ATC has announced the SCM25A Pro Mk2, a compact, three-way, active monitor that replaces the original SCM25A Pro’s OEM high-frequency driver with the Specialist British manufacturer’s own S-Spec SH25-76S soft-dome, dual-suspension tweeter as used the two-way SCM20A Pro and larger, three-way SCM45A Pro, SCM50A Pro, SCM100A Pro, SCM110A Pro and SCM150A Pro models.
‘Over the past 13 years, the SCM25A Pro has proven to be both exceptionally popular and a valuable tool in the modern studio,’ says ATC Technical Sales Manager, Ben Lilly. ‘However, we knew we could make improvements to performance, and also offer improved consistency with the rest of the Pro product range while ensuring that we had greater control of the manufacturing process.’
As a compact, high-performance studio monitor, the SCM25A Pro Mk2 is based around a 6.5-inch/164mm bass driver loaded in a ported/ vented enclosure, tuned to 32kHz and featuring a 3-inch/75mm diameter port with flared entry and exit. Its 25-litre/0.9 cubic volume suit it to close-field monitoring across a wide range of critical applications.
New to the SCM25A Pro Mk2 is its high-frequency driver, ATC having replaced its predecessor’s OEM part with its own S-Spec SH25-76S, manufactured in-house. This is a 25mm soft-dome design, handling frequencies above 3.5kHz. Unlike most 25mm tweeters on the market, it employs both an upper and lower suspension to better support and control the coil and dome motion.
‘We feel the new tweeter lifts the capability of the SCM25A Pro Mk2 to a higher level, retaining the outstanding balance of the monitor, but extending the high-frequency response and reducing distortion to really help lower-level detail in the high-frequency band cut through,’ explains ATC R&D Manager, Richard Newman. ‘This will greatly aid faster decision-making and outstanding translation outside of the studio.’
The mid-band between 380Hz and 3.5kHz is handled by ATC’s 3-inch/75mm soft-dome driver, combining high-efficiency, high-power handling, low distortion, and wide dispersion characteristics. As a mainstay of ATC’s Pro product range, this features in eight models, ensuring consistency between close-fields and main monitors.
Mid- and high-frequency elements are supported by a 6.5-inch/164mm proprietary bass driver that takes care of frequencies below 380Hz. This features a carbon-loaded paper cone while the driver motor employs a short-coil operating in a long magnetic gap, helping to minimise distortion generated by drive force modulation. Additionally, a large 2-inch/50mm voice coil and generous excursion ensure high dynamic range.
Rear-mounted, a three-way class-A/B amplifier drives the SCM25A Pro Mk2 with each drive unit having a dedicated amplifier channel. Audio balanced input is via a rear panel three-pin XLR, and power is via an IEC (mains inlet.
Input sensitivity and Bass boost controls are accessible to the user. Crossovers are fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley and all-pass filters, optimising the phase coherence through the crossover regions as well as frequency response.
FET peak limiters are included to reduce amplifier ‘hard-clipping’, while Power/Limit is indicated by a front panel bi-colour LED. The amplifier is designed and manufactured in-house, as with the speaker drivers.
ATC’s SCM25A Pro Mk2 is available as of March 2023 (country-/region-dependent), when it will retail for £7,075 (plus VAT) per (left/right-orientated) pair.
More: https://atc.audio/professional/loudspeakers/scm25a-pro-mk2
