ATC SCM 40 with NAP 250 DR .

pete T15 posted:

Has anyone tried or is using this combination ? 

I am slightly constrained by my listening room as I live in a Victorian terraced house , meaning party walls , bay windows and fireplaces  etc. As I go forward and build a system around my 250DR , I will be looking for some speakers that aren't much taller than my PMC 23s . My experience tells me to look for front ported or sealed box designs and these ATCs seem a good place to start ? 

Thoughts please ? 

Peter. 

 

 

Hi Peter,

I have a NAC-N 272 + 250DR driving a pair of ATC SCM40 (current version) and for me it's a wonderful match.

As ever it's very personal and a home demonstration is a must, but like you my room isn't the largest and they work beautifully.

I also tried the PMC 23 & 24 and found the bass rather overwhelming and not in my view accurate. Probably more to do with the room than the speakers. Where the ATC's produce tight and accurate bass and go surprising low when required rather than produce an exaggerated version of what the producer intended. 

I hope that helps?

 Paul

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Tried the PMC 23 and although good preferred the Fact sound.

I would consider PMC Fact 3 or 8, which have quite a number of similar SQ traits as the SCM40.  There's also the SCM19 and 19A.

Ovator S 400 would be on my list, too.

I use SN2 + HCDR to run my SCM40 (current version). I come from PMC Twenty.23 in same setup. My listening room is slightly over 20 m2 and SCM40 would definitely benefit from bigger space but they also work well in this environment. Compared to .23, SCM40 was better on pretty much everything. Bigger sound with more power, more authority, more speed and all in all more spectacular and stunning performance. Midrange is completely on another level because of the ATC's mid-driver. Of course bass performance can't even be compared since .23 is so much smaller speaker. After I switched back to .23 after demo, I thought the midrange disappeared completely. 

Anyway, SN2 + HCDR does good job running them but I know I would also benefit of 250DR. Without HCDR, the sound loses control and bass performance weakens clearly. But with HCDR, the sound stays in great shape and has amazing speed into it. There is a lot of bass but it doesn't matter since it stays in control. Of course it would stay in better control with 250DR. I've been postponing the audition of 250DR since I'm afraid I couldn't live without one after that.

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Erm... Turn the volume down?

Innocent Bystander posted:

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Erm... Turn the volume down?

From my memory, I wasn't impressed with low volume, Perhaps that's a function of the 200.  No issues with the Fact3s I now have.

Have never heard them but gorgeous looking speaker and look an excellent spec for for the money.

Jude2012 posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Erm... Turn the volume down?

From my memory, I wasn't impressed with low volume, Perhaps that's a function of the 200.  No issues with the Fact3s I now have.

How how are the FACT 3s by comparison?

k90tour2 posted:

Jude2012 posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Erm... Turn the volume down?

From my memory, I wasn't impressed with low volume, Perhaps that's a function of the 200.  No issues with the Fact3s I now have.

How how are the FACT 3s by comparison?

In essence, they are similar - fast, transparent, uncoloured.  

From my demo notes, the 'differences/ idiosyncrasies' are:  the mid range in the SCM40 is clearer. The HF in the Fact is better.  The bass is well defined and articulate in both, perhaps sightly more tuneful in the SCM.  The Fact is more choerent across the range.  The biggest difference is price, the SCM is excellent value.

Overall, it's down to preference , room , and what's upstream. 

For the OP, not sure whether you have seen this - https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...08#48028103842001008

HTH

Jude

PS a useful feature of the Fact range is the bass and table tuning feature, which makes their already unfussy placement even more user friendly.

Thanks Jude

Thanks for the comments , it seems like they work really well together even though  I'm trying to be a little less wall penetrating these days  ! Thanks for the link Jude , I missed that thread  . 

I tried Fact 8s at home and they were fantastic with the lower Bass setting but I found them too physically imposing in my room , I would like to try the Fact 3s but they don't seem that easy to find for demo . 

As ever it will always come down to a home demo and I may throw the ATC 19s into the mix as well . I really like my PMCs but I'm ready to push on a little from where I was a couple of years ago . Has anyone compared ATC 40s and 19s ?

Peter .

pete T15 posted:

Thanks for the comments , it seems like they work really well together even though  I'm trying to be a little less wall penetrating these days  ! Thanks for the link Jude , I missed that thread  . 

