Ascilab A6B Speaker Review

[williamr]

Sound on Sound just published a review of the AsciLab A6B.


Check out the full review here:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ascilab-a6b

"Ascii Art" Ha ha ha. Congratulations on the very positive review.

 

[delamelon]

Ascii reminds me Amiga scene

 

[phoenixdogfan]

If you compare his review with the Neumann KH 150, they both seem to have very similar performance profiles.

 

[Truman4901]

How do these perform at modest listening levels 65-70 db? How would you compare them to the powered Ascilab speakers you recently tested?

 

[Chaos01]

How do these perform at modest listening levels 65-70 db? How would you compare them to the powered Ascilab speakers you recently tested?

Same as 81 to 91db - excellent.
Did not hear them but the wide radiation pattern + not too steep slope could make voices/ dialogue clear (good to unterstand) at low levels too. Maybe someone can confirm. Bass should be very deep.
The actives are cardioids, total different animals but the HF could be kind of similar..

 

[Matias]

total different animals but the HF could be kind of similar..

Same SB Acoustics tweeter and waveguide used in C6B, A6B and C8C should make them sound identical > 1 kHz.

 

[Luvchampagne]

Same SB Acoustics tweeter and waveguide used in C6B, A6B and C8C should make them sound identical > 1 kHz.

I don't think so but I could be wrong.
A6b, s6b and c8c use similat wave guide for tweeter.
C6b is different.

 

[Matias]

@AsciLab could you please clarify the above?

 

[AsciLab]

A,C,F use the same waveguide.
S uses only different waveguide.

 

[Goran-P]

How do these perform at modest listening levels 65-70 db? How would you compare them to the powered Ascilab speakers you recently tested?

they are awesome at those levels - amazing clarity, purity of sound, instrument separation and and especially bass response. I love these speakers - the music just seems to sparkle. And I think they look great - kind of like a hybrid between studio monitors and hi fi speakers. totally subjective assessment, of course, so there's that huge grain of salt ...

 

[Audionaut]

I purchased this from the company. The US cost is $1,955 each

In Europe, they currently cost 3,790 euros per pair.
Both are fair prices when you consider labor, development, warehousing, shipping, and materials.
Just for the materials alone—excluding labor and development costs—you’d have to spend about 1,150 euros per speaker.
So it’s a very well-balanced speaker, even in terms of price.

 

[Purité Audio]

That are really super, but then all of AsciLabs designs are really super, and ( as you would hope and expect ) they all sound identical within their design envelope. The question is which would be most suitable for ‘my’ particular application.

 

[Audionaut]

The question is which would be most suitable for ‘my’ particular application.

I would base it solely on the drivers used. The sound dispersion and tuning will be very similar.
So, a Purifi setup with a subwoofer.

 

[Goran-P]

Another great alternative with Purifi drivers and with 4x amp active DSP is the Aalto 3. For 3999€ paired they offer outstanding measurements.

The Aalto 3 passive is also available

Checkout measurements :

Aalto 3 Active Stream - Aalto Speakers

Aalto 3 tuo huippuluokan akustisen suunnittelun ja ensiluokkaiset komponentit tinkimätöntä äänenlaatua arvostavien musiikin ystävien ulottuville.

aaltospeakers.fi

Measurements for speaker Aalto Speakers Aalto 3 Active Pro

www.spinorama.org

Measurements for speaker Aalto Speakers Aalto 3 Passive

www.spinorama.org

You are right, these do look great, and seem to measure excellent - almost identical to the ascilabs to my eye. Looking at the passive version of the Aaltos, that seems to be the closest apples-to-apples comparison. I don't know what kind of tweeter the Aalto's use (website just says 'aluminum dome'), but the major differences seem to be the Aaltos with an 8" rear-firing passive Purifi radiator and a 2.4 Hz crossover freq., and the Ascilabs with 2x 6.5" Passive purifis, side-mounted, and a 1K crossover. The ascilabs are about 3 kg heavier and ~500 Euro cheaper. They are both 82-83 dB sensitivity, which makes sense given the great bass response (I guess those purifi woofers need a lot of juice to move as much air as they do). Would be awesome to do a real A/B test with these 2. They even look similar!

 

[Paul7777x]

… haven’t heard of Alto before now.

Interesting indeed.

And these may well be a fine bargain…

Taipuu Kero L Active Pro - Aalto Speakers

Loistava tilaisuus tarttua viimeisiin Taipuu Kero L Active Pro -lattiakaiuttimiin suoraan valmistajan varastosta uskomattomaan hintaan! Saatavilla enää yksi pari satiininvalkoisena.

aaltospeakers.fi

 

[Lars Risbo]

designed by Kimmo - father of Vituix CAD

 

[Goran-P]

… haven’t heard of Alto before now.

Interesting indeed.

And these may well be a fine bargain…

Taipuu Kero L Active Pro - Aalto Speakers

Loistava tilaisuus tarttua viimeisiin Taipuu Kero L Active Pro -lattiakaiuttimiin suoraan valmistajan varastosta uskomattomaan hintaan! Saatavilla enää yksi pari satiininvalkoisena.

aaltospeakers.fi

that is an outstanding price for beryllium tweeter + 2 purifi drivers + 4 purifi radiators per speakers, and it's active, so you don't have to buy an amp. Wow. wish there were some specs to go with it.