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Pre for ATC actives

L

Loti

New Member
Just taken the plunge and got a pair of ATC 50ASL and now need to get a suitable pre as my Croft does not have balanced ouputs , which I would like to use and also I am not sure of its suitability with the ATCs I have thought I would get an ATC pre as I assume they would be the best for their speakers but been reading up and there are various suggestions any thoughts or experience would be appreciated.
 
I had SCM100ASLs with an ATC SCA2 preamp. Absolutely superb. But when my source became a Benchmark DAC1 I couldn’t hear any advantage in the SCA2 and just went direct from the Benchmark, which actually had some useful functionality to vary its output level to give a more useful volume control range. Since then I’ve used a variety of DACs, nearly all with balanced outputs into a variety of active ATCs. I now have some SCM50ASLTs with a Chord DAVE. Quite acceptable. Only point of the SCA2 for me would be if you had a CD player you were particularly attached to, and/or vinyl, and/or a tuner and/or a tape deck. Enjoy your speakers, ATCs take you into a different musical world, the one you always hoped would be possible but that your hifi never delivered.
 
I use a CDA2, it is brilliant but I still listen to CDs. It is excellent value IMO & it replaced a pretty upscale naim stack.

ATC gear is competitively priced, comes with a 6 year warranty etc
 
Loti said:
Just taken the plunge and got a pair of ATC 50ASL and now need to get a suitable pre as my Croft does not have balanced ouputs , which I would like to use and also I am not sure of its suitability with the ATCs I have thought I would get an ATC pre as I assume they would be the best for their speakers but been reading up and there are various suggestions any thoughts or experience would be appreciated.
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Unbalanced outputs from the Croft may be no problem. That connection is foreseen in the user manual (pdf link) - see section 4 and diagram 3.

In your position I would first think about RCA plug to XLR (male) cables before thinking about changing pre-amp. Either as a short adaptor if you already have full length XLR to XLR cables, or as full length cables.
 
It depends how long the cable runs are. I ran mine via a naim 252 & felt it was a bit of bodge (even though technically it was fine).
 
I agree with AndyU, the SCA2 is greatly underrated, if you can find one. However, I am using a Music First Audio Baby Reference 2 now which is passive, and it’s probably my last preamp ever. It’s sweet with active ATCs. You can pick up MFA Classics for good prices too

Enjoy!
 
if you need a remote sadly the mfa classic does not have one . the pre 5 is roughly equivalent to mfa classic mark one and pre 3 vbs to the classic mark 2
 
You can have a remote with MFA as an option but I don’t see the point. My hair shirt’s just been washed and ironed.
 
SCA2 here with 100ASLT's. Great also for hooking up two DACs and flipping between the two if you want to compare (assuming volume matched of course).
 
Many thanks for the comments and they are a great help.I am hoping I don’t miss speaker and box swapping ! I had thought about the SCA2 but finding a secondhand one is a problem. I use vinyl and a cd player along with streamed music. I had looked at the CDA2 as it does cut down on one box and looks quite an attractive proposition. Benchmark have been mentioned but I don’t think will give me the inputs I need.Will look up about the MFAs
 
I’m one of those using a Bel Canto Pre with my active ATC’s although I “only” have the scm40a’s.
It’s a lovely pre, great build quality & a very nice sound. Not too forced or forward yet not overly bloomy. I tried an ATC pre amp but found it to be a bit too “in yer face” even a bit Naim-like maybe for my tastes.
I bought it assuming it may only be a stop-gap pre until I find something I really rate, but haven’t really ever found it wanting, so it’s a keeper!
 
The ATC pre I have is rather lively but it images better than naim gives a bigger soundscape.

I like it but I never found naim overly forward.
 
Loti said:
Many thanks for the comments and they are a great help.I am hoping I don’t miss speaker and box swapping ! I had thought about the SCA2 but finding a secondhand one is a problem. I use vinyl and a cd player along with streamed music. I had looked at the CDA2 as it does cut down on one box and looks quite an attractive proposition. Benchmark have been mentioned but I don’t think will give me the inputs I need.Will look up about the MFAs
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The Benchmark DAC3 L and DAC3 HGC have 5 digital inputs and 2 analogue inputs; you could use a phono amp for your vinyl into one of the analogue inputs. From memory the DAC2 HGC/L was the same.
 
I have used a Mark Levinson ML380S with my 50asls but recently moved to using a Mytek Manhattan II DAC/pre. The other pre that looks good is the Benchmark LA4.
 
I’d seen some Naim preamp with active ATC. Naim do not have any balance out. I’m using a Spectral preamp without balance out connected to ATC SCM 19a. Bought a custom made cable, RCA > XLR. So far so good, then, I do not know what I’m missing using a true balanced preamp. However, I’m enjoying it.
 
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