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New Polish Hi-Fi Distributor – Poland

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ATC are very happy to announce a new Hi-Fi Distributor for Poland and with immediate effect, Warsaw based Sound Source will take on the distribution of ATC’s Hi-Fi product range.

Sound Source is a group of music lovers first and foremost. People that are passionate about what they do and devote a lot of their time to spend with music both professionally and privately. The company was started from a need to deliver the best possible Hi-Fi solutions and allow as many people to experience music in the best way possible. We are proud to represent brands like Audio Analogue, Pegaso, Sbooster and now also ATC Loudspeakers.

Contact Details
Tel: +48 883 800 299
Email: info@soundsource.pl
Web: www.soundsource.pl (website is temporarily down for maintainence).


New ATC UK Dealer – DNA Audio

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 ATC are very happy to announce, DNA Audio have been appointed as an ATC dealer, covering the West Yorkshire area from their brand new premises in Otley near Leeds.


DNA Audio is owned by Darren Green and Alistair Gladstone and the company is based on a simple premise: great customer service, fantastic listening rooms and products they wholly believe in.

Darren’s previous employment was with Naim Audio, working in their service department where he gained a detailed and thorough understanding of hi-fi products whilst also supporting his love of Hi-Fi that had started with a visit to the Harrogate Hi-Fi show alongside his dad, in the late 70s.  Alistair’s journey into Hi-Fi started with his love of music (also inspired by his father) and is a keen guitarist, playing with David Lynch inspired band, The Red Room.

DNA Audio operate from Clifford house, a recently refurbished building that dates back to the 17th century.  The stylish space features great facilities including two demo rooms, showroom, disabled access and parking for five vehicles.

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“DNA Audio is delighted to be representing ATC Loudspeakers having long been admirers of them. Come and listen for yourself or get in touch.”  Alistair Gladstone, DNA Audio.

Email: info@dnaaudio.co.uk
WWW: http://www.dnaaudio.co.uk/
Facebook: @dnaaudiouk
Twitter: @audio_dna
Instagram: @DNAAudio1


HTS40 System Awarded ‘Best Buy’ by Home Cinema Choice

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Home Cinema Choice have awarded the HTS40 & HTS7 system, ‘Best Buy’ status in the August 2018 edition of the magazine.

Here’s just a short out take of their thoughts on the system:

“When K enters Sapper Morton’s apartment in Blade Runner 2049 (Blu-ray), the various Foley effects amid the near silence of the room are beautifully conveyed. The squeak of floorboards and the bubbling of the pot on the stove are perfectly placed and worked into the mix. They don’t leap out at you because they sound absolutely and unambiguously right…There is simply no clue as to where one speaker’s activity ends and another begins. A good turn of the volume dial helps their performance expand in scale, but even at low levels the listening experience is wonderfully immersive.”  Ed Selly, Home Cinema Choice, August 2018.

To read the review in full, click the HTS40 & HTS7 System Review to open as a PDF

Home Cinema Choice Magazine

 


Beautiful System – Hi-Fi Choice Review the SCM40A & CDA2 Mk2

Hi-Fi Choice have reviewed the active SCM40A loudspeakers and the new CDA2 Mk2 CD/DAC/Pre as part of their, ‘Beautiful Systems’ feature.

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Here is just a little tast of what reviewer, Ed Selly thought of this system:

“And the bass… the low end on offer here is exquisite.”

“It takes a little time to appreciate quite how good it is because it is so natural and unobtrusive, but it allows this system to demonstrate truly lovely tonality…”

“It is comfortably one of the very best imlimentations of active speakers I have had the pleasure of spending any time with”

Ed Selly, Hi-Fi Choice, July 2018.

To read the review in full, click the link below:

SCM40A & CDA2 Mk2 System Review, Hi-Fi Choice, June 2018


The Ear Review the CDA2 Mk2

Writing for, The Ear, Jason Kennedy reviews our latest digital source, the CDA2 Mk2.

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“ The CDA2 Mk2 is well built, comprehensively equipped and highly revealing, but more importantly it makes familiar material engrossing, it makes you listen longer and dare I say it, louder. ATC has driven down distortion and noise so that more of the crucial timing and imaging cues can be heard, in the process they have delivered their finest digital product yet, it’s a great pity they took it away!”

