ATC SCM50 ASLT, $27,000 Per Pair (39.49h, 11.97w, 18.5d, 113 lbs)

{9” Woofer, 3” Dome Midrange, 1” Soft Dome Tweeter}

{Amps, 200w, 100w, 50w}

All amps are Class AB with MOSFET output transistors.

This classic ATC Active is a magnificent speaker that reveals the cleanest window into the music I’ve heard! It provides the best start/stop control you can get- because the drivers are each directly driven by their own amps- there’s no passive crossover in the road.

It is tri-amped with on board amps. The amps are class AB and run in the analog domain. There’s no digital conversion or DSP Monkey biz. The drivers and amps are made in ATC’s own house in England with a 6 year warranty.

Most speakers with amps are “powered” instead of “active.” They convert the signal to digital, run extensive DSP programs, often have passive crossovers on board, and are mostly made in China or comprised of Chinese modules to be “assembled” somewhere else.

I write more specifically about ACTIVE vs passive at our ATC yellow tab. This entry is specifically to brag up (!!) the virtues of this wonderful, iconic model.

If your investment in traditional speakers, amplifiers and speaker cables is going to end up anywhere near $27k, it’s time take the fork in the road and head to ATC ACTIVE speakers.

ATC Active speakers are THE defacto studio monitors in today’s recording world. Pros the world over hear more precisely what’s in the mix and can balance and CORRECT accordingly. The ATC Actives are not just “fun.” They’re so revealing that they are our industry’s best tools.

SCM50ASLT is a very different, and I think BETTER speaker system, than anything less. Please remember that its price tag includes amplification. You don’t need to buy an amplifier or expensive speaker cables. For me, this model is the sweet spot for the vast majority of listeners. There are some bigger brother options listed at the bottom of the page.

It is the first ACTIVE speaker in the ATC family that can muscle up in a large room. It comes complete with a high testosterone, 9” woofer- driven by its dedicated, on board, 200w amp. My listening room is a 17×17 loft, which is open to much greater space in the rest of the house. The 50s deliver my music with authority!

It also features ATC’s industry defining DOME midrange driver, mounted with flared dispersion waveguide, which easily puts it a level above “just cones.” The dome mid uses ATC’s patented Dual Suspension technology and is driven by its dedicated, on board, 100w amp. The dome midrange provides better resolution, dispersion and spaciousness than cones can achieve. Cones are easy to build so they’re common. Domes are tougher to build so we see far fewer. Almost everyone else uses cones- most of which are purchased from OEM vendors. ATC builds all its own drivers in house. The dome midrange is a game changer I need to have. I prefer them to any alternative, be they cones, pans or stats.

ATC achieves a synergy by running the dome tweet and dome midrange drivers. Their characteristics are more harmonious than trying to blend a dome tweeter to a cone midrange- as virtually all the other guys do. I’m not saying the other guys can’t achieve good sound. But you’ll hear that the running the dome mid & tweet put the speaker in a superior level of simpatico.

The system is rounded out by ATC’s soft dome tweeter. The motor (magnet) systems controlling all ATC drivers are conspicuously more Herculean than what you’ll find from virtually everyone else. The tweeter is driven by its dedicated, on board 50w amp.

ATC Actives have the most airy, yet smooth and unencumbered top end I’ve heard. They are not contaminated by the extra “tizz” that is endemic in the vast majority of passive speakers. ATC achieves this level of accuracy by:

1) Not having a passive crossover in the road

2) Using their patented Dual Suspension technology

3) Controlling the tweeter mechanism with a motor structure many times more substantial than the other guys.

ATC drivers use a short coil / long gap design to keep the drivers under full linearity throughout their excursion. Most companies allow the drivers to drift out of the range of the magnetic gap during their travel and lose some grip / information in the process.

On To The Music

As an acoustic piano fan first and foremost, I’m struck by the ability of the speakers to START and STOP on a dime. The attack of the hammer to the cord is the best I’ve heard and stays smooth in the process. The same goes for distinctly picked strings on guitars and every other percussive instrument. But what never fails to impress me, is how it makes the lower end of a grand piano sound taut instead of murky.

ATC Actives have an extremely neutral tonal balance. The majority of speakers you’ll hear sound brighter than ATC due to the influence of passive crossovers with hundreds or even thousands (!!) of feet of wire in the path- and voicing that suits electronica, rather than acoustic music.

