There’s an elite few manufacturers who have succeeded in both professional and domestic environments. The ATC SCM19 ‘Bookshelf’ speakers prove ATC’s prowess in both fields.
ATC have long held an enviable reputation as a manufacturer of both highly regarded professional studio monitors, and detailed, insightful Hi-Fi speakers. Today’s blog takes a look at ATC’s flagship ‘bookshelf’ speakers – the ATC SCM19.
ATC SCM19 – ATC’s Flagship Stand-mounter
Bookshelf speakers, stand-mounters, whatever your definition, the ATC SCM19 speakers fall into the category of compact, two-way loudspeakers. Sitting above the SCM7 and SCM11, the SCM19 represents ATC’s flagship ‘bookshelf’ speaker – outdone only by the ‘Classic Series’ SCM20. It will therefore be of great interest to anyone requiring a compact, neutral, home loudspeaker, as well as professional clients looking for a typical near-field monitor.
In case you were wondering, the SCMxx nomenclature refers to the internal cabinet volume. The SCM7 is 7 litres, the SCM11 is 11 litres and, surprise surprise, the SCM19 has 19 litres of internal volume – more than twice that of the SCM9. Let’s take a closer look at what goes into making the award winning SCM19…
In House Design – Drivers Included
Many loudspeakers, especially those from small volume manufacturers such as ATC, rely on bought-in drive units from larger manufacturers. The Famous BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker, for example, famously used drivers procured from KEF.
It is, therefore, refreshing and laudable, to learn that the SCM19 loudspeakers utilise drivers designed and manufactured by ATC themselves. The mid/bass driver is something of a brute; the unit weighing 9kg by itself, with the motor unit utilising a ‘short gap – long coil’ design . It wears a characteristic ATC trait, of a very large, doped & domed ‘dust-cover’ which is intended to smooth the crossover integration between the mid/bass driver and the HF unit.
It’s the HF driver itself which can be considered really big news; ATC have long manufactured their own mid range and bass drivers, but here we see ATC’s own, in house designed and manufactured tweeter. The tweeter itself is a 25mm soft-dome unit, which is integrated within a precision alloy wave guide.
A Reputation for Neutrality
It should come as little surprise that the ATC SCM19 loudspeakers have received widespread praise in the Hi-Fi press for their analytical nature and neutrality. ATC are, after all, a highly respected manufacturer of professional monitor loudspeakers. A studio environment demands ruthless detail and honesty – ATC use the same criteria for ‘voicing’ all their loudspeakers – if indeed ‘voicing’ is even an appropriate turn of phrase.
The ATC SCM19 loudspeakers, therefore are likely to appeal to the school of Hi-Fi enthusiast seeking the ‘acoustic window’, the uncoloured reproduction of the source. Seeing how it’s entirely possible that the master recording was recorded, mixed and/or monitored on a pair of ATC’s, said enthusiast should be very happy indeed.
Wimpy Amplifiers Need Not Apply
There must, of course, always be a trade-off for neutrality and transparency; typically this arrives in the form of enormous, highly complex loudspeaker enclosures, or – somewhat inefficient small enclosures. This is a somewhat unavoidable trade-off thanks to the laws of physics – either live with a huge, efficient cabinet enclosure, or trade efficiency for size and a flat frequency response.
The ATC SCM19 loudspeakers fall into the latter category; whilst they feature a uniformly flat impedance curve, they trade sensitivity for transparency (the SCM19 owner can only expect 85db sensitivity). As a result, the ATC SCM19 loudspeakers demand an amplifier with some serious heft (ATC recommend 75-300w per channel). Couple the ATC SCM19 loudspeakers with the right amplifier, however, and get set to enjoy an award winning ‘acoustic window’ into your favourite recordings.