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Purchase advice needed (high-end preamp with active ATC speakers vs cheaper passive system)

OrphicTrench

OrphicTrench

New Member
Hey guys, I'm a bit at a crossroads here. Need some help figuring out where to go.

I recently moved to a smaller apartment and I had to send my ATC SCM20ASL Pro MkII speakers to my parents house, because I no longer have the room for them in a dedicated mixing/studio space.

I did manage to set up a system in the living room with a fair amount of acoustic treatment and all.

My current system is built around a pair of Elac Debut F5 (mk1) speakers and a Marantz PM7005 (which replaced the Rega Brio clamshell mk1, as it just wasn't enough to drive the floorstanders).

I have the opportunity to buy an ATC CA2 preamp (with phono stage) which would make it possible to use the active ATC SCM20ASL Pro MkII speakers and my Dynaudio 18S active sub. It would cost me 2000$, which is the same budget I was planning on spending on better (used) floorstanders to upgrade the Elacs eventually.

What I like about a passive system is that you press one button and everything is on and ready to go. With active speakers, you need to turn each thing one by one. There are more chances of forgetting things or having a flatmate turning things on/off in the wrong order and whatnot. It's also less stressful to have a cheaper system. With the ATCs plus the sub and preamp, we're talking about 10 000$ worth of gear... Not the same as my relatively cheap Marantz amp and nice big floorstanding passive speakers.

Long story short, I don't know if I wish to keep my ATC speakers in a box and upgrade the speakers later down the road, or get a really sweet (and probably overkill) preamp and have a complete high-end active system with sub and all. What do you think?

Right now there's a big hole in the lower mids (between 200 and 700 hz), but it's probably due to my room. The Marantz+Elac combo does sound great in the low end, but it's a tiny bit flabby/relaxed. I thought the Rega was too punchy for me, but now I'm in the opposite side of the spectrum. There's probably a bit more of fine tuning that needs to be done.
 
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I'm afraid it might be overkill. I would like to keep it as simple as possible. Turning four things on (Preamp, Subwoofer, Left satellite, Right satellite), every single time, seems a bit like a pain.
 
OrphicTrench said:
I'm afraid it might be overkill. I would like to keep it as simple as possible. Turning four things on (Preamp, Subwoofer, Left satellite, Right satellite), every single time, seems a bit like a pain.
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That's the personal choice bit. Performance versus convenience versus cost versus expectations, etc. etc. For some people, anything other than a Bluetooth speaker is overkill, for others, it's a room full of gear.

I've got all my stuff plugged into a power bar, so there's one single switch.
 
maxhifi said:
That's the personal choice bit. Performance versus convenience versus cost versus expectations, etc. etc. For some people, anything other than a Bluetooth speaker is overkill, for others, it's a room full of gear.

I've got all my stuff plugged into a power bar, so there's one single switch.
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Is your system active? What are you rocking, kind sir?
 
OrphicTrench said:
Is your system active? What are you rocking, kind sir?
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No I've got a passive system now. Rega/naim/croft/epos on the main system. And a bunch of other stuff like tube amps i built myself. I like tube amps and playing with the sound of different amps too much to go active. ATC stuff is awesome, I've thought about going that way before, but the lowish efficiency and my interest in low powered tube amps keeps me from them.

The ATC mosfet amplifier design is very good though. And the active crossovers have serious advantages. If I wasn't such a hobbiest I'd consider going active for performance and convince reasons.
 
maxhifi said:
No I've got a passive system now. Rega/naim/croft/epos on the main system. And a bunch of other stuff like tube amps i built myself. I like tube amps and playing with the sound of different amps too much to go active. ATC stuff is awesome, I've thought about going that way before, but the lowish efficiency and my interest in low powered tube amps keeps me from them.

The ATC mosfet amplifier design is very good though. And the active crossovers have serious advantages. If I wasn't such a hobbiest I'd consider going active for performance and convince reasons.
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Gotcha. Yeah, I went that route because it's the norm in pro studios. It's a bit of a shame to have them sitting in a box somewhere, but I think I'm leaning more towards simplicity in the living room.
 
OrphicTrench said:
Gotcha. Yeah, I went that route because it's the norm in pro studios. It's a bit of a shame to have them sitting in a box somewhere, but I think I'm leaning more towards simplicity in the living room.
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In a way, going active is more simple, because the amplifier is in the speakers. No heavy amplifier to deal with. And ATC's amplifier sounds better than any Marantz I've heard. It uses purpose built audio mosfets.

But you know, it sounds to me like you'd rather have a home hifi. One good thing about the ATCs is they generally keep their value, you should be able to sell them and recover your money quite easily if you want.
 
maxhifi said:
In a way, going active is more simple, because the amplifier is in the speakers. No heavy amplifier to deal with. And ATC's amplifier sounds better than any Marantz I've heard. It uses purpose built audio mosfets.

