07-Jun-2015, 16:59
Hi,
I owned a pair of 'old' (1990s) ATC 50 actives updated to SL spec together with tweeter upgrades over the years.
I guess I liked them
but a pair of Silver Phantoms has now replaced them. Make of that what you will.
I have a rectangular living/dining room, 9m x 3.5m, with an archway between the two rooms at the midpoint.
The speakers are set at this midpoint, firing lengthways into the living room and the listening position, 3m away, which is 1m in front of a bay window.
The sound? As precise, clear and fast as the ATCs but with the ability, in my room, to go very much louder without stress.
The bass, in particular. is phenomenal but I do use a MiniDSP EQ unit to fashion a house curve to control the bass excesses.
I have been trying out the many tracks mentioned on various threads/sites that excite the woofers and taken them to levels that I would never have dared to do so with the ATCs.
nb - I used this EQ unit to do the same with the ATCs but the bass range never approached the Phantoms. I could provide the REW FR curves of the two if that is useful.
Nevertheless, the bass does not dominate or overshadow the midrange or high frequencies.
As for break in, the speakers are so different to the ATCs that it took some time to understand just how to use them.
That may seem a weird thing to say but it took me time to have the confidence to really push the volume, relax and enjoy them.
As a result, any break in would have been obscured by my changing listening experience and expectation.
Hopefully, you will be able to demo a pair soon after the upcoming US launch.
I owned a pair of 'old' (1990s) ATC 50 actives updated to SL spec together with tweeter upgrades over the years.
I guess I liked them
but a pair of Silver Phantoms has now replaced them. Make of that what you will.I have a rectangular living/dining room, 9m x 3.5m, with an archway between the two rooms at the midpoint.
The speakers are set at this midpoint, firing lengthways into the living room and the listening position, 3m away, which is 1m in front of a bay window.
The sound? As precise, clear and fast as the ATCs but with the ability, in my room, to go very much louder without stress.
The bass, in particular. is phenomenal but I do use a MiniDSP EQ unit to fashion a house curve to control the bass excesses.
I have been trying out the many tracks mentioned on various threads/sites that excite the woofers and taken them to levels that I would never have dared to do so with the ATCs.
nb - I used this EQ unit to do the same with the ATCs but the bass range never approached the Phantoms. I could provide the REW FR curves of the two if that is useful.
Nevertheless, the bass does not dominate or overshadow the midrange or high frequencies.
As for break in, the speakers are so different to the ATCs that it took some time to understand just how to use them.
That may seem a weird thing to say but it took me time to have the confidence to really push the volume, relax and enjoy them.
As a result, any break in would have been obscured by my changing listening experience and expectation.
Hopefully, you will be able to demo a pair soon after the upcoming US launch.
