It does indeed. £714 as is, £764 with streaming capability, which appeals.
8ohm - 200w / 4 ohm - 250w / 2 ohm - 180w
Claims to outperform amps up to £2k...
ATC SCM7 Amplification
- Thread starter SomeGuy
- Start date
It does indeed. £714 as is, £764 with streaming capability, which appeals.
8ohm - 200w / 4 ohm - 250w / 2 ohm - 180w
Claims to outperform amps up to £2k...
The Bish
pfm Member
with ATC speakers these Nord amps sound very clean indeed, have a friend with scm 19s and Nord monos and it is a powerful sounding combo. Not very ‘warm’ sounding though as you would expect, so depending on your taste that Nord could be great bang for bucks.
Romulus
pfm Member
No I have not heard one before but I have done some online research into Nord amps and users reviews. At least one or more reviews included using ATC passive speakers (I think it was ATC SCM19) and were very positive about the sound. I think one reviewer who used Nord amps with ATC speakers went as far to say he felt he did not need to upgrade to active ATC speakers as his passive ones sounded so good with Nord amps. At the end of the day the main question would be will you like the end sound/presentation of Nord amps with ATC? The snag is you have to buy Nord amps to use them, although Nord offers 30 day trial period money back if you are not happy (for me that is a worry - having to pack and send back and hope for instant refund from Nord). Class D amplification was born out of negative opinions, but to date it seemed to improve enough to compete with A/B amplification, eg Gato amps. The attractive part is that Nord amps seem to be well made with a very supportive owner, they compete with other amps as to build and sound and they are markedly cheaper in price to their market competitors. If Nord had dealers I would be down the dealers in a heartbeat to audition their products.
Given that the OP would recover most of his investment by selling the naim amp or rega it is something of a ‘no brainier’.
I think early digital amps lacked power but the technology has matured.
It is a nonsense to suggest that they would be better than active ATCs though.
I think early digital amps lacked power but the technology has matured.
It is a nonsense to suggest that they would be better than active ATCs though.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Virtually any SS amp is fine with virtually any normal speaker. It right does my 'ed in seeing "which amp should I use with "XYZ" speaker" every two days or so...
Carry on...
Carry on...
Curtis
pfm Member
I was wondering when you would turn up sir.Virtually any SS amp is fine with virtually any normal speaker. It right does my 'ed in seeing "which amp should I use with "XYZ" speaker" every two days or so...
Carry on...
Absolutely agree with you.
Hope the phono stage business is going well.
halvis
pfm Member
A few years ago, AVI amps were popular with small ATCs. Wouldn't be considered warm sounding at all, but grip them well with the 170 wpc ish the later ones had. A few earlier ones with 100wpc on ebay now, which should still do it.
If you can find one, they should be around the £550.
Alternatively, Rotel are easier to find and a good model with 100 wpc will give you the control and headroom you need.
Power really does open ATCs up and rewards with a more realistic sound. Not only controlling the bass, but the top end too. So even though they are revealing speakers, don't be afraid of throwing some grunt at them rather than a lower powered warm sounding amp. Overall I think the result will be much better with the power option.
If you can find one, they should be around the £550.
Alternatively, Rotel are easier to find and a good model with 100 wpc will give you the control and headroom you need.
Power really does open ATCs up and rewards with a more realistic sound. Not only controlling the bass, but the top end too. So even though they are revealing speakers, don't be afraid of throwing some grunt at them rather than a lower powered warm sounding amp. Overall I think the result will be much better with the power option.
The Bish
pfm Member
Virtually any SS amp is fine with virtually any normal speaker. It right does my 'ed in seeing "which amp should I use with "XYZ" speaker" every two days or so...
Carry on...
Agree they are all fine with normal speakers, but some do sound different and isn’t that the point of these types of threads, people’s subjective experience of how amps and speakers sound together? From personal experience I’ve been through different amps with a particular pair of speakers until one sounded really good to me, but they were all fine.
Curtis
pfm Member
True, but any well designed amp will drive the atc 7’s at 64db without hardening.