Jason Kennedy, The Ear, April 2018.

Read the review in full at The Ear website.


Hi-Fi News Review the New CDA2 Mk2

“…with a wide-open sound, masses of detail and unrestrained slam.  It makes a fine partner for power amps and active speakers alike, getting on with the business of delivering the music without adding or subtracting anything.  If it does all you need, it’s a bargain”.  Andrew Everard, Hi-Fi News, April 2018.

Connect to a PC or streamer and use the on-board high resolution DAC to bring your music library, Tidal or Spotify to life.

Also need CD? No problem – simply use the CDA2 like a traditional player but connected directly to a power amp or active loudspeakers.

If you’ve also got a vinyl collection, hook up a phono stage via one of two analogue inputs.

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Find much more information and an in-depth review and lab test in the latest edition of Hi-Fi News, available in print or digital editions now or via the link below.

To read in full or download a PDF, click this link to the CDA2 Mk2 Review.

 


ATC launches CDA2 Mk2 CD/DAC Preamplifier

Wholesale upgrades to ATC’s leading source product deliver audiophile levels of accuracy and dynamics to music reproduction, combined with extraordinary value for money…

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ATC Loudspeaker Technology is extremely proud to announce the arrival of the CDA 2 Mk2 CD/DAC Preamp, which represents a re-engineering of its predecessor in all the key performance areas. Developed as the ideal partner for ATC’s latest P2 power amplifier and active speaker designs, the Mk2 combines convenient USB access to high-resolution music streaming with an upgraded CD transport and DAC board, dedicated headphone amplification, expanded input choices and analogue circuits redesigned to deliver an extremely wide and flat frequency response with very low distortion.

Joining rear panel coaxial and optical 192kHz inputs, the Mk2’s new high resolution USB input is capable of handling PCM data up to 384kHz and also DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 natively. Excellent jitter rejection ensures that signal integrity is maintained even with poorer quality sources and over long cable runs. Completing the Mk2’s wider digital interface, a new TEAC-supplied CD transport delivers faster play and seek times, much lower mechanical noise and improved error correction.

The meticulously re-engineered analogue circuits optimise ATC’s implementation of a new premium 32-bit AKM DAC, selected for exceptionally low noise and distortion. Supporting the DAC, the Mk2’s power supply architecture employs no fewer than nine additional high performance voltage regulators, and local power supply decoupling has been improved from the Mk1, yielding further performance gains.

In another refinement, both input and output gain stages have been improved by an arrangement of discrete op amps comprising six common gain blocks: two for left and right input buffering, and four to provide a “true” differential output for the left and right channels. The positive and negative drivers are arranged in parallel to ensure that the signal delays and phase shifts are identical on both sides. The output stages are configured as unity gain complementary compound (Sziklai) pairs, biased in class A.

These major design revisions combined with many marginal gains (from hand-soldering surface mount components on the legs of specific chips for instance) ensure that the CDA2 Mk2’s analogue stage exhibits exceptionally low noise and distortion across a very wide bandwidth.

Also benefitting are twin rear-mounted analogue phono/RCA inputs and an additional aux analogue input via 3.5mm mini jack, which is equipped with high input sensitivity for improved compatibility with phones, tablets and other low output portable devices. Additionally the Mk2 benefits from a revised high performance headphone amplifier capable of driving headphones from 30 – 600 ohms, delivering exceptional results from the vast array of modern headphone designs. Output is via a rear panel mounted 6.35mm jack.

The CDA2 Mk2’s chassis is constructed from a combination of steel and aluminium and uses constrained layer damping to control panel resonances. The front panel is machined from an extruded section of 13mm/0.5” aluminium alloy with a brushed and anodised silver finish.

The product is supplied with IR remote control and is covered by a six year warranty (2 years CD mechanism).

Recommended UK Retail: £2950 (inc. VAT).


UK Show Premier for new CDA2 CD/DAC preamplifier

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ATC is celebrating its Bristol show debut with the UK show premier of its CDA2 Mk2 CD/DAC preamplifier, driving a mix of the brand’s multi-award winning passive and active speaker designs.

