Lone Mountain Audio, or perhaps more accurately the United States distributor for ATC Loudspeakers, had one of the large rooms on the main floor of T.H.E. Show and they were making full use of it. Nearly the entire line of hi-fi speakers from ATC was represented, from the SCM7v3 at $1,999 USD all the way up to the ATC SCM100ASL start at nearly $42K USD.
Words and Photos by Grover Neville
I did notice a new spiffy ATC SCM20PSL ($8,499 USD) with a satin black baffle and attractive wood finish that certainly looked a lot nicer than my decidedly studio-trim ATC SCM20s. The finish reminded me a bit of a Dynaudio speaker, somewhat matte and Scandinavian, and perhaps a bit smaller than what I’m used to with my Pro Series speakers.
The main attraction, however, was the switching system setup between the ATC SCM50PSL and ATC SCM50ASL, which was meant to demonstrate the differences between the outboard ATC electronics and their powered active-crossover system. I found the actives sounded a bit more forward in the treble and bass and more forward in a pleasing way, but my preference was for the passives which seemed a little more laid back and had a little more depth. Both were capable of playing at unbelievable volumes while maintaining some of the highest levels of detail, frequency linearity, and spatial accuracy of any speaker I’ve heard. These are every bit the ATCs I own and use for my professional music production, and the exhibit room did not disappoint. On everything from artists such as Men at Work, to Tool, to Kraftwerk—these speakers were unflappable at all volumes.
A TriangleArt Hathor turntable and P-200 phono stage were on hand for analog listening, though there was no vinyl spinning any of the three times I visited the room. The ATC CDA MkII CD Player/Preamp on hand didn’t sound digitally harsh or unpleasant to my ears, and the folks in this room were generous about taking requests, so it was easy enough to have fun and get a handle on the sound.
Photos continue below, and more T.H.E. SHOW 2021 coverage can be found HERE.
About The Author
Grover Neville, Contributor
Grover is a recent transplant to Los Angeles, CA, and a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied music, creative writing, and how to wear skinny jeans. After graduating Grover pursued a freelance career in audio, doing professional research in the fields of Auditory Cognition, Psychoacoustics, and Experimental Hydrophone Design.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Grover worked and lived in Chicago, Illinois as a mixing and mastering engineer, working in genres such as Avant-garde Classical music and Jazz. As a recent transplant to L.A., Grover now works in the music, video game, and film industries.
He is also actively pursuing a career as an independent musician, composer, and producer. Grover wrote for Innerfidelity and Audiostream, before finding his forever-home at Part-Time Audiophile.
