![]() ![]() Like the studio monitors, their cabinets are built by ATC’s own cabinet facility, while the cabinets for the Entry models are outsourced and feature more modestly priced veneers, and slightly lower-specification drive units. The important thing to note is that the Tower and Classic series are derived from ATC’s professional studio-monitor range, featuring the very same drive units. The tower models have the same acoustically loaded cabinet volumes as their standmount counterparts, because the lower part of the tower cabinet is partitioned off.ĪTC’s naming convention is very logical-the number refers to the acoustic volume of the cabinet, A means active, P means passive, SL refers to the high-specification Super Linear drive units fitted to certain models, and T signifies a tower/floorstander. The domestic range is further subdivided into three categories: the Entry Series, which runs from the SCM7, a small bookshelf speaker, to the SCM40 floorstander I reviewed earlier this year the Classic Series of standmounted monitors, which runs from the SCM20SL to the SCM150SL and the Tower Series, ATC’s floorstanding range, which runs from the SCM20ASLT to the SCM300ASLT. The firm offers two ranges of loudspeakers: the professional range, geared to commercial users, which in true Spinal Tap style come in any color you like as long as it’s black and a domestic range with beautiful real-wood veneers. Sadly, this isn’t Jonathan’s listening room-it’s the extraordinary ATC Dolby Atmos array at Blackbird Studios Nashville Make no mistake, a visit to ATC’s UK headquarters in Aston Down, Gloucestershire, is to walk upon audio holy ground. It’s also why they are used by Air Studios, Abbey Road, Pink Floyd, Enya, Mark Knopfler, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. This extraordinarily deep engineering expertise is what makes the company’s loudspeakers so very special. Some of the factory machinery is actually custom-built by ATC for specific assembly processes. In an ATC speaker, everything-the wire used for coil winding, the magnets, the gap employed, the number of turns on the wire-is within the company’s control. The company knows that every loudspeaker design decision impacts the sound-ATC even manufactures the voice coils used in its drivers. By contrast, ATC designs and builds every drive unit in-house, and hand-builds its own crossover circuits and active amplification packs. Many elite brands source custom-specified drivers from firms like Scan-Speak. There’s a huge number of loudspeaker brands competing to be among the very best in the world, but only a handful have the knowledge, engineering capability, and expertise to build everything in-house, from the ground up. I would suggest that such manufacturers have an edge because they understand how to build neutral-sounding and revealing studio monitors and tend to apply a similar approach when designing domestic loudspeakers. ATC is part of a small group of speaker firms-along with PMC, B&W, Focal, Amphion, and Dynaudio-that sell both professional studio monitors and speakers for the home. Lilly casually mentioned that the company would be installing some massive ATC SCM300 monitors and two of its largest subwoofers into the walls of Abbey Road’s Studio 3 the following week. I reckon I could still manage the getting-drunk-with-rock-stars thing quite well, but I’m not sure I could keep up with the groupies anymore.įor the uninitiated, ATC is a purveyor of studio monitor systems to many of the world’s elite artists, recording studios, mastering labs, and concert halls. Nowadays, my aspirations are more limited-managing to haul these ATC speakers into the house without my feeble spine crumbling into a mixture of dust and broken sinews would do. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s not too bad, they’re on casters.” When I was younger I thought it would be great fun being a roadie, traveling the world, getting drunk with rock stars, getting laid by groupies, and sharing the camaraderie of the tour bus at 4 a.m. ![]() Ben Lilly, ATC’s cheerful sales director, read my mind as he flung open the rear doors of the firm’s smart blue van. ![]() I half expected to see “Pink Floyd, Wembley Stadium, London” stamped on the side. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that something special is arriving when it comes in flight cases the size of telephone booths. ![]()
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