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The Mk2 combines convenient USB access to high-resolution music streaming with an upgraded CD transport and DAC board, dedicated headphone amplification, expanded input choices and analogue circuits redesigned to deliver an extremely wide and flat frequency response with very low distortion.

Join us for the first time at Bristol: Room 102!

The show takes place from Friday 23rd  to Sunday 25th February and is held at the Marriott City Centre Hotel, Bristol.

Sound & Vision – The Bristol Show Website


Martin Colloms Reviews the SCM50PSL for Hi-Fi Critic

facebook-version“this is a fine loudspeaker of startling dynamic range with great clarity and excellent resolution.”

Martin Colloms, Hi-Fi Critic, December 2017.

The SCM50PSL has been awarded a much coveted, ‘Audio Excellence’ award by highly regarded magazine, Hi-Fi Critic, the only independent advert free magazine featuring venerable reviewers, Paul Messenger and Martin Colloms.

Here’s just a little more of Martin’s thoughtful insights into the SCM50PSL.

“The inherent neutrality enabled all kinds of material to express itself, from jazz (both forceful and relaxed examples) to heavy rock such as classic Hendrix, where you were brought almost to the front of the audience at high sound levels. The more modern Keith Richards’ Main Offender sounded like we were present in the monitoring room, it was so punchy and immediate…I suppose its great virtue was the way it became acoustically unobtrusive, allowing the wide range of music programme we sampled to tell their individual stories.”

“This ATC three-way generated powerful, tuneful and believably accurate sound images. Despite reasonably compact stand-mount proportions, it had fine bass with extension, tune playing and attack, a very neutral and well integrated midrange, and a sweet, detailed and natural high frequencies. Rather more powerful than its modest proportions might indicate, this fine design delivers stereo images on a grand scale, and conveys much of the character and detail in fine recordings. It hits the audio excellence level for its sheer all round ability – not least the massive power handling and the resulting dynamic range.”

Martin Colloms, Hi-Fi Critic, December 2017.

To read the review in full, open or download the PDF here: Hi-Fi Critic SCM50PSL Review


Limited Edition High Gloss SCM7

ATC have produced a limited run of the SCM7 finished in high gloss red, yellow and black for the Hong Kong and Chinese markets.  The speakers are available now from Sound Concepts in Hong Kong and exclusive retailers in mainland China.

Sound Concepts

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HTS7 5.1 Wins AV Tech Media Award for Best On-Wall Speaker System

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Mastering engineer extraordinaire Barry Grint gets ATC P2 PRO in on the Alchemy act.

“I was very happy with my monitor speakers, but they seemed to lack bass extension; Matt Colton has active ATC SCM150 ASL PROs in his room, so I thought that an ATC amp might give me more bass… the difference wasn’t subtle with the P2 PRO.”
– Alchemy Mastering Founder & Director Barry Grint, 2017.

LONDON, UK: specialist British loudspeaker drive unit and complete sound reproduction system manufacturer ATC is proud to announce that mastering engineer extraordinaire Barry ‘Bazza’ Grint has acquired a P2 PRO Dual Mono Power Amplifier — a true dual mono design delivering 300W of continuous power simultaneously from both channels to drive the most challenging loudspeaker loads with ATC’s signature virtues of wide bandwidth and ultra-low distortion — to enhance the fullrange monitoring system in his room at Alchemy Mastering, one of the world’s leading lights in half-speed and pure analogue vinyl mastering…

Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering with ATC P2 Pro Power Amp

Barry Grint at Alchemy Mastering with ATC P2 Pro Power Amp

Mastering engineer extraordinaire Barry Grint’s ‘lifelong’ love affair with The Dark Art Of Audio Mastering — to paraphrase the appropriate website wording for Alchemy Mastering (www.alchemymastering.com), the company he founded in 1998, having previously worked at Abbey Road, Porky’s Mastering, Tape One, and the legendary Trident Studios — led him to a life less ordinary that has been truly extraordinary. “I always wanted to work in a recording studio, but getting in has always been difficult,” he notes. “I had many jobs beforehand, but eventually I started as a tea boy at Trident Studios. Seeing first-hand what being a studio engineer actually entailed, I felt that it wasn’t quite right for me. On the third floor there was disc cutting — vinyl and cassette being the only formats at the time. I immediately felt at home, starting in the tape and cassette copy room, before moving up to vinyl mastering in 1984.”

