What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
13 SEP 2006
ATC SCM 11
If you were feeling particularly harsh, you could call the
ATC SCM11 an ugly speaker. You'd probably be right, but at least they don't try to pretend that they're anything other than ruddy awesome speakers.
We've tested the SCM11s a number of times. Indeed, they scooped a Best Buy Award at this price-point in our 2007 Awards issue.
Aesthetically, the SCM11s feature a stepped graphite-grey double front baffle with curved edges. It's claimed that this design improves imaging and reduces diffraction.
The cabinet is unported - unlike every other speaker in the test - to help bass accuracy. The speakers use a 2.5cm soft-dome tweeter, and the company's own heavily damped 12.5cm mid-bass driver.
Designed to play at higher volume levelsATC has refrained from making wholesale changes over the past couple of years, but newer versions of this speaker benefit from an internal modification to the mid-bass driver unit, designed to help the speaker play at higher volume levels. Not that there was a problem with the original version...
ATC's mid-bass driver is a real beauty. Instruments and vocals sound pure and natural. During Duffy's
Every Heartbeat and Adele's
Hometown Glory, the ATCs give you every last drop of emotion.
It's enough to make you dewy-eyed. Switch over to the orchestral soundtrack for
The Dark Knight, though, and the ATCs change tack - layering the various instruments to perfection, picking up each and every natural tone.
Incredibly detailed presentationAlthough some floorstanders can produce greater bass weight, the ATCs counter this by digging up immense detail. This awesome transparency is a great platform for well-produced CDs; possibly not so for compressed, poorer recordings.
But, that's hardly the speakers' fault! The SCM11s are also the most insensitive speaker in the test, so you'll need a decent amplifier - around 100W per channel is a good starting point.
Apart from this, the SCM11s are still the speaker to beat. There's a simplicity and honesty to their sound that's unbeatable at this price.