I requested a pair of ATC's SCM 11 passive monitors because its price of $1750/pair in real cherry veneer (or $1850/pair in black ash) fit into my quest…
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The venerable British company ATC Loudspeaker Technology was founded in 1974 by Billy Woodman, and is famous within the professional community for developing the first soft-dome midrange driver, and for their well-regarded line of active (powered) studio monitors, the user list of which is a veritable Who's Who of mastering engineers. ATC loudspeakers are all still made in the UK, and were a favorite of the late J. Gordon Holt.
Sonics
Playing "Embraceable You," from Jane Monheit's Taking a Chance on Love (CD, Sony Classical SK 92495), what immediately became apparent was the ATC's more articulate upper midrange. The treble was under control—revealing but sweet. Hand in hand with the above was a slightly wider soundstage. I quickly came to the conclusion that the ATC SCM 11 was a choice as valid as the Aerial 5B, and that, even though the differences between them were not "night and day," most listeners will prefer one speaker or the other, with room acoustics and associated equipment being, as always, major…
Playing "Embraceable You," from Jane Monheit's Taking a Chance on Love (CD, Sony Classical SK 92495), what immediately became apparent was the ATC's more articulate upper midrange. The treble was under control—revealing but sweet. Hand in hand with the above was a slightly wider soundstage. I quickly came to the conclusion that the ATC SCM 11 was a choice as valid as the Aerial 5B, and that, even though the differences between them were not "night and day," most listeners will prefer one speaker or the other, with room acoustics and associated equipment being, as always, major…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted speaker with Sealed-box woofer alignment. Drive-units: 1" soft-dome tweeter, 6" woofer. Low-frequency extension: 56Hz, –6dB. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms. Sensitivity: 85.0dB/2.83V/m.
Dimensions: 15" high by 8.3" wide by 9.8" deep. Weight: 17.6 lbs.
Serial numbers of review samples: 1385, 1386.
Price: $1750/pair in cherry veneer, $1850/pair in black ash.
Manufacturer: ATC Loudspeaker Technology Ltd., Gypsy Lane, Aston Down, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 8HR, UK. Tel: (44) (0)1285-760561. Fax: (44) (0)1285-760683. Web:…
Sidebar 2: Review System
I mainly used a Peachtree Nova USB integrated amplifier, and a Luxman DU-50 universal player as a transport feeding the Nova's S/PDIF port via a 2m length of Kimber Kable's DV-30 cable. Speaker cables were Nordost Blue Heavens. Later, I paired the ATCs with other electronics, including the Luxman L-505u integrated amplifier, and the Carat I57, Arcam Mini, and Denon RCD-DX1 one-box CD receivers.—John Marks
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The SCM 11's voltage sensitivity is specified as a fairly low 85.0dB/2.83V/m; this seemed a touch optimistic, as the ATC didn't seem to play any louder than the sample of the BBC LS3/5a that I routinely include when I'm set up to measure a bunch of loudspeakers. I estimated the ATC's sensitivity as being a low 82dB(B)/2.83V/m—this speaker should work best with higher-power amplifiers, though I note that JM had no drive difficulties with the Arcam Mini or Carat I57 receivers he used, and was impressed by the speaker's dynamic capabilities when he drove it with the…
The top third of the front baffle is tilted back for time alignment purposes, which gives the G/3 a distinctly pregnant look. Like the earlier Fried Studio IV, the edges of the G/3 enclosure are chamfered, which, together with the mirror imaging of the upper two drivers, is claimed to reduce diffraction effects. There is no foam or felt, however, on the front baffle—two things I've found particularly effective in controlling dispersion and minimizing diffraction effects. Our review pair had the weathered cosmetics of a demo pair with numerous finish blemishes; otherwise, the G/3 is…
Manufacturer's Comment
Editor: I was upset to learn that Dick Olsher regards our G/3 as a "lowly bass reflex." The "Line Tunnel" principle is something we developed years back as a next-best approximation to the virtues of true transmission lines. It does flatten impedance, giving one peak only, and in addition does contribute an additional source of low frequency information.
Some reviewers have called this a cross between air-suspension and bass reflex; others have called it any number of things. What it should be called is a Line Tunnel", or "Flow Resistance Loading system."—…
Sidebar: Specifications
Description: Three-way design with a 10" polypropylene woofer, 6½" poly midrange, and ¾" soft-dome tweeter. Bass loading: bass-reflex. Midrange loading: acoustic labyrinth line. Frequency response: 23Hz–22kHz, ±3dB. Maximum SPL: 120dB. Sensitivity: 91dB/W/m. Power rating: 25–200W.
Dimensions: 44" x 16" x 18". Weight: 85 lbs each.
Price: $2190/pair (1986); no longer available (2009).
Manufacturer: Fried Products Company, Philadelphia, PA 19151 (1986); Fried Products Corporation, PO Box 680, Gladwyne, PA 19035 (2009). Tel: (610) 649-8774. Web: www.…
Ah me, another year gone by. The rest of my holiday-gift suggestions are at the end of this column, but I wanted to kick off with a hearty recommendation of Aja, a book by Don Breithaupt. You may recall Breithaupt as a co-author (with his brother, Jeff) of the survey Precious and Few: Pop Music in the Early '70s, which cracked me up in my October column.
In a more serious vein, Breithaupt has devoted an entire, albeit small (130pp), book to Steely Dan's magnum opus: their 1977 album, Aja. Breithaupt's Aja is no.46 in the 331/3 series of monographs published by Continuum, each devoted to…
ATC's SCM 11 and Aerial Acoustics' 5B (which I wrote about in June) are variations on the same theme—sealed-box, stand-mounted two-ways costing about $2000/pair—so it seemed reasonable to compare them.
The ATC SCM 11's cabinet measures 15" high by 8.3" wide by 9.8" deep, displaces 1220 in3, and weighs 17.6 lbs. The Aerial 5B measures 13" high by 7.9" wide by 10.8" deep, displaces 1109 in3, and weighs 22 lbs. So the ATC's cabinet is about 10% larger. Perhaps more important—and I keep making a point of this because I think it's both nonintuitive and often overlooked by audiophiles while…