The bright-eared Barry Grint was quick off the mark in making his mastering mark. 1984 alone saw his mastering mojo working wonderfully on classic vinyl singles for Duran Duran (‘The Wilds Boys’), Foreigner (‘I Want To Know What Love Is’), Madonna (‘Like A Virgin’), Van Halen (‘Jump’), and ZZ Top (‘Gimme All Your Lovin’’). Thereafter, things went seriously stratospheric as Barry Grint went on to work with a roll call of rock and pop greats such as Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Oasis, Prince, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, to list but a few notable names. Speaking of names, the master(ing) craftsman identified his vinyl work by etching ‘Bazza’ in the run out-groove with various incarnations including Bazza @ Abbey Road, Bazza @ Tape One, Bazza @ Porky’s putting in an appearance throughout the years.

Yet Barry Grint has witnessed a lot of industry changes — technological or otherwise — in a celebrated career spanning five distinctive decades. Given his mastering pedigree, perhaps it was inevitable that he would one day become a master of his own destiny at Alchemy Mastering in Soho, which went on to become one of the UK’s foremost mastering facilities before leasing issues at its ‘high-flying’ Centre Point office tower London location left its founder rethinking and, ultimately, relocating somewhat closer to terra firma. Its current location in an elegant West London mews houses three acoustically-tuned studios with natural daylight designed by the three ‘Alchemists’ — Barry Grint and fellow Directors Matt Colton and Phil Kinrade — themselves, each equipped with full-range monitoring systems and a wide range of vintage and cutting-edge high-end analogue and digital hardware and software processors, perfect for pursuing their sought-after craft. “We all react to what’s coming out of the speakers, and we make our judgements based on how that sounds in the room,” Matt Colton claimed, soon after receiving the coveted Music Producers Guild Mastering Engineer of the Year award in 2013.

As a full member, Barry Grint is no stranger to the MPG (Music Producers Guild) himself, representing them when working with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) to create a standard for embedding the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) within BWF (Broadcast Wave Format) audio, adopted by the main manufacturers of mastering software internationally. But back in the mastering hot seat within Mastering Two — Barry Grint’s mastering studio for digital, CD, and vinyl mastering at Alchemy Mastering — things get more personal. “The choice of equipment is a very personal thing,” its owner-occupier opines. “I was very happy with my monitor speakers, but they seemed to lack bass extension; Matt Colton has active ATC SCM150 ASL PROs in his room, so I thought that an ATC amp might give me more bass.”

Cue delivery of a P2 PRO Dual Mono Power Amplifier — a true dual mono design delivering 300W of continuous power simultaneously from both channels to drive the most challenging loudspeaker loads with ATC’s signature virtues of wide bandwidth and ultra-low distortion — on trial. The result? “The bass extension was great, but there was also a noticeable improvement overall — a smoothness that gave improved detail and clarity,” continues the seriously impressed Barry Grint. “The difference wasn’t subtle with the P2 PRO. I called Ben Lilly, Technical Sales Manager at ATC, and told him he couldn’t have the demo unit back until he had sent me the one I bought!”

Beneficiaries of this latest acquisition already encompasses a lengthening list of current and established artists alike, as Barry Grint reveals: “Remastering Jeff Wayne’s War Of The Worlds, The Stranglers, Declan McKenna, Tom Odell, Sean Paul, Roger Waters; vinyl mastering for All Tvvins, Gorillaz, Laura Mvula, Little Mix, Radiohead, Rag’n’Bone Man, The Libertines, The Rolling Stones…”

So, yes, Barry Grint has witnessed a lot of industry changes in a celebrated career spanning five distinctive decades — not least the putative passing of vinyl into the annals of reproductive audio history only for it to triumphantly return relatively recently, as evidenced by Alchemy Mastering making a name for itself as one of the world’s leading lights in half-speed and pure analogue vinyl mastering: “When I started, people recorded in recording studios and mobile studios were big articulated lorries loaded with massive Neve, Cadac, or Trident desks and multitrack tape machines. Today, digital recording has made available amazing recording spaces.  Sometimes this means that for some projects the mastering room is the only controlled listening environment, one where a good speaker/amp combination is vital. This is why we went with ATC.”

