Proac Studio 100

Never heard the ATC but I've seen several comment on their neutrality unfavourably. The Studio 100 has a slightly richer, warmer, sound than the D1 or Tablette which are pretty analytical and squeeky clean but Proac's do however make music enjoyable. Maybe they won't be warm enough though with your ATC amp.

David at Frank Harvey?

They maybe worth a try.......warm and rich is what i'm looking for but dont want to sacrifice too much detail. I'll possibly change my amp too. I've got a Croft integrated on home dem at the moment and i'm very impressed, the phono stage is superb. Could well be a keeper.

Cheers

Ed

Hi Ed,

I used to have ProAc studio 130 and having owned both that and ATC, then yesterday I demoed Harbeth, I can say imo the Super HL5 retains the best of both.

The detail without harshness, beautiful clear mid and plenty of base without ever getting boomy.

Also, Harbeth and Croft are supposed to be a great match.

All the best.

The highlighted bit is somewhat open to interpretation. You should find the Studio 100's a tad warmer, but if not, then try their newer Studio 115's, which are a slightly livelier sound, using technology they've developed for their Carbon series. And it shows.

The KEF R300's are also worth looking at. These are livelier than the ATC's, and so far I find them the most detailed and open, and that's before you get to their superior imaging qualities due to their UniQ driver. Using the bungs, they sound more like SCM11's, only more open and detailed, and with them out, so much more bass extension. Plus, the bung is in two parts - inner and outer bung - I used the full bungs for movies and louder music, and take them out for low level listening, but I now use the outer bung, which seems to be a nice compromise.

The PMC DB1i's are worth trying as well, although I find the Twenty.21 model, which is a little more, much better value for money. They're much more open and detailed, larger soundstage, with better bass performance (which I wasn't overly keen on with the DB1i), and less boxy with it too.

Any of these will sound better at lower volumes than the SCM11's, partly because they're a higher sensitivity, and also because they're ported.

Hi Ed

In addition to Proac Studio 110's and Studio 115's, Dynaudio's Excite X12's and Usher Audio's X-718's are also worth consideration

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Thanks Rick, David and Macspur for your replies. I managed to get hold of some ProAc Studio 100's on home dem and have got them on the end of the Croft. 

I tried the Audio Note AX-2's beforehand and was very impressed with them, for the price they are superb, nice warm sound and nice at low levels. Unfortunately they are quite ugly to look at and the missus was not keen  They are rear ported but with my room set up it sounds a bit unbalanced. All in all a good speaker but wont work in my room, they need to up against the wall but with the same either side (i think that make sense without banging on too much).

The ProAcs are lovely sounding speakers, very accurate and a bit warmer than the ATC's, the front port also helps with lower levels. 

I then had a listen to them with the ATC amp, very nice too, it was good to compare the two. The ATC definately has more detail and a bigger sound (and a lot more power!). The Croft is a bit smoother and a bit more relaxed if you know what i mean and the phono stage is excellent. Its certainly a lot closer to the ATC build and soundwise than their respective prices would suggest.

If i could afford it i would probably keep the ATC with something like the ProAcs and get a good valve phono stage, but i cant. 

Selling the amp would certainly release more funds for better speakers. I'm not very good at describing how things sound but i think you get the gist. Decisions decisions! I'll probably now look closer to front ported speakers.

Cheers 

Ed

I'm delighted to see brands like Croft and Audio Note making it onto demo lists...good stuff.

[/quote] I'm delighted to see brands like Croft and Audio Note making it onto demo lists...good stuff.[/quote]

If your not bothered by looks and can get them close to the wall i can whole heartedly recommend a demo the Audio Note AX-2's. 

They are very good!

Ed.

Harbeth are front ported if you are able to demo them Ed... beautiful looking too (keep the Mrs happy)

Cheers

Definately gonna be checking them out if i can. They seem to have quite low sensitivity, are they easy to drive or do they need a lot of power to get them going? This would help for lower level listening.

Cheers Ed

The Super HL5 recommended minimum amp is 25W PC and the smaller P3 ESR is 15W PC.

Keep us up to date.

Cheers