THE NEW ATC SCM11 STEREO SPEAKER, feeling particularly harsh, you could call the ATC SCMn the ugliest speaker in this test. You'd probably be right, but at least they don't try to pretend that they're anything other than ruddy awesome speakers. We've tested the SCMns a number of times. Indeed, they scooped a Best Buy Award at this price-point in our 2007 Awards issue. Aesthetically, the SCMIIS feature a stepped graphite-grey double front baffle with curved edges. It's claimed that this design improves imaging and reduces diffraction. The cabinet is unported -unlike every other speaker here - to hel p bass accuracy. The speakers use a 2.scm soft-dome tweeter, and the company's own heavily damped l2.scm mid-bass driver. ATC has refrained from making wholesale changes over the past couple of years, but newer versions of this speaker benefit from an internal modification to the mid-bass driver unit, designed to help the speaker play at higher volume levels. Not that there was a problem with the original version .. ATC's mid-bass driver is a real beauty.

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Instruments and vocals sound pure and natural. During Duffy's Every Heanbeal and Adele's Hometown Glory, the ATCs give you every last drop of emotion. It's enough to make you dewy-eyed. Switch over to the orchestral soundtrack for The Dark Knight, though, and the ATCs change tack -layering the various instruments to perfection, picking up each and every natural tone. Ai though the floorstanders in this Group Test can produce greater bass weight, the ATCs counter this by digging up immense detail. This awesome transparency is a great platform for well-produced CDs; possibly not so for compressed, poorer recordings. But, that's hardly the speakers' fault! The SCMllS are also the most insensitive speaker here, so you'll need a decent amplifier - around 100 W per channel is a good starting point. Apart from this, the SCMns are still the speaker to beat. There's a simplicity and honesty to their sound that's unbeatable. They've most definitely set an early benchmark in this Group Test and it's up to the rest of the field to prove their worth.