United atc audio12/31/2023 ![]() ![]() Those speakers were a revelation and left a very deep impression, so I jumped at the opportunity to review a pair of ATC’s SCM40 passive floorstanding loudspeakers ($7999 per pair, all prices in USD) for SoundStage! Ultra. Such commitment to in-house engineering excellence reminds me very much of SME, another legendary British marque with fastidious attention to detail bordering on obsession.Īside from hearing the company’s speakers at industry shows, my first proper encounter with ATC was in 2005, when I reviewed a pair of its SCM20-2 standmounts for Hi-Fi News & Record Review magazine. This guarantees that every component that goes into a unit is manufactured to ATC’s exacting tolerances, and provides the company with absolute control over the resulting sonic performance. And not just the drive units-the firm also manufactures the voice coils, crossovers, active amplifier packs, and even some of the cabinets. While most other manufacturers source drive units from third-party firms and bolt them into cabinets, ATC starts with a blank sheet of paper and designs everything from the ground up to perform precisely to its requirements. Initially, the company focused on supplying monitor systems for professional studios, broadcasters, and concert halls more recently, ATC has produced an increasingly successful range of loudspeakers for the home.Ī key element which distinguishes ATC from the majority of loudspeaker firms is that it designs, engineers, and builds all of its drive units entirely in-house. ATC was born of a desire to engineer speaker systems combining the virtues of high neutrality and extended dynamic range. By contrast, there were many speaker systems being produced in the United States capable of high dynamic range-but they also had high tonal coloration. When former Goodmans engineer Billy Woodman founded ATC in 1974, there was a very healthy British loudspeaker industry that built systems with high neutrality but limited dynamic range. In the event, there was no sign of Rigg, but I did learn that I had narrowly missed singer-songwriter Chris Rea collecting a pair of his loudspeakers that had just been repaired. I half-expected a purple-catsuited Diana Rigg to emerge from a side door and drive away in a pale-blue Lotus Elan. When I visited last summer, it felt like I had stumbled upon the secret world of a kitsch 1960s spy thriller. The firm’s factory is housed in a couple of mysterious-looking former Royal Air Force buildings. In short, if you want to hear Pink Floyd the way that David Gilmour does, you’d better use ATC speakers. The company’s client list reads like an A–Z of the world’s most beloved artists, including Enya, Kate Bush, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler, and Pink Floyd. ATC speakers were used by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab while he was cutting many of his vinyl masterpieces. ATC speakers hang in the Sydney Opera House, the Royal Festival Hall, and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club. Since 1974, ATC-the Acoustic Transducer Company-has designed, engineered, and built professional monitor systems for a client list that seemingly includes most of the leading recording or mastering studios on Earth. Deep in the Gloucestershire countryside, nestled in a pretty country lane between wild hedgerows, lies the headquarters of perhaps the world’s most respected manufacturer of professional loudspeakers. ![]()
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