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ATC SCM40: Which finish would you suggest?

Fourlegs said:
Stop being a pedant! I said fade but I meant change due to sunlight. Ok? Crikely, I didn’t know the objectivists had got into sun fading, sorry change due to sunlight on veneers. ;):):) Actually people still often refer to sunlight fading even when it goes darker. I think we are all saying the same thing anyway.
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I’m sorry that I seem to have upset you. Some woods get lighter with age and exposure to light. Others get darker, and that includes cherry, and my understanding of the term fade is not not how I would describe the darker, richer, more orange colour of aged cherry. Anyone looking to spend a lot of money on a pair of speakers that they have to live with is going to be disappointed if they choose cherry thinking that it’s quite light, only to find that after a couple of years it’s taken on a quite different orange tone. Maple, ash or oak might be a better choice.
 
Whatsisnaim said:
I’m sorry that I seem to have upset you. Some woods get lighter with age and exposure to light. Others get darker, and that includes cherry, and my understanding of the term fade is not not how I would describe the darker, richer, more orange colour of aged cherry. Anyone looking to spend a lot of money on a pair of speakers that they have to live with is going to be disappointed if they choose cherry thinking that it’s quite light, only to find that after a couple of years it’s taken on a quite different orange tone. Maple, ash or oak might be a better choice.
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No, you haven't upset me and I hope I have not upset you. It was not intended. 'Faded' is however often used in a loose way even with Cherry which does darken.

Maple, ash or oak might be a better choice for some but I have found the ATC Cherry to look great if a wood finish fits with the room rather than white or black.

Maple, ash or oak are out anyway because they are not available in the ATC SCM40.
 
The modern cherry finish is pretty light. We have 40 and 40a on demo in cherry as well as a pair of 11s that we got a week ago. All were consistently light, i do like the finish on black ash over the satin. Easier to keep looking nice and the grills show up less on black.
 
I like the look of the new ATCs. The old versions looked very old fashioned. I appreciate the grille design is not to all tastes but I think they are very smart and practical. I went for satin black.
 
IMHO the curved cabinets and their metal grilles look best in black ash. Otherwise Cherry is an ATC classic finish and looks best without the grilles.
 
My 100’s are cherry, manufactured in 2004. Don’t believe they’ve really darkened, but they’ve never been in a room that gets much natural light.
 
I had a pair of cherry 40s from new, they darkened very slightly, only noticeable when the grills were removed. They looked great, very high quality looking. I'd happily have that finish again.

I now have a pair of 50s in black ash (used and as rare as hen's teeth in NZ, beggars can't be choosers). I would much rather have cherry or indeed, any finish other than black ash.

The satin black or white look great (in photos, not seen them in the flesh), but might not be to everyone's taste if you ever move them on.

The 40s really sound superb but you already know that. I had passives, they would have been my 'forever' speakers, I only switched because I was trying to work out the optimum way of powering them when some active 50s came up for sale.
 
Fourlegs said:
No, you haven't upset me and I hope I have not upset you. It was not intended. 'Faded' is however often used in a loose way even with Cherry which does darken.

Maple, ash or oak might be a better choice for some but I have found the ATC Cherry to look great if a wood finish fits with the room rather than white or black.

Maple, ash or oak are out anyway because they are not available in the ATC SCM40.
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Obviously this is largely down to personal preference. My dealer has a demo pair in cherry, and to me they look slightly dull with an almost grey tint to the wood which I find a little unattractive. I certainly wouldn’t have them in my living room if I had to look at them every day.
Similarly, some may find the look of the grilles acceptable. I thought they might be an attempt at bombproof protection of the drivers, but they appear to be held on by rather weak magnets. If a toddler grabbed hold of them, they would come off very easily.
 
Paul R said:
I would say 'yew' but presumably it's not an option. My SCM50ASL still look interesting after more than 10 years. I think they cost me about 3 sets of four legged cables.
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I remember the yew finish being very attractive back in the day, as were the Castles who made the ATC cabinets back then.
Our demo 50s were in yew along with the Harlechs.
For us the most popular finish on ATC was the mahogany. I'll second the dislike of the new style grills, yuk!
Always hankered after a set 50s myself, the absolute sweet spot in the range, sadly didn't happen and probably never will now as my entire current system is extremely modest making the reinvestment a very tall order along with priority changes over the years.
 
I recently bought a pair s/h in cherry. For me it was finish I would have chosen if I could have afforded new. I like real wood veneers..matched but each unique if you look closely. Yes, at 5 years old you could say a bit 'Orangey' in colour.
They replaced a pair of Proac D15s in cherry, so apart from being a bit bulkier to look at they weren't a shock to my wife...and she doesn't like 'black boxes' anyway.
The D15s were bought to fit in with our lounge style..Q4 rack in cherry, wood coffee table, leather sofas..so look at your room and decide what blends in ..or sticks out if you want them to be the centre of attention.
 
Woodface said:
They really should redesign the grills to increase WAF.
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I like good looking things in my house (and no, I avoid mirrors!) and really dislike those grilles to the extent that they put me off the idea of buying a pair. I much prefer a nice wood veneer but in the case of the ATC 40 I would go for black, simply because it disguises those grilles. I know one doesn’t have to have the grilles on but I don’t like looking at drivers either. Not that I’m fussy, you understand!
 
Musicraft said:
Nice :cool: Passive or active SCM40’s please?
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The actives that were advertised here by Black_Flag. I also bought, off EBay, a lightly used CDA2 mk2. I've upgraded (maybe for the last time) and reduced the box count..still have an LP12 and small phono pre tho. Can't give up the vinyl after 45 years. :)
 
Mine (older model) are cherry and don't seem to have changed colour that much. But anyway if going for black, I'd personally pick the gloss black since black ash is just soooooo '80s.
 
RXH2 said:
The actives that were advertised here by Black_Flag. I also bought, off EBay, a lightly used CDA2 mk2. I've upgraded (maybe for the last time) and reduced the box count..still have an LP12 and small phono pre tho. Can't give up the vinyl after 45 years. :)
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Thanks :)
 
Manimal said:
I like the look of the new ATCs. The old versions looked very old fashioned. I appreciate the grille design is not to all tastes but I think they are very smart and practical. I went for satin black.
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:cool: Passive or actives please?
 
I love ATC.
Great sounding speakers, but their range of cabinet finishes and styling are a weak point.
I would have thought that in the “entry level” range (7, 11, 19, 40) they would have at least offered natural oak and a contemporary looking walnut finish (with the strong grain look), alongside cherry as the real wood options.
There’s slightly more choice since they introduced the satin White and Black options, but there are no high gloss finishes, or even colour options.
I also agree with others about the black ash. Practical, but a very dated late 70’s and early 80’s contemporary budget furniture look. MFI even. Certainly not becoming of a speaker range that goes up to just shy of £7k.

KEF, B&W, Focal and Dynaudio are way ahead in the styling departments, particularly with the front baffles and driver surrounds, but then they’re bigger companies with greater resources to play with.

Incidentally, I have a vague recollection that someone was going to offer retrofit acoustic foam inlays for the SCM metal grills. Did that ever happen?
I do remember in the past, there was some forum discussion (elsewhere) about DIY covering the grills with acoustic cloth material.
Lots of colours to choose from and it can be easily removed if necessary, for resale.
 
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