MTB Vince: That's quite a system you have there. It must be amazing.
My favorite thing about ATC that most people don't know is how drastic the differences are in the front end gear- all of it- preamps, DAC's, turntables, cables, etc. With active, the low distortion SL drivers and ATC tweeters, the typical masking is gone. I hear small differences much more clearly- especially things like imaging differences. The " misty cloud" left by a passive system with all that stuff between drivers and amps covers up so many details I know for a fact the artist and engineering team (tracking, mixing and mastering) worked very hard to put IN the recording.
Brad