ATC SCM40A Floorstanding Loudspeaker Overview

[HTKamikazee]

On last January's CES event, ATC announced their newest floorstanding loudspeaker, the SCM40A. This is an active version of their famous SCM40 model. The new SCM40A incorporates ATC's 1" soft dome dual-suspension SH25-76 tweeter, paired with the company's 3" soft dome mid-range and a 6.5" short coil/long gap bass unit. Its drivers will be powered by a proprietary ATC tri-amplifier pack which is also an upgrade version of the one found in their Pro SCM25 monitor.

According to the company, the SH25-76 tweeter incorporates a dual suspension system that's designed to "suppress" rocking modes, while the neodymium magnet comes with a black heat-treated top plate. The mid-range dome is also an edited version of the SM 75-150 (introduced in 1976). It has a hand-doped acrylic diaphragm and dual suspension system among its features. The bass driver consists of a hand-coated, carbon-paper diaphragm and is which powered by an under hung motor and features a massive, optimized magnet assembly. The SCM40A features an on-board MOSFET class AB three-channel amplifier that comes with ATC's Grounded Source output stage in charge of delivering 25W to the high frequency driver, 60W to the mid-range and 150W to the bass driver for a total of 235W power.

Note: All on-board crossovers are active, modified-Butterworth 4th-order, with phase correction circuitry for each crossover point.

If you are interested, take a look at the following features and specifications and tell us what you think about this design.

FEATURES:

• New ATC designed and built dual suspension 1" soft dome HF unit with precision alloy wave guide.
• ATC 3" Soft Dome mid-range driver.
• ATC 6.5" short coil bass driver.
• All drive units incorporate massive optimized motor assemblies.
• On-board grounded source 242 watt Class A/B Tri-amplifier.
• Active filters and overload protection.
• 6 year warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Drivers: HF ATC 25mm dual suspension Tweeter, Mid 75mm ATC Soft Dome, LF ATC 164mm SC
• Matched Response: ±0.5dB
• Frequency Response (-6dB): 48Hz-22kHz
• Dispersion: ±80° Coherent Horizontal, ±10° Coherent Vertical
• Max SPL: 112dB
• Crossover Frequencies: 380Hz & 3.5kHz
• Connectors: Male balanced XLR
• Input sensitivity : 1V
• Filters : 4th Order critically damped with phase compensation.
• Overload Protection : Active FET momentary gain reduction.
• Fault Protection : DC fault protection and thermal trip. Fault indication on rear panel mounted LED
• Amplifier Output: 150W LF, 60W MF, 32W HF
• Cabinet Dimensions (HxWxD): 980 x 370 x 344mm (spikes add 25mm, grill adds 34mm to depth)
• Weight: 36kg

Price: $12,499/pair

Click on the following thumbnails to zoom in.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Goodness, $12.5K for a pair of speakers that barely goes below 50Hz @ -6dB? What's the -3dB point, 60Hz?

 

[shadyJ]

Goodness, $12.5K for a pair of speakers that barely goes below 50Hz @ -6dB? What's the -3dB point, 60Hz?

Expensive, but I don't care about a -6 dB at 50 Hz because nowadays we have these things called subwoofers. The best place for bass reproduction isn't always going to be the best place for frequencies above that point anyway. I may get a chance to hear these speakers soon, looking forward to that. Definitely wouldn't pay $12k for them though.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Expensive, but I don't care about a -6 dB at 50 Hz because nowadays we have these things called subwoofers. The best place for bass reproduction isn't always going to be the best place for frequencies above that point anyway. I may get a chance to hear these speakers soon, looking forward to that. Definitely wouldn't pay $12k for them though.

Not everyone wants the same thing for sure.

I'm sure if the B&W 802 Diamond or Revel Studio 2 could only go down to 50-55Hz @ -3dB, everyone would say, "Oh, but hey, I don't care about bass, that's what subs are you - I'm just paying $13K for the tweeter and midrange."

 

[cpp]

Goodness, $12.5K for a pair of speakers that barely goes below 50Hz @ -6dB? What's the -3dB point, 60Hz?

I seem to remember this guy in OK that spent a few BIG DOLLARS on Salon2, 802, and Orions

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I seem to remember this guy in OK that spent a few BIG DOLLARS on Salon2, 802, and Orions

What an idiot. What the hell was he thinking?

Didn't he also buy the $1,000 ATC SCM7 bookshelf speakers that didn't sound any better than the $100 NHT SuperZero?

 

[rojo]

Is it just me, or does a writeup crammed so full of technobabble just turn into marketing noise after a while? I mean, "hand doped acrylic diaphragm" sounds like a cone that's been spray painted with Krylon. "Dual suspension system" sounds like a fancy way to say a driver has a surround and a spider. "Optimized magnet assembly" and "optimized motor assemblies" make me wonder what would be considered unoptimized -- spare parts held together with duct tape and hot glue? I dunno, maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. But after reading two feet of marketing vomit, I still have no idea what makes this speaker worthy of its decadent price tag.

 

[zieglj01]

Is it just me, or does a writeup crammed so full of technobabble just turn into marketing noise after a while?

As the price goes up, so does the marketing hype!

However, a lot of rich people may buy into that.

This speaker does look way-over priced.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Well, I think it is very good that ATC is going from the very old boxy aesthetic to the new curved cabinet aesthetic.

I still think the B&W 802 Diamond has the best aesthetic.

 

[Dennis Murphy]

Is it just me, or does a writeup crammed so full of technobabble just turn into marketing noise after a while? I mean, "hand doped acrylic diaphragm" sounds like a cone that's been spray painted with Krylon. "Dual suspension system" sounds like a fancy way to say a driver has a surround and a spider. "Optimized magnet assembly" and "optimized motor assemblies" make me wonder what would be considered unoptimized -- spare parts held together with duct tape and hot glue? I dunno, maybe I'm just a curmudgeon. But after reading two feet of marketing vomit, I still have no idea what makes this speaker worthy of its decadent price tag.

I think they should get you to do the advertising copy. You're way more articulate.

 

[chadnliz]

They could have added some race track woofers, kept the nice look gone full range and at least half way convinced me its worth $12k....but they didn't.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Expensive, but I don't care about a -6 dB at 50 Hz because nowadays we have these things called subwoofers. The best place for bass reproduction isn't always going to be the best place for frequencies above that point anyway. I may get a chance to hear these speakers soon, looking forward to that. Definitely wouldn't pay $12k for them though.

Your point about optimum placement for bass often being different than for smoothness (and imaging) in the upper octaves is correct for many rooms, including mine. Nonetheless, I found that I do care about the bass extension and loudness of the mains for a couple reasons. First, mains with good extension blend better with powerful subs. Second, running the mains full-range and using the subs as fill-in for the response curve is a very interesting strategy, and the one I ended up using.

Regarding the ATCs, I haven't listened to this model specifically, but to the SCM150s. Like the B&W 800s the fit and fit of the ATCs exceeds what you see on most other products, but at their price points ATC speakers have left me wanting in sound quality, especially in imaging. The midrange drivers seem like gems, the tweeters not so much, compared to the best available from the big-name competition. B&M stores and the internet stores discount ATC quite a bit, but the prices are still pretty breathtaking. Like Harbeth (and Morgan cars for that matter) I think there's a market for these long legacy, hand-built British brands that isn't cross-shopping them with less storied or less in-house manufactured alternatives. I understand the bias, but I don't share it.