Stereophile atc scm11 upgrade#

This experience did not prepare me for my reaction when I got them back to base, but first there’s a long history to this miniature. I had been impressed by the sound of the SCM7 on a glancing visit to the ATC room at the February Bristol Show, so requested a sample pair.In fact the price makes them a genuine bargain. Their ability to deliver accurate speech reproduction was a huge bonus, but they will equally impress those constrained by size or price and can be highly recommended.

The imaging prowess is impressive, the bass surprising given the size of sealed enclosure, and the get-up-and-go means they are endearing to music lovers with a variety of tastes. I lived with them quite happily for many weeks and found them highly enjoyable whatever I asked them to do.

I also obtained excellent results from the SCM7 when listening to them in the near-field, and closer than I would ordinarily even for a speaker of these dimensions, which reveals their studio monitor heritage.Īddictive is the word I would use to describe the SCM7.

With rock and pop, as well, the foot-tapping ability of the little SCM7s entertained with the likes of Cyndi Lauper’s studio album True Colours which revealed the speaker’s gravitas and richness thanks to a slight warmth through the middle registers.

Live performances tended towards the sublime, with outstanding levels of inner detail revealed along with convincing spatial and three-dimensional details as in an enjoyable listen to Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1953 and the Leonore Overture No.3, recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikvereinssaal back in June 1944.

The LF section also has an R-C Zobel network which corrects the bass unit’s rising impedance for the benefit of the low-pass network.

The crossover network is worthy of note, employing as it does a second-order filter for both the low-pass and high-pass sections.

Small they maybe, but lightweight and flimsy they certainly are not, partly due to the 3.5kgs of the huge, underhung magnet system on the mid/bass unit with its 45mm voice coil.

Usually, just some minor work needed like replacing the surrounds on the woofers. No reason not to go second hand here - you will get a much better speaker for your budget and speakers last decades.

There is a recent review of the AN K at 6 moons - it's funny that this speaker has been selling since 1992 and it seems like only recently have they been getting any kind of coverage.Īnd of course, the 5/9 has been around even longer so there is probably more likelihood of finding them. Ie you can buy amplifiers based on how they sound versus buying them based on whether they can drive 2 ohms or not.

Stereophile atc scm11 upgrade#

Still the advantage of the easy-to-drive speaker which is unusual for sealed cabinets is that should you decide to upgrade from SS to a good tube amplifier in the lower watt range ~8-20 watts you can do that without having to replace your speakers. Both speakers harken back decades and are still obviously holding up. I was happy to review both in my system as the K/SPe won speaker of the year in 2010 and the Rogers LS 5/9 won in 2020. But the speakers are considerably more expensive than the K/SPe. I am currently reviewing the Rogers LS 5/9 which are also sealed and can also be placed near walls. I am not allowed to direct link to my review but they easily replaced my KEF LS-50s. I run 8-watt SET amps on them and also run 250 watts (430 Class D Wyred4Sound mAmps). I would take this over the speakers you listed.Īnd they only need 7 watts per channel so you have more than enough. They currently make 4 versions of the speaker - but you should be able to find a used pair in your budget (AN K/Lx is copper wired so is less money). I recently reviewed the Audio Note K/SPe standmount - these are sealed cabinets and are designed to be placed in corners or up against the wall.