Looking to buy: ATC SCM 10 or 20

[DSJR]

+1, especially with the careful description of the OP's needs

Thanks for the Mackie info too

[Reid Malenfant]

I've owned a pair of SL20s myself and really liked them. Particularly good when paired with a quality sub and an amp with loads of watts.

The old reason I sold them was because I came across a s/h pair of Sonus Faber Extremas.

If you do find a pair for less than £1k I don't think you'll be disappointed.

That's a pretty good reason, I hope you had a man enough amp to drive them

The SCM20SL is good for 40Hz reproduction without a problem imo. They are very surprising considering the size of them. If you happen to wonder where all the weight is coming from, take a look at the magnetic assembly of the bass/mid & the thickness of the magnetic top plate

It's not that different from one part of a set of olympic weights

[alexthemusicbloke]

That's a pretty good reason, I hope you had a man enough amp to drive them

The SCM20SL is good for 40Hz reproduction without a problem imo. They are very surprising considering the size of them. If you happen to wonder where all the weight is coming from, take a look at the magnetic assembly of the bass/mid & the thickness of the magnetic top plate

It's not that different from one part of a set of olympic weights

Oh I know it's ridiculous, but it seems everything about ATC essentially involves crazy over-engineering, but that, I like!

[alexthemusicbloke]

Bump, just in case anybody is looking!

[tommy1]

My mate has a pair of SCM12. I think they were more or less the same as the 20s from what he said. I'll ask if he still wants to sell if you're interested.

[DSJR]

Umm, no, their nothing like the 20's I'm afraid - that's why they're so much cheaper

Not to knock the 12's or any from that series, but the 20's are hopelessly over-engineered and as said above, that's part of the charm, even if the end result is a bit tractor like - Billy Woodman was a fan of tractor engineering and had a small collection at one time

By the way, the bass on 20's may go down smoothly to 40Hz, but there's little energy there in all honesty, a characteristic of ALL small boxes, no matter who makes them or the fanciful spun out claims of certain manufacturers, and the bass just cannot "breathe" as it can with a GOOD larger speaker - I have a "thing" at the moment about people shouting at me that speakers with curtailed bass are actually "correct" and that anything with more extension and power is actually booming for a small but oft repeated variety of reasons

[tommy1]

Ok, sorry. I think what he actually said was, according to ATC bloke, they were closer to the quality of 20s than the 11s that superceeded them.

[alexthemusicbloke]

The bass-lightness isn't something I'm worried about. More importantly, they need to have a smooth roll-off which makes it easy to judge the low-end. Currently, my A7s begin to roll off rather suddenly around the bottom half-octave of an upright bass (despite what the spec sheets might say).

I'm also a big fan of sealed cabinets, significantly faster bass and in the case of over-damped designs, significantly reduced harmonic distortion.

[DSJR]

I can name a few porty boxes where the port doesn't "sound" at all, including ATC's bigger models where next to nothing came out of them

The 20's will definitely do what you want. I sold a number of these into various rooms and a notable one was a "concrete box" in a flat which was the worst room I think I've ever heard. They coped amazingly well in here and the client bought them.

[alexthemusicbloke]

I can name a few porty boxes where the port doesn't "sound" at all, including ATC's bigger models where next to nothing came out of them

Oh yes that's of course the case, but I meant most of the smaller ones. I've heard very few compact ported boxes where I thought the low-end was any good.

The 20's will definitely do what you want. I sold a number of these into various rooms and a notable one was a "concrete box" in a flat which was the worst room I think I've ever heard. They coped amazingly well in here and the client bought them.

I think I've found a pair. There's a studio in London selling some. They look to be showing some signs of use however, with a few knocks and bangs here and there, especially on the baffle from what I can tell with the image I've seen so far.

Does anybody know what material the front baffle is made out of, and how easy it'd be to touch-up?