Alchemy Mastering

ATC P2 Pro Dual-Mono Power Amp

ATC P2 Dual-Mono Power Amp

 


11 What Hi-Fi Awards for the SCM11…


SCM11 wins 11th What Hi-Fi Award!

The SCM11 has again emerged as a top buy, specifically as Best Standmount Speaker in the £1200-£2000 category.

 

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What Hi-Fi states, “These speakers manage to knit everything into a cohesive, musical whole”.

 

This is the 11th year the SCM11 has  won a What Hi-Fi Award, winning in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, making it the most consistently successful speaker design in What Hi-Fi award history.

 

More info on this years winners on the What Hi-Fi Website.

 


ATC Loudspeakers Partners with Rutherford Audio as their U.S. Sales Partner for its Hi-Fi Home Audio Series

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Las Vegas, NV (August 15, 2017) – Lone Mountain Audio, the importer of ATC Consumer Hi Fi Loudspeakers from England, is proud to announce Rutherford Audio as their new exclusive US Sales Representative for ATC HI Fi and Consumer range of Loudspeakers.

Rutherford’s prestige line up of European made audiophile-grade products include Burmester, Vertere Acoustics, Thorens, Acoustical Systems, Vertere, Scheu Analogue, and others.

Brad Lunde, president of ATC’s U.S. distributor Lone Mountain Audio shared; “We searched for a U.S. sales partner that aligned with ATC’s philosophy of premium “in house” handcrafted products and limited distribution to the best US consumer retailers. Rutherford Audio’s reputation for presenting and selling in the same manner made them our perfect choice.”

ATC Hi Fi is set as an ideal alternative as high-end brands change their product and distribution philosophy away from independent dealers. “We know that ATCs product technology (currently dominating the professional recording studio market) combined with a family-feel work ethic focused on stable long term relationships is exactly what the US retail dealer market is seeking. Lone Mountain’s ATC product and brand support and Rutherford’s sales expertise and existing long-term dealer relationships are a perfect combination. The ideal plan would be partnering exclusively with 25 of the top independent high-end dealers, those with extremely limited Internet marketing and seeking alike brand protection,” says Lunde.

Norm Steinke, President of US Sales for Rutherford Audio and founder/CEO, Rob Niemann were quick to see the value of adding ATC Loudspeakers and electronics to its line up of audiophile gear. Norm stated; “ATC Loudspeakers are world renowned, used by the best studios, recording artist, bands, producers/directors and now consumers too can experience the same level of audio precision, purity and dynamics in their own homes.” “I will add; we at Rutherford Audio are very pleased to be chosen to represent ATC’s HiFi Loudspeakers to our US dealer base.
ATC Loudspeakers will be on demonstration with Rutherford Audio at the upcoming Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, October 6-8, 2017 at the Denver Marriott Tech Centre.

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ABOUT LONE MOUNTAIN AUDIO / ATC U.S. – www.lonemountainaudio.com
Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lone Mountain Audio is the exclusive U.S. distributor for ATC Loudspeakers for the Hi-Fi and CI (custom integration) marketplaces providing sales, marketing, customer service and full support for all ATC loudspeaker products.


About Rutherford Audio – www.rutherfordaudio.com
Rutherford Audio is North America’s premier distribution channel for a select few of Europe’s finest Hi-Fi audio brands. We strive to represent only the best in the market, carefully choosing our partners for their commitment to quality and performance. Their catalog varies greatly: from the small in size, such as our luxury headphones designed in Paris by Aedle, to Burmester’s immense full-sized home theatre packages. Turntable prices range from $500 to $25,000, ultra high-end reference Amplifiers and top-of-the-line Speakers from prestige audiophile brands are featured. Rutherford Audio is in constant search of the best possible audio gear coming out of Europe.


Loudspeaker Technology Ltd, Gypsy Lane, Aston Down, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 8HR.
Tel: +44 (0)1285 760561 Fax: +44 (0)1285760683 Email: info@atc.gb.net
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