No need to throw loads of watts at them to achieve anything but ear breaking levels in a small room.
I don’t disagree, I’m of the assumption that the glare I’ve noticed is a feature of the Naim ‘sound’, along with some form of boosted bass, that perhaps isn’t for me.
Likewise, the Brio isn’t for me as it has some characteristics I’m not fond of either.
It’s good to know that any SS amp will suffice, I just need to find one that suits
Naim don’t boost bass, some find them a little bright but I think you may just need a little more power for what you are after?
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
Almost all SS amps have a very low output impedance and very flat frequency response and will drive any reasonable load with equanimity. Assuming a speaker that is not "the load from hell", or is from 1957 and was voiced with a valve amp with a damping factor of 3, what you are hearing is how good that amp sounds, and how good those speakers sound.... there will be fairly little interaction that could mean "x" speakers are a stupendously good match with "Y" amplifier, "a synergistic match made in heaven and you wouldn't want to look beyond THAT amp with THOSE speakers" etc etc, more that better amps erm.. sound better and better speakers the same. Those differences that remain are really Nth degree and personal taste plays such a part that IMHO all these "which speakers should I put with my new Acme amp" are a waste of time really.
I understand this to a degree however, I have been provided with a number of suggestions on this thread that I probably wouldn’t have considered for a variety of reasons, so it’s been most helpful for me to be able to draw up a list of possibilities to consider.
Buying & trying is pretty much the only way I’m going to end up where I need to, but I now have a few more options to try/consider.
Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
I would also add.
IMO whilst I agree that technically most solid state amps can drive the majority of speakers reasonably well. You get many different flavours of amplifiers and speakers and ultimately some gel well and others not so well. Therefore I think it is completely valid to seek the opinions of others who have tried for themselves, especially given the volume of products available, to at least identify a short list of possibilities. Then agree personal preference should be the decider, whether that is through audition or buying and selling as per OP.
IMO , as a hobby, reading reviews; seeking opinions; auditioning is half the fun ie building your system. Then the other is enjoying the music on the system you have built. I don't think forums such as these would be popular without these types of threads.
IMO whilst I agree that technically most solid state amps can drive the majority of speakers reasonably well. You get many different flavours of amplifiers and speakers and ultimately some gel well and others not so well. Therefore I think it is completely valid to seek the opinions of others who have tried for themselves, especially given the volume of products available, to at least identify a short list of possibilities. Then agree personal preference should be the decider, whether that is through audition or buying and selling as per OP.
IMO , as a hobby, reading reviews; seeking opinions; auditioning is half the fun ie building your system. Then the other is enjoying the music on the system you have built. I don't think forums such as these would be popular without these types of threads.
halvis
pfm Member
I have tried many different amps with ATC speakers and its quite easy to tell which are working and which are not. For example, I had a 130wpc Luxman 507u (I think), very expensive and feature rich amp. So much so I thought it could be my last amp, but it sounded absolutely terrible because I believe it hadn't got the current to drive the SCM 35's I had at the time and this was at any volume. The top end was very shrill.
I then put in the ATC integrated and everything came under control again. That said, I thought the ATC amp still had a sound to it which I didn't like and ultimately preferred a set of much older (the ATC was brand new) Michell Alecto mono blocks which gave a more natural if slightly softer sound.
In my view, there are sound differences whether the amp is working within its parameters or not. Of course, the age of the amp could have something to do with the sound too.
I then put in the ATC integrated and everything came under control again. That said, I thought the ATC amp still had a sound to it which I didn't like and ultimately preferred a set of much older (the ATC was brand new) Michell Alecto mono blocks which gave a more natural if slightly softer sound.
In my view, there are sound differences whether the amp is working within its parameters or not. Of course, the age of the amp could have something to do with the sound too.
Arkless Electronics
Trade: Amp design and repairs.
I don't know why I waste my time but, once again, this is not a thing and doesn't happen. FORGET CURRENT!!
Curtis
pfm Member
Jez is legendary, how very dare you!