While undoubtedly stylish, the kind of ridiculous, loft-style apartments often used to promote hi-fi products bear no relation to how most people live.
Refreshingly, this speaker is designed for small rooms and awkward spaces – actual life, in other words, rather than the aspirational version we're constantly being flogged.
The ATC SCM20ASL is based on the special edition variant which launched almost exactly a year ago as part of British brand ATC's 50th anniversary.
Only 150 of those were made, but now ATC is bringing it to a wider audience.
The 2-way SCM20ASL combines ATC's best in-house drive units with matched onboard amplification.
ATC claims it's perfect for small-to-medium listening environments, adding that its sealed cabinet design "ensures exceptionally well-controlled bass" even in smaller spaces or when situated close to walls.
So your awkwardly-shaped lounge should pose no problem.
Inside is ATC's own 150mm/6” ‘Super Linear’ Mid/Bass driver and 25mm/1” ‘S-Spec’ dual-suspension tweeter. These are powered by class A/B MOSFET power amplifiers that can deliver 200W and 50W continuous power to the bass and HF drivers respectively.
ATC's 'SL' motor tech is also onboard to reduce distortion from the upper bass and into the midrange, while the brand's 'S-Spec' soft-dome tweeter's dual-suspension and high energy 2.1 tesla motor combine to deliver a response beyond 20kHz, which should help reproduce fine detail.
The analogue 2nd order Linkwitz-Riley crossovers operate at line-level for maximum efficiency, and an all-pass filter optimises the phase response to improve tonal balance and imaging.
Balanced XLR connections are the order of the day, while you can tweak the input sensitivity via the controls, depending on your source and pre-amplifier. You can also adjust the bass to suit your room using the low frequency shelf control.
The cabinet has been engineered to optimise sound performance, too. It's braced for stiffness with damping to suppress resonance, and comes in a wider variety of finishes, including standard veneers (Cherry, Black Ash, Walnut and Oak) and premium veneers (Rosewood, European Crown Cut Walnut, Burr Magnolia, Pippy Oak, Burr Poplar).
The speaker is available this month, with prices starting at £6495 per pair (around $8400 / AU$13,500).
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