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ATC: updated website

Still got incorrect spec data for my speakers*, even though they've been told. They ought to watch this, as it's only a matter of time before it becomes a big issue for someone (as it nearly was for me).

* height info shows 1070mm when in fact it's closer to 1200mm, which meant I couldn't place them where I'd originally intended...
 
Shame the domestic 200 still has that old SEAS tweeter whilst the pro version has seen the new ATC design incorporated.
 
Cool, but can it whisper as well?

What I mean is can it sing at those very low volumes that you would want at 3 AM when all you want is some smooth and smokey jazz or may be some gentle chamber music?


Louballooo
 
Well, the odd fact might be wrong, but does it really matter when we have a British company producing some of the very best loudspeakers on the planet.

I'm saying this today, plus a well earned glass of wine, because we have just spent 4 hours moving from ATC40's, P1, CA2 to Pro Active 50's (better than the tower series IMHO, sorry...) today combined with the Eximus DP1 DAC and I haven't heard many or any system for that matter so totally in control with hair raising performance. Difficult room, but no problem with the 50s.

Forget your expensive and nonsense tweaks, this is the real deal!

Thanks to ATC for their loan pair :)

Peter
 
Igloo Audio said:
Well, the odd fact might be wrong, but does it really matter when we have a British company producing some of the very best loudspeakers on the planet.
Click to expand...
Actually, it does matter at this price point. If a manufacturer is going to put data on its website it better be accurate. Otherwise it runs the risk of returns or similar. In my case it wasn't a big deal in the end, but given that I'd used the site to confirm dimensions prior to order, I ought to have been able to trust those dimensions and the fact is that they were wrong.

Not to take away from the quality of the product which is second to none, but there really is no excuse for mistakes like this.

Let's not take this as a criticism of ATC, rather acknowledging something that they ought to take more care of if they're going to publish it to the world...
 
JTC said:
Let's not take this as a criticism of ATC, rather acknowledging something that they ought to take more care of if they're going to publish it to the world...
Click to expand...

They aren't ones for listening IME. :)

Some years ago Neil R (from here) and I went to the factory to listen to the Anniversary 50's. Neil will remember but we sat through a demo and IIRC one drive unit was clearly wired out of phase with the other.

When discussing the demo I happened to mention this problem only to be told that it was impossible and that ATC don't do that sort of thing. The assumption seemed to be that the listener was clueless rather than that one of their old dears had put a couple of tags on back to front.

They do make some good loudspeakers but I was quite taken aback by their arrogance at the time.
 
louballoo said:
Cool, but can it whisper as well?

What I mean is can it sing at those very low volumes that you would want at 3 AM when all you want is some smooth and smokey jazz or may be some gentle chamber music?


Louballooo
Click to expand...

The "forum wisdom" is that ATCs have to be played at ear-bleeding level before they sound any good. Either you believe this, or you know it isn't true. It would be quite an interesting engineering project to design a speaker that behaved like that.
 
Blzebub said:
The "forum wisdom" is that ATCs have to be played at ear-bleeding level before they sound any good.
Click to expand...

That's not how the customer felt today.

In fact, I would say the 40's sounded better at low volumes in his room (CA2, P1), but the active pro 50's sounded superb at every level.

Peter
 
Blzebub said:
The "forum wisdom" is that ATCs have to be played at ear-bleeding level before they sound any good. Either you believe this, or you know it isn't true. It would be quite an interesting engineering project to design a speaker that behaved like that.
Click to expand...

I disagree I'm afraid Bub. If you have a loudspeaker that's ruler flat at 100db it will not most likely sound subjectively correct at 50db. One of the reasons BBC monitors were designed with different goals to the likes of the SCM50.

Most large studio monitors are designed with accurate timbre above 85db at 1m the goal I'm told, indeed Dynaudio even go so far as to mention it in their specifications for the M series.

That doesn't mean that ATC's sound terrible at low levels. Of course they don't. But it's not IME where their strengths lay.
 
Blzebub said:
The "forum wisdom" is that ATCs have to be played at ear-bleeding level before they sound any good. Either you believe this, or you know it isn't true.
Click to expand...

A loudspeaker - any loudspeaker, can only work as the designer intended at one particular sound level. Fletcher & Munson tell us why. I suspect it is likely that most ATC designs are intended to operate at levels greater than my granny would have liked ;)
 
It's really not appropriate for a loudspeaker manufacturer to apply a 'loudness' correction, they should just aim for flat at any level.

So if Harbeth add boom and tizz to optimise their speakers for low levels then that is just wrong.

Paul
 
merlin said:
That doesn't mean that ATC's sound terrible at low levels. Of course they don't. But it's not IME where their strengths lay.
Click to expand...

I think I know what you mean. As I'm sure you agree Merlin, this isn't a characteristic of ATCs per se but of any monitor with a flat-ish response. They aren't going to "help out" recordings played at 50db to sound like what they were designed to sound like at 85db. For that you need a smile response or similar.

Having said that, I find my ears and brain can adjust well to different levels but they do take a little time to do so--it's certainly not instant especially going from loud to quiet. Once I've adjusted I think my 50s (classics Peter!) sound fine at quiet levels.
Darren
 
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