ATC studio monitors

Just to clarify, Paul Messenger still considers the K2 to be the finest loudspeaker he has ever heard - guess the HFC write up did hint at that.

 

IIRC the review on HFC was done by a reviewer who has more of a leaning to the flatter earth presentation.

 

But, on the other hand, Paul Messenger rated them very highly in Hifi+.

At this end of the range, you very much pays yer money and takes yer choice. The higher-end the speaker, the more likely there is to be a difference of opinion, because they represent the designer's own 'take' on speaker design rather than having to possess mass-market appeal. Selecting equipment in the £10k plus range from magazine recommendations strikes me as the height of folly.

 

Just pointing out there are a large number of people who have an opposite opinion to some here, that's all. I never usually quote reviews, but 3D seems to like their reassurance. Reviews are just a pointer for things to shortlist IMO. I'll trust my own ears. I will be listening to PMC, ATC and the new Hyperions in London soon.

 

loads of studio monitors use

horn wave guides of differing design.
even budget nearfields and mid fields.
plenty of them are used in the uk to.
atc speakers are great but not the best.
atc speakers are excellent value but not the best.
some jbl speakers are great too ( not so many good ones since they were acquired by harman int. )
dave berriman designs some speakers that are not a million miles away from an atc design by the way. so he may not be the best judge in terms of a neutral write up although i am certainly not casting aspersions on his honesty.
regards.

 

The JBL's were rated best loudspeaker over £5k "one of the most entertaining speakers we have heard", there is no mention of any ATC speakers in that issue.

 

Andrew B was talking mainly about mastering studios though...

Then again ATC seem to be used more in the recording side than mastering don't they? PMC get used equally in both which to me not only are they damn accurate but they sound nice as well Still I have a pair so I like to think that!

 

I've had my ATC 35s for about a year now - found it amazing to hear some of the negative posts in this thread. Whilst the sound may not be to your tastes, to deride them in such a way strikes me as unbelievable.

The mid range dome is what made me buy this speaker - I listened to the competition from PMC and Totem but was won over by the ATCs. Regarding bass, it certainly is not as heavy as the other speakers I listened to, but this was exactly what I wanted. I presume this is partly due to the fact that the speakers do not have a bass port at the back like the PMCs, but I should add that if I turned the volume up on the PMCs, the bass driver hit the stop which I found most unsatisfying.

I talked to my dealer the other day about the active speakers produced by ATC - I had considered these purely from the point of view of reducing the number of black boxes in my listening room. He was quite negative about them, saying they were very bright sounding. Obviously I would be interested in hearing for myself, but for now I'm very happy sticking with my SCM35s.

 

They must have been very small ones! They nearly all have front ports too so take a listen to some other models if you are ever shopping for speakers again.

 

The were PMC OB1s I think - so not that small... Not quite sure what you're saying? Small what?

 

I'll bring the magazine in to work tomorrow morning and scan it in. It's a full double page. I will email it directly to you. Also, can anyone host pictures, so we can post it up on here? Watch this space.

 

JBL are not serious contenders in the modern mastering world IMO.

Names that appear most regularly at the highest levels are (in alphabetical order):

ATC
B&W
Dynaudio

Take a look at your CD collection and see which studios have mastered them. If you go to their respective websites you will see which equipment they use. There won't be much JBL (not in the last two decades anyway).

Here is an ATC client list:
ATC users

I expect that B&W and Dynaudio have similarly impressive lists.

Andrew

 

The OB1 is front ported, but no I wouldn't call it small.

 

Actually, you're right, it is front ported. But has anyone else experienced the bass driver hitting the stop when the volume is turned up on the OB1?

In contrast I find the ATC bass very nicely controlled and easy to listen to for extended periods of time.

 

Paul I remember choice and plus doing a review of the 150's and IIRC they were both penned by Jason K, who has a penchant for their brand of presentation, but the HFC special I'm reffering to is the Dec 2004 awards edition, other than the awards the only speakers reviewed are the vivid B1 and the PMCDB1. Whereas the JBL K2 was named best over 5K

 

I believe its not uncommon for *some* speaker manufacturers to write their own reviews

 

I remember my FB1's doing the same.

 

No, my memory is fine. "Awesome" is what you said. I was rather surprised to read your negative remarks about them here, later on.

 

i think people will find

that jbl are used in a lot of studios but not necessarily in the uk.
just for the record.
a little story , 2 years ago i was working with a band over 2 months and we used 4 very well equipped studios and i can list the monitors.

studio a = main monitors tannoy 15" coaxials - near fields ns 10

studio b = main monitors dynaudio air system - near fields ns 10

studio c = main monitors jbl century golds - near field mackie hr

studio d = main monitors adam ribbons - near fields dynaudios

i have seen a few pairs of atc's , many more dynaudios and jbl's or tannoys.

 

I ha dthe OB1 on home demo for a week - the bass was good, no 'end stop' experience, and I play it LOUD. Low distortion, not much kick, but the go low enough. I expect they needed more juice than my electrocomp dual monos could muster. I didnt keep them due to the recessed midrange. In my room/system - lots of boom and tizz with the singer pushed behind the wall. Probably my system/room than a feature of PMCs.

The overall plus point was one of low distortion.