT's. Let's hope it never happens but should the lot go up in smoke and a large insurance payout follow it would have to be a streamer and active 300's built into a new wall as the listening room would also need to be rebuilt.
 
Hiesteem said:
Yes aren't they just fantastic musicians and feel they have introduced me to a perhaps a modern form of jazz/classical fusion.
I was wondering if your amplifiers are Audionet? I would be interested to know especially if they can produce that much dynamic swing.
Click to expand...

Yes Audionet; the current equivalent to the amp i have is the WATT but they removed the digital input and the option of adding an external PSU to the preamp and digital section.
The WATT has a slightly upgraded capacitor bank, but i recently upgraded my DNA 2.0 to the same figure, which is 176,000uF just for for the dual mono poweramp sections.
Its one hell of an amp TBH.

They split the DNA analog and digital sections up into 2 boxes and created these:
http://en.audionet.de/machines/planck/
http://en.audionet.de/machines/watt/

IIRC the RRP on the two above is circa £20K

This is the DNA 2.0 here:
http://en.audionet.de/machines/dna/
The RRP on this was £11K, they stopped making it (2017) because they couldn't make any profit from it even at this price (hence the above). I managed to find (in Germany) one of the last ex-demo versions from 2015/2016.
I was speaking to one of the audionet engineers who now works for himself; he told me the history of the DNA. It took over 40hrs just to assemble a completed chassis. They knew it would be impossible to make any real profit from it but they just wanted to show what they could do with no limits or constraints.

These are external PSU options:
http://en.audionet.de/machines/ampere/
http://en.audionet.de/machines/epx/
http://en.audionet.de/machines/eps-g2/

Considering the WATT/PLANK/AMPERE combo is nearing £27K, I'd also be looking at the new HUMBOLT, IF i were in that price range!! http://en.audionet.de/machines/humboldt/
Luckily for me im not and the DNA2.0 can be had for a fairly modest sum c£4-5K like this one: https://www.audio-markt.de/market/a...udionet-dna-20-kalibrierungssystem-9371620615
 
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