Elliot Scheiner Switches to ATC SCM-25A 3-Way Reference Active Monitors

windhoek · Apr 13, 2019

I used to own ATC SCM7 and SCM11 speakers and although they had upsides, their big drawback, the reason why I sold them, was that they didn't come alive until the volume was all the way up turned to boogie volume. Which was fine when I wanted boogie volume but when I just wanted to listen to music at lower volumes the music sounded as flat as a pancake. I know there are a lot of people out there who are quite happy using domestic ATCs but I'm not one of them. Suffice to say, if I ever stumble across megabucks an ATC speaker setup won't be top of my list of things to buy.

ar surround · Apr 13, 2019

Fellow lovers of raunchy 60's and 70's rock music beware the ATC SCM-25A. According to this guy, the brutally accurate and honest presentation of these monitors can render a portion of a music collection unlistenable. I suspect that these qualities, which also seem to be the case with the Yamaha NS-10, are what Scheiner depends on for his mixing.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end/976060-atc-scm25a-revealing-just-wrong.html
Similarly, a friend using Legacy Whisper speakers driven by 500W McIntosh monoblocks notes that his system is very unforgiving with less than the best recorded/mixed/mastered material. I heard the system and agree with him.

But I do have a solution: I will explain to my wife that I am commandeering an additional room for my planned ATC SCM-25A surround sound system to be used when I want to listen to the highest quality program material. But I plan to also keep my original system in the basement for listening to Led Zep and the like. I'm sure that many of the audio aficionados on this forum have multiple systems. (Perhaps Clint Eastwood has a place in his carport where I can throw down a mattress for a few days after wife throws me out of the house.

)

J. PUPSTER · Apr 13, 2019

ar surround said:
Fellow lovers of raunchy 60's and 70's rock music beware the ATC SCM-25A. According to this guy, the brutally accurate and honest presentation of these monitors can render a portion of a music collection unlistenable. I suspect that these qualities, which also seem to be the case with the Yamaha NS-10, are what Scheiner depends on for his mixing.

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end/976060-atc-scm25a-revealing-just-wrong.html
Similarly, a friend using Legacy Whisper speakers driven by 500W McIntosh monoblocks notes that his system is very unforgiving with less than the best recorded/mixed/mastered material. I heard the system and agree with him.

But I do have a solution: I will explain to my wife that I am commandeering an additional room for my planned ATC SCM-25A surround sound system to be used when I want to listen to the highest quality program material. But I plan to also keep my original system in the basement for listening to Led Zep and the like. I'm sure that many of the audio aficionados on this forum have multiple systems. (Perhaps Clint Eastwood has a place in his carport where I can throw down a mattress for a few days after wife throws me out of the house. )

Oh you’re little angel will kick ya out alright, but not till she’s gifted you with a swift kick to the Cojones

key_wiz · Apr 14, 2019

Scheiner’s mixes all seem to sound pretty close to perfect on my system. So whatever speaker he chooses to use is fine by me! :phones

M-D-Z · Apr 14, 2019

Somewhere around here I still have an old pair of NS10s, which I bought new upon the well intentioned advice given to me at that time, but I’m pretty sure Yamaha never intended them to be ideal, perfect, or superlative for home listening, as they were carefully engineered to be used as tools with a specific job to do, and it is possible that more has been written about the suitability (or lack thereof) regarding those boxes in professional music production trade publications than any other model speaker in the last 50 years.

I never have been pleased or impressed when listening to music played through them for personal enjoyment.

“On the job” and in the right hands (certainly not mine), great results were a high likelihood given the broad spectrum of possible speakers through which the end users were expected to have in their homes, (meaning those masses of folks who bought and played the music) but the sonic quality of music output has changed since the Yammies were introduced, so I’m not surprised that the industry has had to prepare itself for the possibility of a new standard reference speaker to use in music engineering and production.

Here’s a link to an excellent related story I read a long time ago, I just didn’t take the time to re-read it today.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story