But you know, it sounds to me like you'd rather have a home hifi. One good thing about the ATCs is they generally keep their value, you should be able to sell them and recover your money quite easily if you want.
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Oh I'm gonna keep the ATCs for sure. Just might have to wait until I move into a bigger home in a couple of years. They're perfect for production/mixing/mastering. But paying $2000 for a preamp for leisure listening is a bit above my mental limit I have to admit. I know that system would kill any other alternative I may be able to afford right now.
 
OrphicTrench said:
Oh I'm gonna keep the ATCs for sure. Just might have to wait until I move into a bigger home in a couple of years. They're perfect for production/mixing/mastering. But paying $2000 for a preamp for leisure listening is a bit above my mental limit I have to admit. I know that system would kill any other alternative I may be able to afford right now.
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Why not get something like an eversolo streamer. They have XLR outputs that work great with ATCs and will function as a preamp. You're sure not limited to an ATC preamp. In fact I've seen people have a minimal ATC setup using SCM 19A and nothing more than a bluesound node, with a pair of XLR to RCA converters. That guy just left the system on 24/7. In a beautiful house. There's absolutely no reason you need to use an ATC preamp to enjoy your speakers.
 
OrphicTrench said:
But paying $2000 for a preamp for leisure listening is a bit above my mental limit I have to admit.
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You might consider one of the Fosi preamps. The P4 has RCA in/out and the ZP3 has RCA and XLR in/out. I have the P4, and for $100, it's not bad. Not quite as good as my Conrad Johnson China knock off tube pre (no longer available), but not bad at all, and much better than my Schiit Saga.
 
maxhifi said:
Why not get something like an eversolo streamer. They have XLR outputs that work great with ATCs and will function as a preamp. You're sure not limited to an ATC preamp. In fact I've seen people have a minimal ATC setup using SCM 19A and nothing more than a bluesound node, with a pair of XLR to RCA converters. That guy just left the system on 24/7. In a beautiful house. There's absolutely no reason you need to use an ATC preamp to enjoy your speakers.
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I'm not much of a streamer unfortunately. Maybe I'm old fashioned.
 
OrphicTrench said:
I'm not much of a streamer unfortunately. Maybe I'm old fashioned.
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Ah, I have hundreds of records and CDs that sit and collect dust while I stream Tidal lossless and control it with my phone. Ever since lossless streaming came out, I just can't be bothered to go through the whole ritual of playing physical media with the enthusiasm I used to have.
 
maxhifi said:
Ah, I have hundreds of records and CDs that sit and collect dust while I stream Tidal lossless and control it with my phone. Ever since lossless streaming came out, I just can't be bothered to go through the whole ritual of playing physical media with the enthusiasm I used to have.
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I bet there's lots of people that feel that way. Streaming is awesome for discovering new music. I may have to look into Tidal eventually. What streamer would you recommend?
 
OrphicTrench said:
I bet there's lots of people that feel that way. Streaming is awesome for discovering new music. I may have to look into Tidal eventually. What streamer would you recommend?
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Oh boy, that's a hard one. I'm using a NAIM streamer right now, but it's an old one. It's the first unit I've had that made me think streaming isn't compromised and inferior. If you're in Quebec, I suggest going to a couple hifi shops in Montreal and checking out their products. Streamers come in a lot of price ranges, with some people defending both ends of the spectrum. I suggest try before you buy, so you don't end up getting a cheap one and losing interest in streaming, or believing you need to spend a fortune to get good sound.

If you're rural or something, ort don't have time to audition I suggest you can't go too wrong with bluesound, eversolo, or wiim.
 
maxhifi said:
Oh boy, that's a hard one. I'm using a NAIM streamer right now, but it's an old one. It's the first unit I've had that made me think streaming isn't compromised and inferior. If you're in Quebec, I suggest going to a couple hifi shops in Montreal and checking out their products. Streamers come in a lot of price ranges, with some people defending both ends of the spectrum. I suggest try before you buy, so you don't end up getting a cheap one and losing interest in streaming, or believing you need to spend a fortune to get good sound.

If you're rural or something, ort don't have time to audition I suggest you can't go too wrong with bluesound, eversolo, or wiim.
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I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
maxhifi said:
Oh boy, that's a hard one. I'm using a NAIM streamer right now, but it's an old one. It's the first unit I've had that made me think streaming isn't compromised and inferior. If you're in Quebec, I suggest going to a couple hifi shops in Montreal and checking out their products. Streamers come in a lot of price ranges, with some people defending both ends of the spectrum. I suggest try before you buy, so you don't end up getting a cheap one and losing interest in streaming, or believing you need to spend a fortune to get good sound.

If you're rural or something, ort don't have time to audition I suggest you can't go too wrong with bluesound, eversolo, or wiim.
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Hey, sorry for asking, but are there any streamers that can load room correction filters? That would be amazing.
 
I am getting confused. You just moved, right? If I were you, I'd let the dust settle before making some of these decisions. Maybe that's just me?
 
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