Got the Acoustic Transducer Company (ATC) SCM7 today. They were wrapped in white cloth bags, packed with foams, and double-boxed. Very nice packing.
They are placed on 42" speaker stands in my family room, hooked to the Adcom speaker selector #4 (#3 is Phil3, #2 is Focal 826V, #1 is Dynaudio X32). The speakers are powered by my Denon 3312 in 2.1 Stereo mode, no EQ, DSP, or Audyssey RC. XO set to 80Hz. Speakers set to Small. Sub mode set to LFE.
All speakers share four Velodyne SC-600 subs (unpowered 10" subs), which are powered by an ATI AT2004 amp.
I listened to my usual music like Yo-Yo Ma/ Ennio Morriscone, Anne-Sophie Mutter/ Beethoven, Inception OST, Dark Knight Rises OST, Dave Mathews/ Tim Reynolds Radio City Hall, Phil3 Demo CD.
My impression is that the ATC speakers sound fantastic.
The midrange is detailed and and crystal clear, treble is smooth, and soundstage is wide and deep. In 2.1 mode w/ my 4 Velodyne, they sound like giant towers.
Afterwards, I tried to test their dynamics with some karaoke.
I like songs such as Chris Cornel's "You Know My Name" from Casino Royale because they beg me to scream and shout into the microphone.
The ATC sound great with karaoke as well.
BTW, I have sang karaoke with the Focal, Dynaudio, and Phil3 as well.
So in conclusion, I think the ATC SCM7 are excellent sounding bookshelf speakers. I don't know if they sound like their $85,000 flagship speakers, but since they are built in-house in the same factory in England and share the basic same technology (sans the higher end components
) I bet some trickled-down benefits are at play. The SCM7 are great sounding speakers.