PMC vs. ATC

I have listened to ATC active 10's, 20's and 100's in people's homes. They are definitely not bright with rock music let alone "nails on a chalkboard". Thiels, Triangle, B & W, Energy, Monitor Audio - these are bright speakers. With Naim pre and CDP, ATC is one of the best speakers for rock I've ever heard.
For $92,500 you can get ATC's Concept 7 which uses SCM 70 ASL. According to J. Gordon Holt Stereophile Guide to Home Theater Oct 2000:
"The C7 answered once and for all the question of whether one system can do equal justice to music and soundtracks, and the answer is a resounding YES."
" The system was so much better than anything else I've heard that it makes more sense to compare it with real sound than with other systems".

I dont pay attention to stereophile - hifi mags (and dealers) are a thoroughly corrupt institution. Their recommendations reflect nothing more than their advertising revenue and the clout of the advertiser. The naim cdp and pre being a moot case. Naim are the most overrated amps in creation. They are just ripped off from 60s app notes in Electronics World and the like, without even the later design note amendments to remove the third harmonic which is now naims trademark (and marketed as a plus to add insult to injury!) Amps at 15% of the cost give the top naim pre power and cdp a sound thrashing. People buy B&W, naim, atc etc because the mags say they are the best. In general the more a mag hypes a product the worse it is - good products sell themselves. Just look at the underground following on the net now for hifi kit you wouldn't even know existed according to the mags.

The ATC's are bright and have light bass. Fine for classical but not for rock (many megadeath fans cant hear abouve 5 khz abyway ;-)). They sound nothing like real life tonally. A quck trip to an acoustic venue to listen to a real female voice will make that pretty clear. In two dems I went to woth two different friends both asked to be excused from the room while playing rock or female vocal on the atc 100A scm as it was too unpleasant to remain in the room (in an all atc system with naim cd player). They do not sound like real life and they were not designed to. They are near field studio mix monitors meant to pull the treble forward for analysis not enjoyment. I have heard the atcs recently and my comments still hold.

Brizonbiovizier,

AS a fan and soon to be dealer of PMC, ATC, and Meyer Sound, your assessment it appears is based on a system you have no control over. The PMC and the ATC are so similar and outstanding that I don't disagree with your preference I just can't agree with the magnitude of your statements. You intellectually have to realize that your experiences have been flawed to some degree. The PMC is modeled after the ATC and there's nothing wrong with that!

The ATC has a better tweeter but female vocals are generated by the midrange in both speakers and trying to say the original is not as good as the copy would be hard to believe.

I've been in studio and my own system with both PMC and ATC and they are both really X3 good and really X4 accurate, the PMC is the less detailed but has better bass (probably related in perception) (love those Volt drivers) and as far as I know their version of the midrange is not up to the SL standards yet, correct me if I'm wrong?. I have not talked to anyone from PMC in about a year.

I can tell you that ATC's are not purposely affected to be monitors, just like the PMC's are not fettered either. I don't know where you're getting your information from. But your nearest ATC dealer seems to need your help with speaker setup ;). Because the 100's should not drive you from the room. I'm not going to disagreee about the bass, but the there is a design reason for that.

You're just getting bad demos and you should know that.

Sorry.

Dear Nrchy: Yes, is true and you have to hear it: great !!!

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

I have a feeling you two know each other ;-). I heard both speakers in exactly the same system dem - there is no issue of a "bad dem". It was a dealer dem with both speakers at the same time and was repeated accross several dealers. Your comments that I should have known that I was getting a bad dem but failed to perceive this are therefore pure supposition, incorrect and therefore irrelevent. I have had plenty of bad dems in the past and lots of dealer rhetoric and I know it instantly - you are doing it now. The self proclaimed "expert" trying to use his "expert" status instead of anything more substantial. ;-)

ATC are first and foremost a studio desk monitor company and that is what their products are designed for. Read their website. PMC are mastering suite monitors and that is something compeltely different. PMC are not a "copy" of ATC - they sound very different. I would suggest that repeated listening to megadeth at 110db+ has perhaps permanantly damaged your hearing if you cannot hear the difference ;-)! In terms of sound the atc has classic desk monitor balance while the PMC is much closer to the BBC sound.

The PMC has greatest advantage over the atc in the midrange, they orignally used the atc unit many years ago but switched to their own and this caused performance to leap forward, where it has remained. The extra "detail" of the atc is merely a treble boost relative to the PMC. Once that effect has worn off in perception then the PMC reveals it is more detailed and the treble is in better perspective.

You make a lot of baseless assumptions - "bad dems" or that I have not listened to the latest variants - in an attempt to undermine my remarks. Sorry but it won't work - stick to the facts.