“Anyone who has been waiting for an ATC nearfield with a smaller footprint, that is more easily installed, or that is more affordable, yet still delivers undiminished ATC performance, then the SCM12 Pro could be for them,” says ATC Technical Sales Manager Ben Lilly. “ATC R&D Manager Richard Newman has poured the same know-how, time, and passion into this new model that has made the rest of the professional product line so successful. Users will find that productions completed using the SCM12 Pro will translate beautifully to other systems and that their incredibly low distortion makes listening to them a pleasure — even after long hours in the studio. At under £1,150.00 per pair, they may prove ideal for those seeking to upgrade aging, hard-to-repair passive studio monitors,” he adds.
Though the SCM12 Pro is now the most affordable model in ATC’s professional range of loudspeakers, the monitor makes use of the company’s celebrated drive units for both the mid/bass and tweeter, both being meticulously hand built at its UK facility. The tweeter is a 25mm/one-inch soft-dome designed around ATC’s unique dual-suspension technology. Unlike conventional tweeters, this precision part employs two suspensions, offering far greater control of the voice coil and dome motion — especially at higher sound pressure levels. The result is an extended high-frequency response with much greater clarity and definition due to the reduction in disturbing anharmonic distortion. Listener fatigue is also greatly reduced, resulting in users being able to work for longer periods with greater accuracy.
At the lower end of the frequency spectrum, mid/bass reproduction is handled by ATC’s 150mm/six-inch proprietary CLD drive unit. Using a 45mm/1.75-inch diameter voice coil, and employing an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) optimized high-energy symmetric gap motor system, the driver is capable of tremendous dynamic range with minimal power compression. Cone construction is courtesy of another proprietary ATC technology that represents another advance in driver performance — namely, Constrained Layer Damping (CLD), a process that uses multiple laminated fabric cones to form a stiff, light, and tremendously well-damped structure. Speaking acoustically, this construction creates a smoother on- and off-axis frequency response and also a reduction in distortion leading to a more lifelike reproduction of source material. Meaningfully, judgements and decisions can be made more quickly, more accurately, and for longer periods of time by busy working audio professionals.
By employing these exceptional drive units, the passive crossover can, by design, use the minimum number of components in a simple, second-order implementation. The capacitors are all 250Vdc metalized polypropylene and all the inductors are air-cored types for minimal signal distortion. Additionally, all of the inductors are wound in house with very high-purity copper while large-gauge wire is used for the bass components to minimize signal losses.
Looking beyond the release of the SCM12 Pro, an install-specific sibling, the SCM12i, will be available as of Q1 2017. This model will feature threaded mounting points to mate with widely-available wall and ceiling brackets from K&M and Adaptive Technologies to simplify installation — incredibly useful in complex multichannel systems, such as those required by Auro 3-D, Dolby Atmos, or DTS:X.
“Exceptional passive monitors require exceptional amplification and, as far as the SCM12 Pro is concerned, the best possible results will be achieved when it is partnered with ATC’s own range of stereo power amplifiers,” the company says. ATC offers the 150W- per-channel P1 Pro dual-mono power amplifier, using technology originally developed for ATC’s high-end active monitoring systems. ATC’s SCM12 Pro are backed up with the company’s six-year warranty.
The British-built SCM12 Pro will be available as of October 3, 2016 at a UK RRP of £1,146.00 GBP (plus VAT) per pair or partnered with the P1 Pro dual-mono power amplifier — carrying a UK RRP of £2,165.00 GBP (plus VAT) — at a package price of £2,880.00 GBP (plus VAT), representing a 10% saving over product purchasing separately.
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