I tried Fact 8s at home and they were fantastic with the lower Bass setting but I found them too physically imposing in my room , I would like to try the Fact 3s but they don't seem that easy to find for demo . 

As ever it will always come down to a home demo and I may throw the ATC 19s into the mix as well . I really like my PMCs but I'm ready to push on a little from where I was a couple of years ago . Has anyone compared ATC 40s and 19s ?

Peter .

For a demo of a Fact3, calling PMC direct worked for me, they provided a pair to a local dealer. 

This is an interesting thread Pete.  I imagine that I will following in your footsteps soon. My office set up need a monitor type on stands rather than floor mounted.  The Audiobarn lent me some ATC40s but they didn't sit right in the room.  Maybe SCM19, maybe Fact 3. 

The SCM19's don't have the scale of the SCM40's as you would imagine but the 19's have the great SL driver which is very tight and fast so well worth a try. The Fact 3's I am not so familiar with, have heard the 8's on a fair few occassions but never even seen a pair of Fact 3's!

I had a very quick and opportunistic demo this week after a cancelled meeting , the system was a 272/XPSDR/200 . I heard the ATC 19 / 40s compared win PMC 23s . All 3 very impressive but I probably preferred the ATC 19s for what I'm looking for , very tight and tuneful bass , amazingly clear and dynamic . The 40s were very similar but with definitely more in the bass department . I'm not sure if I could live with the ATCs size though as their footprint is much bigger than I imagined . Swapping back to the PMC 23s wasn't disappointing at all but they did come 3rd in this brief 45 minute listen , they are much easier on the eye though . The ATCs seem very good value indeed . 

I will try and have a listen to some Fact 3s soon but it seems like absolutely no one stocks them ? I tend to prefer to see and hear speakers at a dealer before a home demo but that doesn't seem an option at the moment . 

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Tried the PMC 23 and although good preferred the Fact sound.

I would consider PMC Fact 3 or 8, which have quite a number of similar SQ traits as the SCM40.  There's also the SCM19 and 19A.

Ovator S 400 would be on my list, too.

Hi Jude , what stands are you using and do you know the overall height inc stands of your Fact 3s . 

Thanks 

Peter 

Pete, how did you find the 272 based set up compared to your own?

pete T15 posted:

Jude2012 posted:

I've home demoed the SCM40s with a 200 and they were brilliant.  Didn't go for them though, as they were too powerful ( in a wall penetrating way). 

Tried the PMC 23 and although good preferred the Fact sound.

I would consider PMC Fact 3 or 8, which have quite a number of similar SQ traits as the SCM40.  There's also the SCM19 and 19A.

Ovator S 400 would be on my list, too.

Hi Jude , what stands are you using and do you know the overall height inc stands of your Fact 3s . 

Thanks 

Peter 

 

 

Hi Peter,

Glad you are getting nearer to your goal.  

I use the Fact3 stands, more info and insight here https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...99#53097173021676199  . The overall height is 104cm.

PMC were very helpful - they asked where I live, identified a local dealer and sent their demo pair to this dealer. The local dealer arranged Drop off and pick up from my home for the demo.

HTH

Jude

 PS couldn't resist the pic 

They look fantastic Jude. Did you try the Fact 8 as well? 

Thanks Jude , thats very helpful and they look great . That looks like the Graphite finish ? I have seen some second hand Walnut Fact 3s for sale from a good dealer , they are with stands about a year old and  are £2.5k which is tempting , I'm not sure about the Walnut though . 

We were pleasantly surprised by the graphite poplar finish.  When the 19s were in the frame, we were considering acoustic energy reference stands.

Mayor West posted:

Pete, how did you find the 272 based set up compared to your own?

The 272 set up sounded great even though it wasn't perfectly set up , the XPS was stacked on top of the NAP200 and I think it wasn't warmed up fully . This isn't a criticism of the dealer but I only called around 20 minutes earlier, they were very accommodating and helpful  in the circumstances .There was an awful lot to like about it though. I think my system sounded better with the 23s but it should do as I have a better power amp and (without getting into another  Hugo debate) a better DAC and cables etc . If I was going for a new system from fresh , the first set up i'd look at would be 272/XPS/250DR . 

Mayor West posted:

They look fantastic Jude. Did you try the Fact 8 as well? 

Thanks.  Didn't try the 8s at home as they were too big. It was dealer and show dems of the 8s though that led me to these.