In selecting ATC you have chosen an example of the nest audio engineering available. ATC was founded on a principle of engineering excellence, and
that principle still denes our products today. Given the right opportunities, ATC products will deliver exceptional audio performance, but the
opportunities will only arise from careful and thoughtful installation and use. Please read the following manual fully. It will help you understand the
product and to realise its full potential. We are happy to answer questions and oer advice on any issues that arise through installation or use of
ATC products. Contact details can be found at the back of this manual.
ATC was founded in London in 1974 by Australian emigre Billy Woodman. An enthusiastic pianist and engineer he was naturally drawn to
loudspeaker design and after a period working at Goodmans, where many of the names that went on to found British loudspeaker companies
began their careers, he struck out on his own. The premise on which ATC began is a simple one, and one that in many respects is still true today:
hi loudspeakers tend to be detailed and accurate but of limited dynamic range, while professional monitor speakers tend to express the opposite
character. ATC products were designed from the outset to oer the best of both. It’s an easy concept to describe, but surprisingly dicult to engineer.
The diculty inherent in designing such loudspeakers is one of scale. Hi levels of accuracy and detail call for lightweight moving parts and delicate
engineering. Professional monitor levels of performance however demand far more robust components engineered to survive the rigours of
high-level use for extended periods. The only way to combine the two is through precision engineering of a class and scale more often associated
with aerospace or motor sport. But the results are worth the eort and the cost. ATC loudspeakers, with their unique in-house designed drivers,
combine the best of hi and professional to devastating eect.
ATC has become synonymous with active systems. Choosing to oer active loudspeakers (where the passive crossover network is replaced by
active lters and multiple power ampliers) is simply a result of the uncompromising attitude to loudspeaker design. While passive systems still
have their place, and ATC engineering skills can still bring remarkable results from them, “active” is a fundamentally better solution to the problems
posed by accurate, high level music reproduction. The ATC instinct is always for the better solution. Not cheaper, not quicker, but better.
It was the development of active loudspeakers that rst brought ATC into electronics design and engineering. Active speakers demand multiple
power ampliers so ATC from the mid-1980s became not just a loudspeaker manufacturing company but an electronics manufacturer too. The
further step from electronics for active speakers to a range of stand-alone amplier products was natural and now means that ATC engineering is
available from the recording desk or CD player output to the ears.
From modest beginnings ATC has grown to become one of the very few manufacturers successful across both domestic and professional audio. By
selecting ATC you join a group of music lovers, professional audio engineers, studios and musicians across the world that understand and value the
engineering that goes into an ATC product – and the sound that comes out.
SECTION ONE
Welcome
1.1
