ATC Announces New SCS70 Pro Active Subwoofer

ATC is known for making high-performing loudspeakers with a simple, practical design and the new SCS70 Pro active subwoofer ($4,990) is no exception. Housing a 12-inch driver powered by a robust amplifier section with an array of useful controls, this low-end titan has enough power and flexibility to complement any studio. Follow along as we dig into everything the ATC SCS70 Pro has to offer!

ATC SCS70 Pro Subwoofer

At a glance, the SCS70 Pro looks quite simple. Its large, front-firing driver dominates an otherwise plain black cabinet with no strategically placed bass ports or fancy wood accents in sight. But don’t be deceived—this precision-engineered subwoofer delivers extraordinary output, accurate sound and a surprising level of versatility. By the end of this blog, we’re sure you’ll agree that the ATC SCS70 Pro can hang with even the most artfully designed boutique subwoofers.

We’ll start with the soul of the subwoofer: the powerful 12-inch ATC SS75-314SC driver. Utilizing a short coil suspended in a large magnetic gap, this transducer is capable of generating sound pressure levels up to 116 dB (110 dB continuous) without coming close to audible distortion. The 12-inch cone attached to the coil provides low-frequency output down to 22 Hz with exceptional accuracy in the lowest three octaves. Notably, the cabinet has no porting to enhance low-frequency output, as do many subwoofers (especially smaller models). Instead, ATC chose to rely on the driver’s performance alone and seal the entire cabinet to eliminate unwanted vibrations that may cause coloration of the sound.

Powering the transducer is a 300 W Class A-B MOSFET amplifier circuit with built-in limiting and fault monitoring circuits. The amplifier monitors its own temperature and DC offset, alerting you to a possible fault state with a red LED on the back panel. Additional LEDs on the front indicate power status, limiting and mute on/off. A large heatsink protruding from the back of the cabinet cools the amp by convection, eliminating the need for noisy, power-consuming fans.

Although the ATC SCS70 Pro is relatively simple in design, its back panel offers enough I/O and adjustment options to adapt to any studio configuration. Dual XLR inputs and outputs make it equally easy to patch the sub into a standard stereo configuration or feed it with a dedicated input from your LFE channel in a multichannel setup. There’s also a footswitch input for mute control, which allows you to momentarily switch off the sub when mixing (you can even daisy-chain multiple subwoofers with the Thru jack, giving you mute control of all of your subs at once).

To complement different monitors and room acoustics, the SCS70 Pro offers three low-pass filter settings: 50 Hz, 65 Hz, 80 Hz and Off (320 Hz). A gain control offers three settings for different setups, including +0 dB for stereo inputs, +6 dB for a mono input and +10 for LFE calibration. From there, you can fine-tune the output up to +11 dB, invert the polarity or use the continuously variable Phase control to tweak the phase from 0–180 degrees for optimal performance in your space. With that kind of flexibility, it’s safe to say that this subwoofer is ready to bring accurate low-end extension to any studio.

Features

Now that you’ve gotten to know the SCS70 Pro, here’s a full list of its impressive features and specifications:

• Front-facing, 12-inch SS75-314SC low-frequency driver
• Sealed cabinet (infinite baffle) design
• Stereo XLR inputs
• Buffered and unfiltered XLR outputs
• Four-position low-pass filter (50–320 Hz)
• Gain and Level controls provide up to +21 dB extra output
• Polarity switch and continuously variable phase knob 
• Footwitch in and thru jacks for mute control
• Amplifier fault monitoring (temperature and DC offset)
• LED indicators for power, limiting, mute and fault

If you're interested in the ATC SCS70 subwoofer or any ATC Loudspeakersfor your studio, contact a Vintage King Audio Consultant via email or by phone at 866.644.0160.