Many a stat or pan sounds fast- until you compare with this ATC Active. Then… you realize that ATC provides a new level of GRIP- that we just haven’t heard before. Stats are fraught with spurious noises and there’s a good chance the panels will have to be replaced within a decade or less. There are no such worries with ATC Actives- and the sound is more clear and smooth.

This piano accuracy is most clearly evident on state of the art recordings like Ben Grosvenor’s Decca releases of Busoni, Schumann and Liszt. The lower levels of a grand piano are often muddled by passive speakers. Playing Volodos’ Liszt version of “Funerailles” is a great test of any speaker’s ability to play deep, yet taut. The ATC Actives beat everything else I’ve heard.

You might be saying, what about $100k aluminum or epoxy resin cabinet speakers? Well, guess what- they ALL have constrictive passive crossovers built in. They all brag about it. Many show you photos of 20-30 pound crossovers- which are spitloads of wire trying to send signals here and there AFTER your amplifier. ATC has a better mouse trap with its ACTIVE speakers.

The ATC advantage goes much further which happily surprised me. I was “afraid” that playing CDs that are older would make them sound lousy compared to the new recordings I just mentioned. But what I found, were new treasures.

I broke out my beloved Mozart piano concerto box (all 27) by Vladimir Ashkenazy. VA also recorded for Decca. This is an extensive box where the recordings start in 1966 and conclude in 1987. The sound of these masterpieces through ATC Actives beats anything I’ve heard before. It makes the piano sound more deep and taut than any passive system I’ve heard by a large margin. What a treat to hear some classic, somewhat early, stereo recordings, compete with modern recordings.

Some of the concertos were recorded on analog tape. Most of the others were recorded in the early days of DDD. As a card carrying audiophile you’ve been told that digital can’t be good. You’ll hear that even on these 40-50 year old masters, the sound is outstanding! I’m hearing new things in every piece and appreciating all the more how great these CDs sound. One of the major benefits for my listening, is that I have a resurgent interest in older recordings from the 60s/70s. There’s a lot more in those bones than I ever realized. As I go through the libraries of Horowitz, Perahia, Kempff, Ashkenazy, Argerich, Uchida, Brendel, Pollini and other fabulous pianists, it’s like hearing these CDs for the first time. Regardless of the genre of music YOU love, I know you can empathize with what I’m recounting here. You end up staying up late just to hear one more tune.

I’m probably similar to you in that… when I get a new recording of a work I already have, I know the fidelity is likely to be better than the older ones. Hence I tend to return to it frequently. The ATCs make the classic Ashkenazy Decca recordings sound so much better that I’m finding I want to hear THOSE, vs something new and shiny. The masters like Ashkenazy usually have a way with Mozart or Beethoven that the latest whiz bang, doesn’t.

In addition to the deep and dynamic sounds of the piano, the colors of the Philharmonia Orchestra are rich and mellow. I’m delighted to hear this level of sound on this box because the Mozart piano concertos are usually played with a chamber orchestra. It’s just too expensive to hire a full orchestra and run the gamut of all 27 concertos today. Give me the full 80 piece orchestral version- please! And we have it, in great glory from Ashkenazy and Decca.

Another stunning piano recording I enjoy every time I spin it is “Opus 1” by Anna Geniushene from Russia. She’s playing the FIRST works of some of my favorite composers. The opening Chopin piece is new to me. It’s clean and delightful. The Tchaikovsky isn’t well known either. Schumann’s “Abegg Variations” are incredibly beautiful and creative. Brahms’ piano sonata is a nothing short of magnificent- written at age 18. Hearing all of these recordings, on one CD, with crystalline definition, allows us to drink in the gorgeous textures of her piano. What a stupendous window into these great works- thanks especially to the ATC SCM50 ASLT.

The 50 is simply unsurpassed in playing deep notes with great grip on the piano without hearing any sludge. I pulled out the impeccable Kissin recording of ‘Pictures.” The cut “Bydio” (among others) reveals that the 50s go very deep and tight. Kissin plays every note clearly and with muscle. The 50 elucidates his world class technique better than a huge array of drivers in a box with a passive crossover.

I know many of you reading this are classic rockers. It takes only seconds to have your ears perk up like a doberman at the acoustic entry of Hotel California. The guitar transients are thrilling when depicted largely by the dome midrange. Please remember that almost every speaker uses a dome tweeter, and tries to match it with a cone midrange. There are successful pairings out there. Yet I have to point out that ATC offers an uncommonly spectacular synergy of dome tweet and dome midrange. The cohesion is unmistakable. When the big bass drum thwacks come in, I’m confident you’ll be convinced- these ATCs are like nothing you’ve heard before, and you’ll be blown away. They’re deep, powerful, IMPACTFUL, and you can appreciate the wonderful dynamics and character of the recorded drum kit.

