AsciLab C5B Review.

[Mnyb]

Congrats very well made speakers it seems . Very curious about the rest of the lineup now

To small for me but seems appropriate for a small room at somewhat close distance at reasonable volumes . They would be perfect.

Will probably IMO don’t have any issue's amps related or otherwise in the intended use case .

People here seems to forget that speakers are a set of thousands of compromises and can’t be all things for all people all the time.
Given the very small bass driver I can’t foresee for example that the tweeter xover is problematic, what gives up first ? They probably juggled all parameters and reached this design .

This set of compromises sure has it’s market good luck to AsciLab on thier future ventures .

Btw the tread is sidelined enough with the tired old discussion about amp classes?

 

[kemmler3D]

Great review and very nice results as expected. Will be very interested to compare performance of the Purifi woofer in a similar design...

 

[kemmler3D]

I agree with the last sentence.
They’ll need to spend a small fortune on marketing in order to take any meaningful slice of the global pie

There's some hope that forums like this one can provide a significant boost in sales.

The opinions that lead to word-of-mouth recommendations among peers start with the nerds and wonks like us.

If you become known as "the best" among the nerds and wonks they start telling their cousins and friends about it.

Case in point - I already told my buddy to hold out for these instead of buying Buchardt, based on the initial thread. He didn't, but I tried.

Once word starts going around, the other mainstream reviewers might publish reviews, at which point 70% of your marketing is done.

The more expensive and arduous thing is to establish favorable distribution agreements around the world. I would say it's easier to get Erin, Amir, Darko or even Stereophile to review your speaker (if your speaker is interesting like this one) than it is to get the buyer at Best Buy to take your call.

 

[Mnyb]

If they have initial successes at thier local market. It might sustain AsciLab long enough to be established.The international market may come later ?

 

[Matt_Holland]

The more expensive and arduous thing is to establish favorable distribution agreements around the world. I would say it's easier to get Erin, Amir, Darko or even Stereophile to review your speaker (if your speaker is interesting like this one) than it is to get the buyer at Best Buy to take your call.

You make an excellent point.

What I really like about the direct to consumer model is that it simply doesn’t suit the typical BS audiophile marketing ploys. Consumers want reassurance when buying at distance that the product is properly and well engineered and only high quality measurement data can provide this.

Of the big boys, KEF seem to have embraced this idea. I think we’ll know the tide has really turned when another big one like B&W joins in.

 

[totti1965]

I think that's just the woofer bleeding into the tweeter data.

Yes, but why not vice versa?

 

[kemmler3D]

You make an excellent point.

What I really like about the direct to consumer model is that it simply doesn’t suit the typical BS audiophile marketing ploys. Consumers want reassurance when buying at distance that the product is properly and well engineered and only high quality measurement data can provide this.

Of the big boys, KEF seem to have embraced this idea. I think we’ll know the tide has really turned when another big one like B&W joins in.

Also a good point. The new culture of manufacturers issuing highly detailed measurements and then 3rd parties verifying those measurements is really the diametric opposite of snake oil and dealer BS. This may give people the confidence to buy an expensive item sight-unseen, sound-unheard. It's a matter of trust.

This type of trust has been hard to come by in the past, but manufacturers can apparently build trust by getting a track record of sharing accurate measurements that match up to independent testing. At this point I would probably actually believe specs from Topping, JDS, KEF, Hypex, Purifi, etc. without verification. Probably some others like Ascend and @sigbergaudio too. It looks like Ascilab is on this track.

Which is really saying something when you think about it. I may reasonably and sensibly take the word of a speaker company in another country (Korea) over the word of a Hi-Fi salesman in my own town of SF. The power of measurements (when used correctly) is not small.

 

[Purité Audio]

So far everything they have done has been right, I feel sure that will continue.
Keith

 

[kemmler3D]

So far everything they have done has been right, I feel sure that will continue.
Keith

"Start as you mean to go on" as the brits say, right?

 

[Chr1]

Amplification being only second to DACs in terms of being a solved problem.
Not sure why this particular speakers got everyone riled personally. I'd love a pair and have at least 8 amps that I believe would work sufficiently. My 2c.

 

[somebodyelse]

(Cue: Vintage Monty Python sketch adapted to amplifiers)

Upper-Class Amp of the Year?

 

[Chr1]

Definitely worthy of a new thread/topic.

Rock on Tommy.

 

[jamesdyson]

I can only say that I once owned a speaker with impedance below 2 Ohm over most of the frequency range (with 98 dB sensitivity, though).
Setup was driven by a Bryston B60 for over 15 years (2x 60 Watts - speaker was able to handle much more power).
Never had an issue. Only one thermal shutdown in this period while pushing it really hard. A well designed amp can handle such situations without going into flames.
IMO this low impedance discussion is a bit exaggerated. If you really want to max. out this speaker continuously (most won't do) then just get an amp which can handle it.

A Bryston is an expensive well engineered amp. Whats the price tag on these? Is it aimed more at the lower end market? Where cheaper less capable amps prevail?

 

[jamesdyson]

Apologies for my ignorance, but is it not just a case of over-specing on the amplifier power required? Or is there more to it?
Surely amp topology is irrelevant?

Probably mainly a problem for class AB amps. The reactive low impedance loads will make them get very hot. This isn't any issue for class d but some designs may suffer bus pumping and shut down.

 

[Chr1]

Really? I don't believe that a small pair of speakers like this can be that difficult.

Surely all you need is a decent quality powerful amp and the discretion to tame the urge to push the volume beyond the drivers SPL capabilities.
Look forward to future testing and info.

 

[Ktacos]

Yes, but why not vice versa?

Probably some sort of klippel related idiosyncrasy.

 

[Crabity]

beautiful

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Nice,

 

[Doenerkunde]

Yes, but why not vice versa?

Because of the higher directivity of the highs. I got the very same pattern when I toyed around with ultra near (like 1cm to the driver) measurements of my Elac DBRs with an Umik mic. You nearly have a 90 degree angle to the other driver If you measure from very close distance.

 

[IamJF]

And a .9ohm load in the bass which wants big current. Listen with measurement's and your ears.

Which Wilson Alexia has 0,9R impedance? This one goes down to 2,0R, the new one is specified with 2,6 or so impedance minimum.

Wilson Audio Specialties Alexia loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

Building a speaker with 0,9ohm impedance on PURPOSE ...