A High-performance 15-inch Studio Sub
Whether you’re involved in music production or film post, you need unerringly accurate full-range monitoring, and that’s where the ATC SCS120 Pro studio subwoofer comes in. Handcrafted in England, this high-performance 15-inch active sub delivers jaw-dropping, linear low-frequency response to below 2Hz (-3dB), making it an ideal candidate for LFE channel installations on world-class film re-recording stages. Designed to offer the uncompromising levels of performance necessary to partner seamlessly with ATC’s range of active full-range monitors, the SCS120 Pro is perfectly suited for stereo, multichannel surround, and immersive audio monitor systems.
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Sophisticated infinite baffle design
In the SCS120 Pro design phase, ATC engineers implemented the infinite baffle (sealed-box) principle due to its superior sub-bass extension and driver control. The enclosure itself is massive and inert to eliminate cabinet coloration. With a curb weight of 98.1 pounds, the SCS120 Pro is indeed a hefty beast. However, its relatively compact dimensions facilitate placement in control rooms and multiple-unit installation in larger spaces such as film mixing theaters. For status visibility even at a distance, the subwoofer cabinet features a front panel with two LEDs that indicate on/limit and mute.
Proprietary driver with hand-wound voice coil
Great-sounding monitors start with great-sounding drivers. The SCS120 Pro’s driver is manufactured to stringent tolerances at ATC’s in-house facility, where hand-wound voice coils are made from flat oxygen-free copper wire and operate in a precision long magnetic gap. Specially designed magnet vents not only reduce air flow noise and heat, but also increase power handling and reliability. ATC’s proprietary drivers are engineered to perform at exacting professional standards and deliver smooth, even frequency response without built-in EQ. In the design of the SCS120 subwoofer system, the custom driver has been painstakingly engineered to reproduce the lowest three octaves of the audio band. Incorporating a short coil operating in an atypically long magnetic gap, it delivers high sound pressure levels with vanishingly low levels of distortion.
Reference-grade, convection-cooled amplifier
Mounted in the rear of the cabinet, the SCS120 Pro’s convection-cooled, 300-watt, MOSFET-based Class AB amplifier benefits from ATC’s no-compromise design ethos. One of a handful of companies that pioneered (and ultimately popularized) active monitor technology, ATC has always engineered its own internal amplifiers. This makes the company an expert in the complex relationship between amplification and transducer, as well as what it takes for an amp to optimally drive a loudspeaker system. ATC’s SCS120 Pro incorporates the same loudspeaker-protection and gain-reduction circuits the company uses in its active full-range monitors; thus, even when you are monitoring at a very high volume, clipping is avoided, protecting your subwoofer from damage. The amplifier features fault monitoring for temperature and DC offset. The presence of either fault condition is indicated by the illumination of a single red LED mounted on the amp panel.
A legacy of monitoring accuracy
A young engineer named Billy Woodman spent his formative years working side by side with some of the best speaker engineers of the day. In 1974, Woodman went on to found ATC (Acoustic Transducer Company). Since then, ATC has focused on one thing: creating the most accurate monitor loudspeakers possible. If you want to make great-sounding recordings that translate to the world outside your studio, accurate monitoring is a must. You need to hear every nuance of your audio, exactly as it was recorded and mixed. ATC monitoring equipment, expertly engineered with the highest-grade components, is designed to provide just that. How good are ATC monitors? Just ask renowned producers and engineers like George Massenburg, Chuck Ainlay, Nathaniel Kunkel, and Doug Sax. You’ll also find ATC monitors in Abbey Road Studios, Sony Studios New York, Blackbird Studios Nashville, and many more world-class facilities. Sweetwater is proud to offer you ATC’s extensive range of professional studio monitors.
ATC SCS120 Pro Features:
- High-performance active subwoofer with custom driver and amplification
- Proprietary SS75-375SC driver with hand-wound voice coil
- Reference-grade, convection-cooled amplifier
- Infinite baffle cabinet design
- Comprehensive control and connectivity
- Frequency range: 20Hz (-6dB) – 320Hz (-6dB)
- LF cutoff: 20Hz (-6dB, half space, lowpass filter set at 80Hz)
- Lowpass filters: 50Hz, 65Hz, 80Hz, 320Hz (-6dB, 4th order Linkwitz Riley)
- Max SPL: 113dB continuous, 119dB peak (IEC-weighted Pink Noise, measured at 1m, half space, lowpass filter set to 80Hz)
- Sensitivity: 85dBC, ref. -17dBu (Gain +6dB, Level 0dB, Pink Noise, lowpass filter set to 80Hz)
- Amplifier type: grounded-source MOSFET-based Class AB, convection cooled
- Output power: 300W (into 8 ohms)
- Amplifier THD+N: <0.003%/-90dB, at 100Hz, 300W into 8 ohms over 90kHz bandwidth
- Input CMRR: 90dB at 200Hz
- Input impedance: approx. 20k ohms (differential)
- Output impedance: approx. 100 ohms (differential)
- Gain control: 0, +6dB, +10dB
- Level control: 0dB–11dB in 1dB steps; total range: 21dB via Gain switch
- Phase control: 0–180° (ref. Input, continuous)
- Polarity flip: in/out (ref. Input, via switch)
- Limiter: ATC active FET momentary gain reduction, active limiter indicated on front panel
- Handcrafted in England
- ATC 6-year warranty
