Revel Performa 3 M105 vs ATC SCM11 (curved)

Can't say I've demoed the two speakers but I do own the Revel performa3 f206s. Stunning speakers. I haven't had them too long but I'm still amazed by the size of the soundstage they produce and how they pretty much disappear. I'm sure once I've added an xps to my cdx2 they'll vanish completely! They are a very neutral sounding speaker and give plenty of detail too which I love. They worked great with my nait 5i but are even better with the extra power of my SN. The performa3s are not fussy about position either. A stunning speaker and I have no desire to change them. 

Agree with Finkfan, everytime I've heard the revel performa3 f206s , fantastic, can not fault them. 

I don't know the Revels, but the ATCs are awesome. I own and love them.

The term 'disappear' is an interesting one. I doubt any speaker can really fool you into thinking the music is live in the room, and a UQ/100 is also probably not capable of that. What the ATCs do is produce a remarkable neutral, musical performance. It can take a while to appreciate it if you're used to speakers that 'do' something - the ATCs just open the door and let the music in. They're also beautifully made and relatively flexible about positioning. (And I strongly advise you to listen to them at home as the Revels are rear ported and may be more sensitive).

Also don't bi-amp the UQ2/100 with any speaker, as it sounds dark and flat; turn off the UQ amp and just use the 100.

And finally, this road leads onwards and onwards - the ATCs are capable of living with much better kit than the UQ/100, and will happily take you all the way to 272/250 and beyond.

Hi,

Tough advice to offer purchasing ATC's blind - at least their passive versions. Reason being is that their passive speakers are very hard to drive - low sensitivity. Years ago I demo'd the 11 with a Rega integrated and the Nait5i. Neither could properly drive them, and ultimately I chose some Naim speakers. I probably, in hindsight, should have still gone with the ATCs, as with proper amplification they are utterly fantastic, in fact, they're my favorite speaker manufacturer to date that I have heard. Had I known that in the future I would have had additional funds to upgrade amplification I could have lived with the "under-drive situation" for a while. So it's key to ask yourself how long you'd like to stay with the NAP100. 

IMHO, Rega/Naim Source, fed into a Naim pre-amp then onto active ATC speakers is the absolute bee's knees. Nothing wrong with Naim's power amps, but the advantages of going active - everything from a purpose built amplifier to the crossover - favors this setup on a pound for pound basis. Stunning VFM.

Regards

Aric

As Aric says, the ATCs are low sensitivity, and harder to drive them some. But I used them for a long time with the 100 and they were totally fine . . . that said I did upgrade to a 200 and it was better (although it would be better with almost any speaker, obviously). If you have a big space and enjoy Wagner loud then you may need a more powerful amp. 

I will add that one reason they're low sensitivity is the closed box design. That's also one reason why they're flexible about positioning - no reflex port to worry about. That's a trade-off I'd take every time. 

But the latest ATCs are easier to drive in terms of having a more benign impedance curve.. this is the attribute that can trip up power amps rather than sensitivity - unless the amp is very underpowered.

Agree about going active - especially when you need to wield a bit of power, a passive cross overs will always be quite a compromise and relatively poor filter performance is typically going to cause distortion around the cross over point (s).

if i was starting again now - with what I know now I probably would have my 252DR directly driving active versions of my SCM19s or equivalent.

There is increasing market interest in active speaker systems which I think is great news - active cross over designs I am less sure about - i think for many they tend to have too many boxes, wires and cost.

EDIT  Just had news that ATC are indeed launching active versions of their SCM19s

Hi Solid Air. Agreed that disappear is an interesting term. All subjunctive and dependent on many things of course, not least the music. When I use the term it's more to describe how the music is right out of the speakers, in the room. The best example I've heard of this was without doubt the Naim demo at the Bristol show on the weekend. The 272, XPS DR, 300DR, Sopra 2s was incredible! On a couple of tracks, not all, the music was all around me and not from the speakers at all. They weren't there! It almost sounded like I was sat in amongst the musicians. I swear I've never heard anything like it. I heard a comment from behind me that he thought the vocalist was in the room. Just amazing! Obviously you're not going to get that experience from much less a system, but you can get a good taste of it. That's just my experience.  

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

 

 

EDIT  Just had news that ATC are indeed launching active versions of their SCM19s

Yes, I saw this on ATC's website over the weekend. Very curious on price. ATC's cost in the US is quite a bit higher than just doing the exchange rate difference (import fees, distribution costs, etc.), which is why the 40A's will set one back $13k here ($7k for passive). The 19 retails for $4.3k, so would imagine they'll be asking something north of $7.5k. 

At those levels the question really becomes how does the PRO SCM20 mk.2 sound in comparison to the 19A? The Pro 20 has the new 'S' tweeter, whereas the 19 just the base version. In addition, one can pick up the 20 mk2 for $5k even...appears to be something of a bargain relative to the rest of their line. 

Interesting....

Thanks for the advice, guys. Attractive as the actives may be, I'm only willing to spend like 1.2k pounds on my speaker upgrade. About the dissappearing stuff, some speakers manage to do this. I experienced it with speakers as low priced as XTZ 93.23 mkII. You simply can't tell where the sound is coming from even when looking straight at them. Reading suggest Revels do about the same stuff, and I was wondering if the ATCs are also capable of that. But it appears that the ATCs are a bit too tough for the UQ2 + Nap100 to handle (by the way, bi-amping Wharfedale Jade 3 helped instead of making the sound worse). Guess I'll have a talk with the Revel dealers, maybe they can bring a pair in if I'm willing to buy, which won't be in the very near future.

The active SCM19s are £5k a pair. I'm willing to bet that hooked up to something like a NAC272, they would be absolutely stupendous. If I was in the market for a power amp and floor-standers, they'd be top of my list to audition.