PMC twenty5.24 or ATC SCM40 v2

Hi,

I ran PMC 24s with the same system as yours (except I had a Supercap for the 282) for a couple of years.

The whole thing produced some great bass and the 24s were well suited in my room which can be tricky with a chimney breast in between.

I have no experience of the ATC 40s but in my room the PMCs saw off my Kudos C10s.

Ray

My listening room is large and combined living area and dinning area. Total would be about 5m x 15m. 

The front speakers will also double in a home theatre 3.1 setup eventually using a matched centre speaker and sub. 

Hi - I have compared the smaller PMC 25 series with ATC SCM19v2 - both types are enjoyable. Indeed the TL of the PMCs adds something that the ATCs don't - but the latter tend to have a warmer lower mid - great for female voices.

However the issue and the decider for me was the PMC tweeter/tweeter configuration - it just doesn't compete to the ATC driver for detail and transparency. I like to listen to choral and ambient 'unplugged' recordings and the ATCs were way ahead. So much so I though there might be a fault - so I listened back at my dealers on their Statement system - and the effects were even more pronounced... (My system was 552DR / 250.2)

However if this is not important for you with your tastes - or perhaps you don't listen to recordings that way - I do admit I am detail and incidental cue buff - then the PMCs are great. I have found the sometimes bleached lower mids of earlier PMC TL speakers seems to have been cured. And as far as ATC improvements - the earlier models power hunger to come alive has been resolved, and the tweeter and its crossover has been hugely improved as they have brought the tweeter to an in-house ferro-fluid free design. 

When you compared at the dealers did you use the same amplification and source set up as at home? If not you need to take your set-up to the dealers. Speakers are very personal and reading Simon's views above only confirms this as it seems that we overlap in musical taste but I preferred the PMC at a very extended demo time of several days! We all listen to music differently and what's great for Jill will sound wanting for John. I should add that my wife has a far more critical ear than I! Rich 

It is of course down to personal taste, but how the speaker works in your room is a significant factor.

I tried the PMC 25-24 against the ATC SCM40's with a NAP 250DR at a number of dealers and after a home demo or two i chose the ATC's. 

I preferred the mid range of the ATC's and the punchy bass. 

I agree, unfortunately dealers in Singapore (mostly) don’t permit home demos and taking my NDX/282/HiCapDR/NAPSC/250.2 to the dealer to audition speakers is a huge exercise.

I’m plan on visiting the ATC dealer again with a thumb drive of my fav flac files. ATCs are significantly cheaper head-to-head with PMC, so that’s definitely an issue. 

I should also think about the 19s v 40s. Given my room is large, I just figured the 40s would be a better option?

i can only comment on the  ATC 19's and 11's compared to pmc 23's and the ATC's just sound more correct across the frequency range with no exaggerated bass and a better tweeter. 

You really need to compare these side by side in your own room for a few days, if this is not possible then a dealer's room. Last resort would be to audition separately using the same kit.

I would expect ATC SCM40 to win a shoot out having listened to both. I prefer the ATC from top to bottom, smooth and detailed tweeter, one of the best mid drivers on the planet, and a sealed enclosure with dedicated bass driver offering tight and extremely accurate bass. I would expect twenty5.26 to be its rival, not twenty5.24.

SCM19 is not in the same league imho as SCM40.

I plan to pay particular attention to the SCM40s. Thank you for the advice.