Female singers are my second passion after the classical piano. For me, there’s Ella and then everybody else. She’s never sounded better than through the ATCs. Even the mono recording of “My One And Only” from 1951 is ethereal. That recording is almost 80 years old and puts Ella in your room today. I fast forwarded to the early 70s to drink up the beauty of Joan Armatrading. Her singing with acoustic guitar (“Love & Affection” “Tall In The Saddle”) is sheer beauty. What a tremendous singer with unique phrasing and color. On to the new millennium with my fave singer today, Lake Street Dive’s Rachael Price. Of course the fidelity of today’s recordings has a quieter background which allows Rachael’s expressive voice to dynamically soar. I have been uber impressed by Tracy Chapman’s “Greatest Hits” CD, which features remastered versions of her classics- and an ear opening, simple guitar/vocal version of “Stand By Me” recorded live on Letterman.

I don’t care much about hearing men sing- there are too many great girls to waste my time on them! But even I’m bowled over with Johnny Hartman, 1964’s early stereo CD, “I Just Stopped By To Say Hello.” Willie Nelson’s mid 70s “Stardust” catches him at his peak.

A state of the art recording used at every audio show is Dominique Fils-Aime “Nameless.” Numerous tunes on this CD show how a great singer can produce a LARGE image with crystal clear resolution. Dom’s singing with precise accompaniment can affect us to our core. Ditto for Shelby Lynne’s “Just A Little Lovin” album. If these girl don’t raise your heat rate, it’s time to take up coleopterology instead of audio.

It won’t surprise you that in the jazz world I’m piano centric. Kenny Barron is a fave and decidedly economical in his playing. Check out his “Night in The City” album for great piano flavor. I don’t like “virtuoso” jazz pianists who sound like typewriters. More notes aren’t necessarily better. In fact, a jazz pianist just running up and down the keyboard for no reason, gives me a headache. Then move on to the great Gene Harris playing with Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton, “Summer Wind.” It’s an ALIVE jazz trio recording, complete with some clever humor sprinkled in with seriously FUN playing.

There’s a fun new CD by the Event Horizon Jazz Quartet out of Chicago, “Consternation.”

It’s a band I’ve seen live several times. I like the non dissonant jazz featuring Milwaukee’s own Jim Kaczmarek on sax. I like the formula of playing together and then rotating through solo opportunities. It lets you hear the quartet AND each musician individually (sax, piano, bass & drums).

My comments can’t be complete without mentioning how the ATCs handle the Hammond B3. The B3 live is immensely powerful and uber COOL. Those of us that grew up in the 50s/60s/70s could hear B3 organs all over the place. Today, you just hear electronic keyboards played through speakers. If you’re nuts about the B3 as I am, you’ll love the way the ATCs play Jack McDuff on the timeless “Honeydripper” album, or Face’s trio/quartet recordings with Grant Green.

Tower Vs Stand Mount

I’m recommending SCM50 ASLT- the tower. The same speaker is available in a stand mount for a little less money. I want the tower. The price isn’t much more, the tower is easy to place and maneuver with a little sliding or wiggling. The stand mount version just sits on the stand, it isn’t connected. It weighs about 90 pounds and unless you’re a power lifter, you won’t be able to work with it as we audiophiles love to do. The tower is a much smarter buy.

Standard Veneer Finishes at this price:

Cherry, Black Ash, Walnut, Oak, Satin White, Satin Black

Other finishes are available for a $3k per pair up charge:

Burr Magnolia, Burr Poplar, Pippy Oak, European Walnut, Rosewood

Additional Models:

SCM100 ASLT $37,000 Per Pair

{42.13h, 15.63w, 22.05d, 150 lbs}

The 100 sounds like the 50, but stronger in the bass because it uses a 12” woofer

instead the nine inch. If you have a large room and can swing it- SURE.

SCM150 ASLT $46,000 Per Pair

{43.46h, 19.49w, 24.96w, 170 lbs}

The 150 sounds like the 50, but much stronger in the bass because it uses a 15” woofer instead of the nine inch. If you have a very large room and don’t mind spending a chunk more, go for the fifteen inch.